‘Variety Australia’ Presses Play on Podcast

'Variety Australia' Presses Play on Podcast

Variety Australia is now available as a podcast.

Following its debut as a digital content platform, the Variety Australia podcast drops on DSPs.

First up, listeners can plug into the full, blow-by-blow account of how Barbie blew up at the box office and explore the first stages of Seven Network’s major overhaul.

It’s all part of a deep-dive panel facilitated by The Brag Media’s editor-in-chief Poppy Reid at Variety Australia’s inaugural CMO Dinner in Sydney, and featuring guest speakers Suzanne Stretton-Brown, Director Of Marketing ANZ at Universal Pictures International Australasia; and Seven Network’s chief marketing officer Melissa Hopkins.


Next in line is American entrepreneur and author Gary Vee’s keynote interview from the CMO Dinner, during which he walked guests through his thoughts on AI in marketing, finding the right balance between math and art in marketing, the “Barbie” campaign, the Twitter rebrand and more.

“I’m so excited for Poppy to be launching the Variety Australia Podcast,” explains The Brag Media CEO Luke Girgis, “bringing her unique voice that has been so loved by Rolling Stone readers into film and entertainment.”

The launch of the Variety Australia Podcast closely follows the release of data that reveals Australians have eclipsed their counterparts in America when it comes to podcast consumption.

Gary Vee took to the stage at the inaugural Twilio Segment Variety Australia CMO Dinner Robert Meredith

The Infinite Dial Australia report, released by Edison Research and sponsored by industry body CRA, SCA’s LiSTNR and Triton Digital, found 43% of Australians now listen to podcasts each month, up from 40% last year, a result that pulls ahead of average U.S. consumption.

Weekly podcast listening is also up from 26% to 33%, and one in 10 Australians aged 12 and over reportedly tune-in to a podcast each day.

Drilling into those statistics, of the Australians who listened to a podcast in the past month, Spotify was the most popular platform at 34%. YouTube came in second, with 24%; and Apple Podcasts was third with 11%.

Reflecting the growth of Australia as a player in the global media marketplace and as a force in pop culture, Variety Australia last year, through a licensing agreement struck between Penske Media Corporation and The Brag Media.

The Australian edition marks the second international brand extension for Variety following the launch of Variety China in 2019. It also represents a deepening of business ties for PMC and Sydney-based The Brag Media, which launched Rolling Stone AU/NZ in 2020.

Stream the Variety Podcast Hosted by Poppy Reid below.