Iheart and Baha Mar, as live podcasting moves into the resort experience
iheart is now tied to a new kind of on-property entertainment at Baha Mar: a dedicated, resort-centric podcast venue designed to bring live recordings, celebrity interviews, and interactive guest experiences into the heart of a luxury stay.
What Happens When Iheart podcasts leave the booth and become a resort attraction?
Baha Mar has unveiled The Studio at Baha Mar, described as the first podcasting venue designed for use in resorts and the world’s first resort-centric podcast experience. The standalone space is positioned adjacent to the beach within the resort poolscape, extending from the pool area toward the nearby beach. It is presented as a soundproofed audio and visual production environment with modern acoustic design, flexible lighting, high-tech streaming capabilities, and seating for live audiences.
The venue is framed as a departure from a traditional studio: it blends a multi-purpose recording environment with resort amenities intended to keep guests engaged before, during, and after tapings. On-site features include a café, bar, and an expansive terrace, giving guests the option to pair live show attendance with food and beverage offerings while being close to the recording process.
In remarks tied to the launch, Graeme Davis, President of Baha Mar, described the concept as a way to bring “global conversations” to The Bahamas and to create direct engagement with audiences seeking access and meaningful connections while traveling. Davis also cited an estimate of almost 600 million podcast listeners globally in 2025 as part of the rationale for building a destination experience around the medium.
What If resort-based podcast studios turn fan access into a year-round programming model?
The opening programming centered on a podcast residency in partnership with iHeartMedia. From February 26-27, 2026, Baha Mar hosted five podcast brands and their hosts on-site, including My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, 9021OMG with Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth, and Scrubbing In with Becca Tilley and Tanya Rad. Additional shows named in the opening residency include misspelling and I Choose Me.
Beyond the initial residency, the collaboration is positioned as a longer runway: the partnership is described as year-long, with iHeartMedia bringing 26 of its top shows to The Studio at Baha Mar over the course of the year. Will Pearson, President of iHeartPodcasts, called podcasting an “incredibly intimate medium” built on trust and connection, and said the resort setting extends that connection beyond headphones into real-world experiences, allowing talent and audiences to engage in newly innovative ways.
Baha Mar also signals that The Studio will not function only as an occasional tour stop. The venue is intended to be a permanent creative hub on the property, with immersive guest programming designed to inspire connection, learning, and storytelling across generations. While specific initiative details are not enumerated in the provided material, the stated aim is to create exclusive programming for guests of all ages, including experiences that support family participation and shared storytelling.
What Happens Next for iheart as Baha Mar expands live, on-site podcast residencies?
The Studio’s launch frames an evolving schedule rather than a one-off event. Baha Mar indicates it is working with multiple media companies to bring top-performing shows to the venue in 2026 and beyond, with talent, shows, and dates to be announced on a rolling basis. That approach suggests a flexible pipeline of live recordings that can be slotted into the resort calendar, potentially making podcasting a recurring pillar of on-property entertainment rather than a seasonal add-on.
For iheart, the Baha Mar partnership highlights a practical pathway for translating audio fandom into in-person engagement: live audiences, an on-site production environment with streaming capabilities, and a setting designed for spontaneous interaction. For the resort, the concept is positioned as a way to merge luxury travel with entertainment and creativity—offering guests a chance to experience production firsthand, attend live shows, and participate in programming built around conversation and connection.
The immediate next phase is operational: sustaining the cadence implied by 26 shows over a year, while maintaining a guest experience that works for both fans attending recordings and travelers encountering the activations as part of their stay. As Baha Mar continues to develop The Studio as a permanent hub, the core signal is that live podcasting is being treated as a destination experience—one now explicitly linked to iheart.
