RadioPublic will launch new apps from PRX that will bring together their giant catalog of radio shows and podcasts.

PRX are a non-profit organisation that distribute public radio shows like This American Life, The Moth Radio Hour and the Radiotopia podcast network. This move is a giant one as PRX make the move into a for-profit business with new company – RadioPublic.

So giant in fact that founding CEO of PRX, Jake Shapiro, will be moving to become CEO of RadioPublic. Shapiro told Poynter: “We believe RadioPublic can be radio rethought. We think that there’s something extraordinarily powerful and simple and beautiful and coherent about radio that needs to be transformed for how people are using and accessing information.”

RadioPublic’s founding team will be led by Shapiro, chief product officer Matt MacDonald, and Chief architect Chris Roden. Shapiro recognises that launching an entire new company won’t be easy but says that “having billions of radios, essentially, in people’s pockets, is an enormous channel for distribution that is still, in many ways, up for grabs”.

Their apps will also help creators by providing analytics data previously unavailable so they can understand and tailor to their audience more. Shapiro added: “We see RadioPublic becoming a kind of a flywheel lab full of information and transparency and data that really helps the next generation of producers think about what to create for an audience that they now have some more insight into.”

PRX radio podcast app

Meanwhile at PRX chief operating officer Kerri Hoffman will replace Shapiro as CEO. Hoffman commented: “PRX will remain, as it has for years, focussed on solving problems in the producer space. If you think about these two entities together – PRX will continue to focus on the needs of the producers, and RadioPublic will help all of us, on all of our shows, gain new audience.”

RadioPublic’s app is in development with a private beta for iOS and Android planned in the future. They are currently looking for people to help them build and create their apps, you can find out more about their positions here.