TLDR
Luca Lavigne used his first upfront as Mamamia chief executive to say the company will make fewer podcasts and put more behind the ones that work, led by Mamamia Out Loud, which topped Triton's Australian Podcast Ranker in March with 1.22 million listeners.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Fewer, bigger shows
Luca Lavigne has used his first upfront as Mamamia's chief executive to commit the company to making fewer podcasts and building bigger brands around the shows that survive. Mamamia is already making fewer shows than it was a year ago, and the investment, marketing and senior production talent once spread across a wide slate has been moved to the titles Lavigne said have earned it.[1]
"I'm six weeks into this job. I am not six weeks into this company," said Lavigne, 28, the son of co-founders Mia Freedman and Jason Lavigne.[1] He took over from Natalie Harvey after two years as chief operating officer and chief product officer, in which he led Mamamia's move to a dual advertising and subscriber model and the shift of its podcast network to video-first.[2] Harvey left for a newly created chief revenue officer role at SCA.[4]
The pitch to advertisers
Lavigne's argument was that content is no longer scarce, but trust is. "Content has been commodified," he said. He argued podcasts win because listeners choose them: "Nobody mindlessly scrolls into a podcast."[1]
The flagship is Mamamia Out Loud, which Lavigne said has become a brand rather than a show, with live tours, special episodes, merchandise, newsletters and spin-offs including Parenting Out Loud, and another extension still to be announced. "One trusted brand, many touchpoints. That is the model for the whole house," he said. He said the show is up more than 30% year on year.[1] Triton Digital's Australian Podcast Ranker put Mamamia Out Loud first in March 2026 with 1,220,628 listeners, up 21.64% on February.[3]
Life stage over age
He closed on targeting. "Life stage has detached from age," Lavigne said, pointing to Gen Z women with mortgages and Gen X women starting over, and arguing that age brackets no longer find the audience but Mamamia's shows can.[1] Mamamia says it reaches 7.5 million Australian women a month.[2]
SOURCES & CITATIONS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What did Mamamia's new CEO announce?
How many listeners does Mamamia Out Loud have?
Where did Natalie Harvey go?
James Dore is founder and editor of Prompt the Market and Strategy Director at Bushnote, a Sydney strategy, SEO and AI search agency. He has a background in strategy, media and financial services, and led consumer product marketing at MONEYME. He writes on AI search, answer engines, technology policy and media economics.
