Condé Nast Entertainment announced that it hired Chris Bannon, a 25-year audio programming development and production, as senior VP, head of global audio.
Most recently, Bannon served as chief content officer at podcast leader Stitcher for five years. He left the company in October 2020, following SiriusXM’s acquisition of Stitcher from E.W. Scripps Co. Prior to Stitcher, he worked as a senior programming exec and producer at public radio stations WNYC and WBUR.
Bannon’s new role is part of CNE’s ongoing strategic realignment to prioritize global entertainment and and expand into the podcast space across its network of brands, the company said. Bannon will join the company Oct. 11, reporting to Agnes Chu, president of Condé Nast Entertainment.
“Chris’ leadership, impeccable creative instincts and optimistic approach to audio storytelling has entertained audiences for over two decades,” Chu, formerly VP of content for Disney Plus, said in announcing Bannon’s hire. “I look forward to his impact as we build out our best in class podcast slate to deliver on our iconic brands.”
CNE currently produces 40 podcasts across its brands, including “In Vogue” and “Love Is a Crime” from Vanity Fair.
At Stitcher, Bannon led the launch of an array of podcast shows in different genres, including “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” “Office Ladies,” “The Dream,” “Heaven’s Gate,” “Unfinished: Deep South,” “LeVar Burton Reads,” “Marvel’s Wolverine,” “Science Rules! With Bill Nye,” “Bitch Sesh” and Chris Gethard’s “Beautiful Stories From Anonymous People.”
As program director and VP of content at WNYC, the country’s largest public radio station, Bannon headed show development and launched “Freakonomics Radio,” “Death, Sex & Money” and “Here’s the Thing With Alec Baldwin,” among other projects. He has won three Peabody Awards and this year picked out a Peabody nomination for “Unfinished: Deep South.”
Bannon is a graduate of Brown University, where he serves on the board of WBRU, the student-run media lab. He received master’s degree in English from the University of North Carolina. Bannon has taught creative writing at Columbia University’s School of the Arts graduate writing program as well as courses in podcasting at CUNY’s Newmark School of Journalism.
Condé Nast Entertainment, formed in 2011, produces films, TV series and digital shows out from its stable of magazine properties. In 2020, the company says, CNE originals delivered 24B minutes on YouTube channels.