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• YouTube made a number of announcements at Made on YouTube, the company's annual event.
  • YouTube is to add a voice likeness detection tool, to help creators sign up for deepfake detection. The company is also launching A/B video testing, where different videos can be tried to see which work better.
  • YouTube Music premium subscribers will get a "new personalized AI-audio guide available in the YouTube Music app that delivers a quick, weekly spoken preview of recommended podcasts and digs into why you’ll like them, before jumping into the suggested episodes — completely eyes-optional and hands-free".
  • Live video on YouTube get an update, too, with co-hosting, live reactions, and live auto-dubbing.
• Apple Podcasts Connect seems to have quietly tweaked its listening figures for certain dates. We understand that Apple Podcasts noticed a discrepancy and reprocessed the data.
  • Data we screenshotted on Sep 16 appeared to claim, on average, that listeners were consuming 176% of our Jul 9 show. Now, the same data we screenshotted today suggests average consumption of that episode was 85%. Similarly, our Jul 6 show had "average consumption" of 166%; but now that number is 83%.
  • It's notable that the number of "plays" has significantly declined on both affected episodes, as well as the consumption data. However, our Jul 1 show still suggests average consumption of 127% (which, we'd suggest, probably isn't true).
  • Our podcast is comparatively short, but we're aware of other, significantly larger, podcasts that have shown the same over-consumption issue.
• Goalhanger's accounts for 2025 are now available in the UK's Companies House. The accounts contain a lot of detail on how the company operates; including a breakdown of the £37mn (US $49mn) revenue: 67% from advertising, 25% from memberships, 4% from events, and 2% from "commissions" (presumably affiliate deals). The company had 54 staff, and earned 38% of its revenue from the UK, and 46% from the US (from Spotify, it appears).

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• "I’m not sure why we are feeding our content to one of the biggest gatekeepers in media." Sounds Profitable's Tom Webster has published an overview of his talk at Podcast Movement last week. "You can put your show on YouTube or on Spotify, promote it there, and as long as you don’t violate the terms of service, you stay there. You cannot put your show on Netflix. The podcasts that are on Netflix are, frankly, the shows that don’t need the help; they were already the upper echelon by audience, which is precisely why Netflix picked them." He adds: "We are potentially making a deal with the devil when we put our programming on Netflix, because ultimately we don’t matter to Netflix, and I’d like us to focus on the places where we do."
• A lot is said about the benefits of open RSS. One is that you can publish, almost anonymously, on all the big podcast players: especially if you have a story to tell. In Slip Three, the audio has been treated to disguise the voice of the host - who is somewhere at sea, hiding from the authorities, after what he calls an incident where four men died. It's an intriguing listen, with more of the mystery to discover.
• The shortlist has been announced for the International Women's Podcast Awards. There were almost 500 entries received this year; it was judged by over 80 people across the world. Winners will be announced on Oct 8.

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• 88% of podcast consumers are consuming both audio and video - up ten points from last year. And, 63% of listeners start an episode in one format and finish it in another, according to Acast's new Podcast Pulse 2026, researched across thirteen markets by research firm Differentology. “The industry spent years arguing over formats, but audiences moved on long ago,” said Greg Glenday, CEO at Acast. “A podcast fan’s decision isn’t driven by format loyalty; it’s driven by whether they’re driving at 7 AM or on the couch at 9 PM. Once you see that, the audio-versus-video debate stops being interesting, and a much better commercial opportunity takes its place.”
• Exclusive: Comedy continues to grow in podcasting: Drew Spears Productions has announced the launch of DSP Podcasts, the podcast production and distribution arm of DSP. Started by Drew Spears in 2021, the comedy company, which runs a studio and event space in Frog Town and runs livestreaming events, is launching a number of shows.
• Crossed Wires, the UK podcast festival, generated over £6.6mn (US $8.8mn) in total economic impact to its home city of Sheffield, according to results released today. Just over half of festivalgoers travelled from outside of South Yorkshire. The event was an almost even spread of ages.

