Bleav, the Los Angeles-based sports and lifestyle podcast network, today announced the appointment of Maryann Alvarez and Gretchen Waller as Directors of Partnerships, filling out a commercial team that the company says is built to serve brands and agencies seeking access to engaged sports and lifestyle audiences across audio, video, and social platforms.

The announcement, dated April 21, 2026, arrives as podcast advertising continues to attract growing brand investment. According to Magellan AI data tracked by PPC Land, podcast advertising spending climbed 32% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2025, with sports podcasts drawing approximately 18.6% of new brands entering the channel for the first time. That context shapes what Bleav is building: a network capable of packaging sports creator content for agencies that are actively increasing podcast budgets.

Who Bleav is and what it operates

Bleav - pronounced "Believe" - describes itself as a premier audio and video network that produces, distributes, and sells a diverse range of sports and lifestyle content. According to the company, the network features more than 500 shows hosted by athletes, creators, and industry experts. A review of the shows directory published by Bleav in 2026 lists 962 shows across categories, with pagination extending to 33 pages of 30 titles each. The network delivers over 500 million downloads and views annually across podcast platforms, YouTube, and social media, and also reaches audiences across regional sports TV networks, streaming video services, and FAST TV.

The scale matters for advertising purposes. Bleav's commercial positioning rests on what the company calls turnkey scale - the ability for a brand to advertise across one show, hundreds of shows, or entire verticals, instantly, across the network. Verticals include sports, entertainment, business, and lifestyle. That flexibility is designed to serve both highly targeted campaigns and large-scale brand initiatives without requiring brands to negotiate show-by-show.

The two hires and their backgrounds

Maryann Alvarez joins as Director of Partnerships - her LinkedIn profile lists her title as Director of Brand Partnerships - following a career that moved through some of the most recognised names in audio and media. Most recently, she served as Account Executive at CNN Audio from October 2024 to December 2025, a period of one year and three months. Before that, she held a position as Account Executive for Enterprise Accounts at New York Public Radio from March 2023 to October 2024, covering one year and eight months. Her earlier experience includes roles at PRX and The New York Times. According to the press release, Alvarez brings deep experience working with agencies and brands to build high-impact audio and cross-platform campaigns.

Her move to Bleav is formally dated March 2026 on her LinkedIn profile - two months before this announcement formalises her position publicly. The appointment reflects the network's effort to bring direct-sales talent with agency relationships into what had previously been a smaller commercial operation.

Gretchen Waller arrives with a background that sits squarely in podcast ad operations and sales. Her LinkedIn headline reads "Podcast Ad Sales | Podcast Ad Ops | Podcast Ad Campaign Management," and her work history shows roles at REALM and True Native Media - two organisations specialising in podcast monetisation. At REALM, she worked closely with brands and agencies to structure and close integrated podcast and digital campaigns. At True Native Media she held a comparable role, helping scale advertiser investment and deliver measurable outcomes. Earlier in her career, Waller served as Advertising Operations Supervisor at Sinclair Broadcast Group from September 2017 to May 2018, and in a related advertising operations role from May 2018 to June 2020. Her academic background includes a Master's degree in Enterprise Architecture from Penn State University, completed between 2016 and 2018, and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems from Towson University, where she studied from 2008 to 2013.

Both Alvarez and Waller will report to Jonathan Dianora, Head of Advertising and Revenue Partnerships at Bleav. Dianora's own background is notable. His LinkedIn profile shows a long run at CNN, where he served as Director of Revenue Partnerships at CNN Audio from April 2021 to February 2026 - nearly five years - while simultaneously holding the title of Director of Revenue Partnerships at Warner Bros. Discovery from April 2022 to February 2026. Before CNN, he spent four and a half years as Group Business Director at Acast, from November 2016 to April 2021. His current Bleav title, as listed on LinkedIn, is VP, Advertising and Revenue Operations. He joined the company earlier in 2026 to build and scale the network's internal sales organisation.

