From Westwood One to PodcastOne, Pioneer Norm Pattiz

Dec 18, 2014, 02:57 AM

The Social Network Show welcomes Norman Pattiz to the December 17, 2014, episode.

Norman Pattiz, founder of Courtside Entertainment Group, PodcastOne and founder and former Chairman and CEO of Westwood One shares his history--from being a leader in broadcast radio to being a leader in podcasting. Find out about PodcastOne, their popular podcasts, and the advantages of on-demand audio over broadcast radio. Norm also shares a new exciting breakthrough for the podcasts on PodcastOne.

Norman Pattiz is the founder and former Chairman and CEO of radio giant Westwood One, which under his leadership was America’s largest radio network and provider of news, sports, entertainment, talk and traffic programming to the broadcast industry. Westwood One owned, managed or distributed NBC radio networks, CBS News, CNN radio, the Mutual Broadcasting System, NFL Football, NCAA Basketball, March Madness, The Super Bowl, both the Winter and Summer Olympic Games and a wide variety of syndicated music and talk shows.

In 2010, Pattiz, founded and launched Courtside Entertainment Group. The company produces and finances multi-platform, quality programming and is the radio home of Loveline, Bill O’Reilly, Dr. Drew, Laura Ingraham, Ron Paul and a wide variety of music super specials.

Recognizing the untapped opportunities in the audio on-demand industry, Pattiz launched PodcastOne at the end of 2012. The company quickly became the leading producer and distributor in audio on-demand programming. Today, PodcastOne’s popular line-up of personalities and brands include Adam Carolla, Dan Patrick, Steve Austin, Radio Lab, Freakonomics Radio, The Nerdist, Jay Mohr, Kathie Lee Gifford, Dennis Miller, Penn Jillette, Ross Tucker, Yahoo Sports, Bret Eason Ellis, WNYC, KCRW, Loveline, Dr. Drew and over 200 more of the nation’s most popular podcasts. PodcastOne programs are downloaded over 120 million times every month.

In 2000, Pattiz was appointed by President Clinton and reappointed in 2002 by President Bush to serve on the Broadcasting Board of Governors of the United States of America. The Board oversees all U.S. nonmilitary broadcasting services, including The Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Middle East Broadcasting and others. He was responsible for conceiving and launching America’s Arabic language radio and television services to all 22 countries of the Middle East, plus Farsi language broadcasting to Iran reaching a weekly audience of more than 40 million listeners.

Pattiz currently serves as a Regent of the University of California. He is the Chairman of the Regent’s Oversight Committee of the Department of Energy Laboratories and serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Security LLC

Pattiz is a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame and has been the recipient of numerous professional and leadership awards including the “Giants of Broadcasting Award” from the Library of American Broadcasting and the “Freedom of Speech Award” from the national association of talk radio hosts. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Pacific Council on International Relations.

Pattiz resides in Beverly Hills and Santa Barbara and is married to the former LA Rock and Roll radio legend Mary Turner. Dr. Turner Pattiz, a Ph.D. psychologist, is the Chairman of the Board of the Betty Ford Center.