Last month, Silver Tribe Media announced that Neal Carruth had joined the company as its new General Manager, as the company continues to grow its footprint in the digital media space.
Carruth brings decades of experience to the company. He spent more than 20 years at NPR before later joining the Freakonomics Radio Network, helping both outlets expand their digital audio and podcasting presences in the process.
And he says he’s overjoyed to join Silver Tribe Media at this stage of his career.
“It’s a real honor to join this team,” Carruth shared. “I’m so impressed by what they’ve built, and the incredible group of people that they’ve assembled. I’m definitely feeling tremendous excitement at joining the firm.”
The company helps build, grow, and monetize digital media businesses for both creators and the organizational level. And that focus on expanding the talent and reach of those in the digital realm — especially in areas where he gets to expand his own knowledge — enticed Neal Carruth to make the leap to this position.
“That was one of the big draws to Silver Tribe for me, was with the ability to help clients with everything I’ve learned over two decades plus in radio and podcasting,” Carruth said of expanding his own horizons. “And to learn even more about video, to learn about newsletters, to learn about other ways in which digital media businesses can connect with and grow their audiences. That’s absolutely a big part of what drew me here.”
While many might believe that “everyone has a podcast these days”, there’s still plenty of room for growth in the digital media ecosystem, believes Carruth.
“It’s very clear that consumers across a lot of different content verticals are getting their content digitally, whether that’s via YouTube, whether that’s via audio podcasts, whether that’s via newsletters. So I think, I think we’re in this moment where actually there’s a lot of feeling, and there’s a lot of room for growth — for people across the generations, by the way. This is not just a Gen Z thing. I think you’re seeing media habits change across the lifespan. That gives me a lot of confidence that this is exactly the right place to be at exactly the right time.”
While Neal Carruth has a strong background in the digital audio space — helping shows like Freakonomics and Planet Money from NPR get off the ground, flourish, and become major players in the podcast realm — that’s not the area that he believes will be the biggest focus of his efforts with Silver Tribe Media.
“We’re really interested and excited to explore newsletter platforms for like Substack, Beehiiv, Kit, and MailChimp on behalf of our clients. Newsletters are this very intimate medium,” Carruth shared. “They show up in your inbox from a person. You can develop a strong connection and strong relationship with that creator. Some of the platforms allow you to engage directly with the creator. So we’re working, in addition to (platforms like YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts), we’re really interested in exploring that over the next couple of years.”
During the first decade of his career, Carruth climbed the ladder at NPR. He went from working as a guest booker before rising all the way to serving as a showrunner and the Business Editor. That’s where he dipped his toes into the podcasting waters before ultimately helping build out the podcast division into the heights its reached today.
After joining the Freakonomics Radio Network as its Executive Vice President and General Manager, Carruth helped bolster that outlet into one of the most prominent financial podcasts available.
And now, all roads have led to his. And Carruth, who’s already on the job at Silver Tribe Media, is prepared for the next step in his professional career.
“I see this work at Silver Tribe really as a natural next step in my career, bringing everything I’ve learned in the content space, everything I’ve learned on the business side, to try and help people who are creating content and trying to navigate these new platforms.”
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
