Madison Minutes newsletter sold to City Cast

Madison Minutes, the hyperlocal newsletter startup with a readership of 17,500-plus newsletter subscribers and more than 600 paying members, has been acquired by City Cast, according to a press release. With the purchase of Madison Minutes, City Cast extends its network of local podcasts, newsletters, and websites to 11 U.S. cities. 

For the past year, the podcast City Cast Madison has had a cross-promotional partnership with the email newsletter Madison Minutes. Today’s acquisition means the two entities have become a single local podcast/newsletter team focused on Madison news, culture, people, and events. 

Madison Minutes founders Sam Hoisington and Hayley Sperling have joined the staff of City Cast. Sperling is now the newsletter editor for Madison and continues to write Madison Minutes. She’ll work closely with the existing City Cast Madison podcast team. 

Hoisington is the new director of membership for City Cast, where he will help the company build paid membership programs for its podcasts, newsletters, and websites in other cities. 

City Cast, which launched in 2021, is a national network of local podcasts, newsletters, and websites that operates in Boise, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Madison, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Washington, D.C. — with more cities coming soon. City Cast is owned by Arlington, Virginia-based Graham Holdings Co.