What Gen-Z Media does

Gen-Z Media, Inc. (doing business as GZM Shows) is an independent podcast production company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Maplewood, New Jersey. The company produces scripted audio dramas, mystery series, and educational game show podcasts targeted at children ages 5-14 and their families, with a flagship slate that includes The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel (Peabody Award), Six Minutes (Gold Signal Award, 200 episodes), The Big Fib (Ambie Award), Dogood Detectives (Ambie Award), Left Arm Treasure Society (Webby Award), Earth Rangers (Apple Award), and Nightingale (Kidscreen Award). Production is led by a co-founding team with deep creative credentials — CEO Ben Strouse (Peabody-winning author and former IP/entertainment attorney), Chief Creative Officer David Kreizman (Emmy/WGA/Peabody showrunner), and Chief Production Officer Chris Tarry (five-time Juno Award-winning composer and sound designer) — whose cinematic sound design is positioned as the technical backbone of the company's immersive audio aesthetic.

Technically, GZM operates a multi-platform audio distribution architecture: content is delivered via major podcast directories (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts), smart speakers (Alexa, Google Home), RSS feeds, a proprietary iOS/Android mobile app, and a web audio player on gzmshows.com that uses cookies to persist episode progress across visits. The company relies on third-party infrastructure partners Art19 (hosting and content delivery) and Supercast (subscription management) rather than proprietary backend systems. The GZMClassroom.com educator portal, branded separately, supplies free lesson plans and curriculum resources integrated into thousands of K-8 classrooms in the U.S. and Canada.

The business model is freemium-plus-advertising: core podcasts are free ad-supported across all major platforms, monetizing through programmatic and host-read advertising, custom brand partnerships (documented campaigns with KT by Knix, Genome BC, and Quince), and direct-to-consumer premium subscriptions sold via Supercast that bundle ad-free listening, early access, bonus content, and exclusive live events. A secondary revenue stream comes from branded merchandise sold through shop.gzmshows.com. Customer segments are dual — families with children ages 5-14 (primary consumer audience) and K-8 educators (adoption channel that drives family co-listening) — with no disclosed enterprise contracts, funding rounds, or revenue figures.

Name

Gen-Z Media

Legal name

Gen-Z Media, Inc.

Website

https://gzmshows.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Gen-Z Media is an independent podcast network producing award-winning scripted audio dramas, mysteries, and educational game shows for children ages 5-14 and their families, monetizing via advertising, premium subscriptions, brand partnerships, and merchandise across global podcast platforms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Maplewood

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Advertising-Supported Free Podcasts: GZM podcasts are free to listen with ads on all major podcast platforms, generating advertising revenue from brands seeking access to the company's large family and educator audiences. The free tier drives broad listener acquisition.
2. Premium Subscriptions: Paid subscriptions (sold via Supercast platform and directly through gzmshows.com) offer ad-free listening and early access to episodes. Subscribers also receive bonus content including behind-the-scenes videos and exclusive live stream events. Gift subscriptions are available.
3. Custom Sponsorships and Brand Partnerships: GZM offers custom sponsorship opportunities including authentic talent and host-read ads, brand and direct response campaigns, one-of-a-kind branded content, and multi-channel marketing. Case studies include partnerships with KT by Knix and Genome BC, targeting co-listening parents of teen and pre-teen children.
4. Merchandise Sales: GZM operates a merchandise shop (shop.gzmshows.com) selling branded items such as Six Minutes apparel and swag, generating additional revenue from engaged fans.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Gen-Z Media (operating as GZM Shows) is an independent podcast network that produces, distributes, and monetizes original scripted and game-show audio podcasts aimed at children and families. Its portfolio includes mystery, adventure, and educational series such as Six Minutes, The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel, The Big Fib, Dogood Detectives, and Left Arm Treasure Society, distributed free with ads on major podcast platforms and via a premium subscription tier.

Product overview

GZM Shows is a podcast network creating family-friendly audio programming for children. The portfolio includes flagship shows like Six Minutes (mystery adventure with supernatural elements), The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel (Peabody Award-winning mystery), The Big Fib (educational game show), Dogood Detectives (interactive mysteries), and Left Arm Treasure Society (treasure hunt adventure). The ecosystem includes GZM Classroom (free educator resources), premium subscription tiers offering ad-free listening and bonus content via Supercast, and an e-commerce shop for merchandise.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GZM Classroom: Education platform providing free classroom resources for teachers using GZM podcasts, including lesson plans and activity guides.
• Imagination Amplified
• GZM Jr

Products and services

• Six Minutes A Peabody Award-winning mystery adventure series following eleven-year-old Holiday, who is pulled from Alaskan waters with no memory and develops incredible abilities. Designed for children and families.
• The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel A Peabody Award-winning scripted mystery podcast in which 11-year-old Mars Patel and his friends investigate missing classmates at their middle school and encounter a mysterious tech billionaire. Aimed at middle-grade children and families.
• The Big Fib A weekly game show podcast where kids interview two experts on a topic—one genuine and one lying—to learn critical thinking and fact-checking skills. Aimed at children and families.
• Dogood Detectives

Quantifiable outcome

• GZM podcasts are downloaded millions of times every month by fans all over the world
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered notable, minor and core.