"I'm thrilled to welcome Maryann and Gretchen to the team as we continue building Bleav's advertising and partnerships organization," said Dianora. "This is a pivotal moment for Bleav as we expand our footprint in the sports and lifestyle space and deepen our relationships with brands and agencies. Maryann and Gretchen bring tremendous experience and energy, and they are incredibly well positioned to help brands connect with our passionate and highly engaged audiences across audio, YouTube, and social."

What the roles involve

According to the press release, Alvarez and Waller will focus on developing strategic partnerships with brands and agencies while driving sponsorship, advertising, and integrated marketing opportunities across Bleav's growing portfolio of 500+ shows. Those shows are distributed across podcast platforms, YouTube, and social media. The two executives will sit within a commercial structure that Bleav is building to support host-read advertising, branded content, sponsorships, and scalable network-wide campaigns.

Host-read advertising is particularly relevant here. Research published in 2025 by Magellan AI found that host-read advertisements represented 46% of total podcast advertising spending in Q3 2025, up from 43.8% in Q3 2024 - a 32% increase in absolute spending terms year-over-year. Bleav's programming model, which features athletes, analysts, and creators as hosts rather than professional broadcasters, is specifically structured to support this format. Brands can use host relationships to reach fan communities that trust the voices delivering the message.

The network's architecture positions Bleav as an intermediary that simplifies what would otherwise be a fragmented buying process. An agency seeking to run a campaign across sports creator content would, absent a network like Bleav, need to negotiate individually with hundreds of shows. Bleav's model aggregates that inventory and offers it through a single commercial relationship.

The wider podcast advertising context

The timing of these hires sits within a period of significant structural change in how podcast advertising is bought and sold. PPC Land has tracked how Q4 2025 podcast advertising spending exceeded Q3 by 17%, with December surging to 127% of the Q3 monthly average. A total of 1,482 brands advertised on podcasts for the first time during Q4, spending an average of $33,900 during the quarter.

Sports content has been consistently at the top of the genre rankings for new brand entry. In Q3 2025, sports podcasts attracted approximately 20% of new brands entering the channel. In Q4 2025, the proportion stood at 18.6%. Both figures made sports the most popular genre for first-time podcast advertisers in two consecutive quarters. Bleav, which is built almost entirely around sports and lifestyle content, sits directly in the path of that demand.

The listener behaviour data adds another layer. Research by The Trade Desk and YouGov from June 2025 found that 46% of U.S. podcast listeners never skip an episode of their favourite show. Over two-thirds of listeners in the U.S., U.K., and Germany said they maintain loyalty to their favourite podcast. For agencies placing advertising budgets, that level of listener commitment translates to more predictable reach and tighter frequency control - characteristics that are harder to achieve in social and display environments.

There is also a structural imbalance that frames the commercial opportunity. Americans spend 19% of their media time with audio content, yet audio captures only 3.1% of ad spend. Consumers, as noted in analysis published by PPC Land, dedicate 31% of their media time to audio platforms, while advertisers allocate only 9% of their budgets to audio advertising. That gap has persisted across multiple industry reports in 2024 and 2025. Networks like Bleav are among the commercial structures that form when that gap starts to close.

The question of how brands buy sports podcast inventory at scale has attracted several companies. In April 2025, Acast announced an exclusive global partnership with The Athletic to sell audio advertisements across more than 35 sports-focused podcasts. That deal consolidated sales for a network ranked eighth on the global Podtrac charts at the time. Bleav's approach differs in that it is building a proprietary internal sales team rather than relying on a third-party representative.

That difference matters for buyers. An internal team at Bleav can structure custom integrations, negotiate multi-show packages, and design branded content that runs across the entire network. It can also move faster on bespoke requests from brands seeking to align with specific teams, athletes, or cultural moments covered within the programming slate.

