SCA today announced that it has become an early stage investor in Melbourne-based Sonnant Pty Ltd, a transformational artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) company that provides content discovery for the spoken word. 

Consumption of digital audio is growing in Australia and is expected to reach 80% of the population by 2024* and SCA’s recent launch of LiSTNR is designed to be a best in class consumer digital audio experience. 

SCA’s in-house technical capability will be enhanced by Sonnant’s AI intelligence, providing an in-depth of understanding of SCA content that allows for rich meta data and exciting new user experiences. 

Sonnant allows SCA to enhance the key product pillars of LiSTNR delivering a personalised experience to each user based on the topics they most enjoy listening to. This aids discovery and recommendations as well as enhancing the accessibility of LISTNR’s audio, so it can reach new Australian audiences with its premium shows. 

“SCA is a proud supporter of the Australian entrepreneurial ecosystem, so when we found a company of Sonnant’s calibre in Melbourne, we knew that an investment partnership would provide significant long term value to both parties,” SCA Head of Digital and Innovation, Chris Johnson, said.

“We were delighted when Sonnant’s tech outperformed several ‘off the shelf’ products we pitted it against in testing. Even better that they were right in our own backyard! The partnership demonstrates our commitment to not just delivering engaging digital products but building the technical capabilities that power market leading platforms today.” 

Sonnant CEO, Tony Simmons, said: “Technology now allows us to do things with the spoken word that was merely science fiction a few short years ago. Sonnant has long recognised that the consumption of audio, especially the need for better audience discovery of relevant content with podcasts, can greatly benefit by our exacting AI processes.  

“Importantly, by applying Sonnant’s machine learning, SCA will reduce manual processes and SCA customers and advertisers will experience more precise results in a shorter period of time. We are very excited for the opportunity to work with Australia’s pre-eminent media organisation to create even better listener experiences and a high degree of engagement.” 

Source: GfK Australian Share of Audio 2019 

 

About SCA (Southern Cross Austereo)  
Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) is one of Australia’s leading media companies reaching more than 95% of the Australian population through its radio, television, and digital assets. Under the Triple M and Hit network brands, SCA owns 99 stations across FM, AM, and DAB+ radio.  SCA provides national sales representation for 23 regional radio stations. SCA broadcasts 92 free to air TV signals across regional Australia, reaching 4.4 million people a week, with Nine Network programming and advertising representation across Australia’s East Coast, Seven Network programming in Tasmania and Darwin, and Seven, Nine and Ten programming in Spencer Gulf. SCA operates LiSTNR, Australia’s free, personalised audio destination for consumers featuring radio, podcasts, music, and news. SCA also provides Australian sales representation for global open audio platform SoundCloud and Sonos Radio. SCA's premium brands are supported by social media, live events and digital platforms that deliver national and local entertainment and news content. https://www.southerncrossaustereo.com.au/

About Sonnant Pty Ltd 
Sonnant is an AI-based voice intelligence platform that extracts deep layers of the spoken word to provide users / businesses with relevant audio and video content. 

Sonnant understands that every piece of created content will use data at some level to make it more discoverable and engaging for its intended audience.  Using machine learning, Sonnant has created, and continues to develop, automated tools that makes it simple for users to quickly discover content that they are interested in and, thereby, increases the audience reach for every piece of content. 

Sonnant extracts the value previously hidden within audio and video files, unpacking and ordering this information into promotional capabilities, search and interactive functions, accessible information and proprietary metadata layers that will drive the next wave of content delivery and discovery. https://www.sonnant.com/