• KT by KnixnotableGTM or Marketing PartnerKT by Knix, a company offering period-proof activewear for young teens, partnered with GZM's Six Minutes podcast for a brand awareness campaign targeting co-listening parents of teen girls. The campaign used host-read audio from GZM's Jess Fisher to drive website traffic and advocacy around menstruation education for younger audiences.
• Genome BC / Nice Genes!notableGTM or Marketing PartnerGenome BC partnered with GZM's The Big Fib for talent-read podcast integrations to grow the Nice Genes! podcast audience. The campaign delivered a 75% season-over-season follower lift with newly acquired listeners averaging 3.4 episodes each, establishing Genome BC as a thought leader in science-forward storytelling.
• QuinceminorGTM or Marketing PartnerQuince, a direct-to-consumer brand, is a recurring sponsor of GZM shows including Six Minutes and The Big Fib, providing free shipping and 365-day returns to listeners who use sponsor codes.
• SupercastcoreTechnology or IntegrationSupercast is GZM's subscription management platform handling premium subscription payments, access, and cancellations. Customer support for premium subscriptions is directed to Supercast's support team.
• Art19coreTechnology or IntegrationArt19 provides podcast hosting and content delivery infrastructure for GZM Shows, powering episode delivery, web players, and distribution across podcast directories.
• Pinna.fmnotableChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPinna.fm, an audio platform, partnered with GZM to present select content (e.g., The Ghost of Jessica Majors) ad-free and for a limited time, serving as a distribution channel for certain GZM productions.
• Actors AccessminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGZM conducts casting through agents and sometimes via Actors Access (actorsaccess.com), a talent casting platform, for open casting notices on shows.
• GZMClassroom.comcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGZMClassroom.com is the dedicated educator portal offering free classroom resources aligned with GZM podcasts. This platform enables thousands of educators across the U.S. and Canada to integrate GZM content into lesson plans for critical thinking, language arts, Spanish, and literacy instruction.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Pinna: Pinna is a children's audio subscription platform offering curated podcasts, audiobooks, and music for kids. GZM has even partnered with Pinna to distribute select content ad-free, making Pinna a direct child-audio streaming competitor with similar subscription mechanics and IP licensing approach.
• Tinkercast: Tinkercast is a kids-focused podcast network producing shows like Wow in the World and Two Whats?! and a Wow!. Tinkercast directly competes with GZM Shows in children's audio content production, distribution across major podcast platforms, and brand partnerships targeting family audiences.
• Storynory: Storynory is a children's audio storytelling platform that has produced free podcast content for kids since 2005. Storynory operates in the same niche of free, audio-first narrative content for children and families, with comparable distribution across major podcast directories.

Broad incumbents

• Wondery: Wondery is a major podcast network producing premium narrative audio content across genres, owned by Amazon. While serving a broader audience and using different monetization (often Amazon Music integration), Wondery offers a comparable model of premium narrative production with ad-supported and subscription distribution.
• Gimlet Media: Gimlet Media is an award-winning podcast network known for narrative storytelling and premium production values, now part of Spotify. Similar to GZM, Gimlet built a brand around high-quality audio storytelling and subscription-supported premium content, though at broader demographic reach.
• Sesame Workshop: Sesame Workshop is the non-profit behind Sesame Street producing children's educational content across TV, podcasts, and digital. As a broad incumbent in children's educational media, Sesame Workshop offers a comparable model of award-winning family-friendly content with curriculum and educational verticals.
• NPR: NPR is a public radio network producing podcasts across topics including children's programming (e.g., NPR's Kids Listen partnership). As a major incumbent in podcast production and distribution, NPR shares structural similarity with GZM in cross-platform distribution and award-winning audio production.
• PRX (Public Radio Exchange): PRX is a public radio network and podcast distributor that operates as a podcast network for independent producers. PRX shares a similar model of aggregating and distributing audio content across platforms, while operating at significantly broader scale than GZM.
• Audible Originals: Audible is a premium audio content platform producing original audio programming including children/family content via Audible Kids. Similar to GZM, Audible monetizes premium audio subscriptions, though at vastly greater scale and as part of Amazon's owned IP portfolio.
• Spotify (Kids mode): Spotify offers a dedicated children's audio streaming experience and is a major GZM distribution partner. While GZM produces content that runs on Spotify, Spotify's owned-and-operated family content and investment in podcast IP make it a broad incumbent competing for the same listener wallet.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/genzshows
• Facebookfacebook.com/gzmshows
• Instagraminstagram.com/gzmshows/?hl=en
• TikToktiktok.com/@gzmshows.com

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gen-Z Media