What this signals for the market

The hiring of two Directors of Partnerships, both with agency-facing backgrounds in audio sales, signals that Bleav is moving beyond passive inventory distribution toward active brand development. The commercial infrastructure being assembled - Dianora leading revenue operations, Alvarez covering brand partnerships, Waller specialising in campaign structure and delivery - resembles the internal sales model that larger podcast networks built several years ago.

Programmatic audio trends documented by PPC Land for 2026 point toward further integration of podcast inventory into omnichannel buying platforms, with identity resolution and contextual targeting playing central roles. But a substantial share of podcast advertising, particularly in the sports genre, continues to flow through direct relationships. Host-read advertising and branded integrations - the formats Bleav is structured to support - are not easily automated. They require human sales relationships capable of understanding both brand objectives and the specific audience character of individual shows.

Bleav's company address is listed at 8033 Sunset Blvd, Suite 612, Los Angeles, California 90046. The network's LinkedIn presence shows the company as an established entity in the podcast ecosystem, described as a "premier partner and RSS upload service for podcasters and content creators aiming to maximize their reach and revenue."

For marketers and agency buyers, the practical implication of today's announcement is that Bleav now has a dedicated team capable of handling direct outreach and structuring campaigns. The company directs partnership enquiries to Jonathan Dianora at [email protected].

Timeline

  • November 2016 - April 2021: Jonathan Dianora serves as Group Business Director at Acast
  • April 2021 - February 2026: Dianora serves as Director of Revenue Partnerships at CNN Audio
  • April 2022 - February 2026: Dianora simultaneously holds the Director of Revenue Partnerships role at Warner Bros. Discovery
  • March 2023 - October 2024: Maryann Alvarez serves as Account Executive, Enterprise Accounts at New York Public Radio
  • October 2024 - December 2025: Alvarez serves as Account Executive at CNN Audio
  • November 4, 2025: Magellan AI releases Q3 2025 Podcast Advertising Benchmark Report, showing 26% year-over-year spending growth and sports attracting 20% of new brands
  • November 13, 2025: The Washington Post partners with Triton Digital for podcast monetisation infrastructure
  • February 10, 2026: Magellan AI reports Q4 2025 podcast advertising growth of 32% year-over-year, with sports attracting 18.6% of new brands
  • February 2026: Jonathan Dianora joins Bleav as Head of Advertising and Revenue Partnerships
  • March 2026: Maryann Alvarez joins Bleav as Director of Brand Partnerships, per LinkedIn
  • April 21, 2026: Bleav publicly announces the appointments of Alvarez and Gretchen Waller as Directors of Partnerships

Summary

Who: Bleav, a Los Angeles-based sports and lifestyle podcast network, along with new hires Maryann Alvarez (formerly CNN Audio, New York Public Radio, PRX, The New York Times) and Gretchen Waller (formerly REALM, True Native Media), and their direct manager Jonathan Dianora, who joined Bleav in early 2026 from CNN and Warner Bros. Discovery.

What: Bleav today announced the appointment of Alvarez and Waller as Directors of Partnerships, expanding the network's advertising and brand partnerships organisation. The hires are tasked with developing strategic relationships with brands and agencies, and driving sponsorship, advertising, and integrated marketing across Bleav's portfolio of 500+ shows.

When: The announcement was made on April 21, 2026. Alvarez's LinkedIn profile indicates she began her role at Bleav in March 2026. Dianora joined earlier in 2026.

Where: Bleav is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Its programming is distributed across podcast platforms, YouTube, social media, regional sports TV networks, streaming services, and FAST TV.

Why: Bleav is scaling its commercial operations to capture growing brand interest in sports podcast advertising. Podcast advertising spending rose 32% year-over-year in Q4 2025, with sports the most popular genre for new brand entrants in both Q3 and Q4 of that year. The appointments are intended to support direct brand partnerships, host-read advertising, and network-wide campaigns at a moment when demand for creator-driven sports content and audio advertising investment are both increasing.

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