Courtside Group, Inc. Completes Restructuring of Balance Sheet and Officially Rebrands Name to PodcastOne, Inc.
– PodcastOne Will Continue to Trade on Nasdaq Under Symbol “PODC”
– Parent Company LiveOne (Nasdaq: LVO) Converts Its $3.5M Bridge Note Investment into PODC Stock at $3 per Share, a 57% premium to the 9/26/23 closing price, Increasing LVO’s Ownership of PODC to 81%
– PODC Converts Remaining Bridge Notes of ~$2.5M into Shares of Common Stock at $3 per share
– PODC Currently has No Outstanding Debt, and the Restructuring of Debt has Increased Net Equity by $6M Since Listing on Nasdaq September 8th
– Reiterates Pro Forma Revenue Guidance to $47 – $51M with Operating Adjusted EBITDA* of $4 – $5M
LOS ANGELES, CA, Sept. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — via NewMediaWire – PodcastOne (NASDAQ: PODC) a leading podcast platform and a subsidiary of LiveOne (NASDAQ: LVO), announced today that it has officially changed its name from Courtside Group, Inc. to PodcastOne, Inc. to match its well-known industry brand name and its strategic vision to become the leading destination for the best and most popular podcasts across many top genres, from sports, comedy, celebrity culture, entertainment to news and politics. LiveOne owns approximately 81% of PodcastOne. PodcastOne began trading on Nasdaq under its new name at the open of the market on Tuesday, September 26, 2023.
PodcastOne recently converted the remaining unsecured convertible notes in the aggregate principal amount of $5.8 million at $3 per share. Following this transaction, the Company is now debt free.
PodcastOne’s President and co-Founder, Kit Gray, commented, “The corporate name change to PodcastOne, Inc. provides a true characterization of our company as one of the ten largest podcast publishers in the U.S., ranked ahead of media giants Paramount, CNN and Fox.”
PodcastOne was 10th in PODTRAC’s Podcast Industry Top Publishers Rankings for August 2023 with a U.S. Unique Monthly Audience of approximately 6.5 million and Global Downloads and Streams of approximately 45 million.
PodcastOne’s network of top charting news, comedy, society, true crime and culture genre programming includes The Jordan Harbinger Show, Baby Mamas No Drama, Coffee Convos, When Reality Hits with Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright, Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe and Bad Bad Thing – all available on PodcastOne, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart and wherever podcasts are heard.
* Operating Adjusted EBITDA excludes certain corporate overhead costs.
About PodcastOne, Inc.
PodcastOne, Inc. (Nasdaq: PODC) is a Los Angeles based podcast network founded in 2012 by Kit Gray and Norm Pattiz providing creators and advertisers with a full 360-degree solution in sales, marketing, public relations, production, and distribution delivering over 2.1 billion downloads per year with a community of 250 of the top podcasters, including Adam Carolla, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Jordan Harbinger, LadyGang, I’ve Had It, and A&E’s Cold Case Files. PodcastOne has built a distribution network reaching over 1 billion listeners a month across all of its own properties, LiveOne, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Samsung and over 150 shows exclusively available in Tesla vehicles. LiveOne, Inc. (Nasdaq: LVO) owns approximately 80% of PodcastOne. PodcastOne is also the parent company of LaunchpadOne, an innovative self-serve platform developed to launch, host, distribute and monetize independent user-generated podcasts. For more information, visit podcastone.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter at @podcastone.
About LiveOne, Inc.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, LiveOne, Inc. (Nasdaq: LVO) (the “Company”) is an award-winning, creator-first, music, entertainment, and technology platform focused on delivering premium experiences and content worldwide through memberships and live and virtual events. The Company’s subsidiaries include Slacker Radio, PodcastOne (Nasdaq: PODC), PPVOne, Gramophone Media, Palm Beach Records, CPS, LiveXLive, Drumify and Splitmind. LiveOne is available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Spotify, Samsung, Amazon Fire, Android TV, and through STIRR’s OTT applications. For more information, visit liveone.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter at @liveone.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are “forward-looking statements,” which may often, but not always, be identified by the use of such words as “may,” “might,” “will,” “will likely result,” “would,” “should,” “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “continue,” “target” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including: the Company’s reliance on one key customer for a substantial percentage of its revenue; the Company’s ability to consummate any proposed financing, acquisition, spin-out, special dividend, merger, distribution or transaction, including the Company’s pay-per-view business and the proposed merger of Slacker with Roth CH Acquisition V Co. (the “Proposed Business Combination”), the timing of the consummation of any such proposed event, including the risks that a condition to the consummation of any such event would not be satisfied within the expected timeframe or at all, or that the consummation of any proposed financing, acquisition, spin-out, merger, special dividend, distribution or transaction will not occur or whether any such event will enhance shareholder value; Slacker’s ability to list on a national exchange; the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern; the Company’s ability to attract, maintain and increase the number of its users and paid members; the Company identifying, acquiring, securing and developing content; the Company’s intent to repurchase shares of its common stock from time to time under its announced stock repurchase program and the timing, price, and quantity of repurchases, if any, under the program; the Company’s ability to maintain compliance with certain financial and other covenants; the Company successfully implementing its growth strategy, including relating to its technology platforms and applications; management’s relationships with industry stakeholders; the effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic; uncertain and unfavorable outcomes in legal proceedings; changes in economic conditions; competition; risks and uncertainties applicable to the businesses of the Company’s subsidiaries; and other risks, uncertainties and factors including, but not limited to, those described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on June 29, 2023, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter year ended June 30, 2023, filed with the SEC on August 15, 2023, and in the Company’s other filings and submissions with the SEC. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company disclaims any obligation to update these statements, except as may be required by law. The Company intends that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
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Investor Contacts:
Kirin Smith
PCG Advisory
(646) 823-8656
ksmith@pcgadvisory.com
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310.246.4600
Susan@Guttmanpr.com