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• Far from being a friend of podcast creators, Apple and Google are making money from an ad-skipping podcast app, Podnews can reveal today. The app, called Podtastic, takes podcasts and automatically skips the ads on-device, charging $9.99 a month - none of which goes to creators, but up to 30% goes direct to Google and Apple's own app stores. Automatically skipping the ads in this way means that advertising won't work, and creators will see lower renewals and unhappier advertisers; but because the skipping takes place on-device, US case law suggests that the behaviour of the app could be considered legal, if clearly unethical.
  • Podnews reported this app to Apple on July 22; but Apple's legal team required us to deal directly with Ben Bowler, the developer. You may remember "Adventurer and Startup Founder" Bowler, who we covered in January as the author of a similar app which we reported had closed in May. But Bowler has learnt from our reporting: his new app now spoofs the user-agent of Apple's Safari, which is apparently quite acceptable under Apple's App Store rules, to circumvent blocking by podcast hosting companies. And, because the requests come from the user's device, it's technically unblockable.
  • Neither Apple, nor Google, have taken any action against this app - so these companies can continue collecting the 30% app fee. Never mind that creators will see less money, long-term, from their advertisers - the richest companies in the world still need to get richer.
• Exclusive: The ABC News Podcast Network and 20/20 have announced a new podcast series about one of the most daring jewel thefts in history - Heist at the Louvre. Hosted by James Longman, the trailer is available now, and it starts on Monday.
• Last week, LiveOne bought back more than $4m of shares in its spinoff business PodcastOne. PodcastOne went public in Sep 2023, after separating from LiveOne in Dec 2022. LiveOne has reduced its workforce to 80 employees from 350, partially after Tesla stopped giving free access to LiveOne's radio services as part of its Premium Connectivity solution. The release suggests that PodcastOne could consolidate once more into LiveOne (which could save $3mn a year).
  • PodcastOne proudly states in financial reports - like the Q2/26 report published last month - that its free podcast hosting company, LaunchpadOne, is a "talent pool for us to find new podcasts". However, LaunchpadOne appears to have closed more than a year ago: its website was shuttered in mid-July 2025, and some highlighted podcasts are now hosted elsewhere. A material misstatement in an SEC filing is illegal. PodcastOne didn't return requests for comment (though we were left in cc as the company worked out what to tell us).

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• At the Sounds Profitable Business Summit last week, ADOPTER Media, Right Side Up and Oxford Road announced that they will only use YouTube's Engaged Views to count YouTube impressions for buying advertising. You can watch the announcement here. YMH Studios have also made a similar statement. Oxford Road's Dan Granger said that the industry should "get a little fed up" and make our voices heard.
  • YouTube suddenly changed the definition of a public "play" in August - with just five business days notice - to one that doubles its numbers; the "engaged views" figure is almost the older definition - worked out using an opaque, proprietary algorithm that YouTube declines to clarify.
• The IAB has a different definition for video plays - "50% of the pixels on for two seconds" - and, last week, appeared to reject a new framework for measurement of video/audio podcasts. Matt Shapo, Senior Director of the Measurement Center at IAB, and Jason Adamski, Director of Audio at IAB, were interviewed by PodBiz in a new episode just made available, with Adamski admitting that the industry is fragmented.
  • In the PodBiz podcast interview, Adamski is asked for the difference between a download and a play. He suggests that "a download is the bitrate of everything that has been downloaded onto the device, and a play is actually when... I don't know if we have a standard definition of a play, I mean it is when we have views, and..." before being cut off by Shapo. In fact, the guidelines define a valid download as the transferral of at least 60 seconds of content to a device: bitrate isn't relevant. And, there is no definition of a play in the Podcast Measurement Guidelines at all.

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• Are podcasts at the front of the store? Showing a preview of data from the upcoming Podcast Landscape 2026 study at Podcast Movement NYC, Sounds Profitable's Tom Webster revealed that, for the first time, the top three places where people have "ever" consumed podcasts are not dedicated podcast apps. YouTube, Spotify and Netflix don't show podcasts front-and-centre when using them, requiring users to dive into menus to discover any podcasts. Webster compared Netflix's podcasts category as the equivalent of the CD range in a Walmart - just the most popular titles in a small selection which is hard to find; while a real podcast app like Apple Podcasts or Pocket Casts was the equivalent of Tower Records.
  • As for next steps, Webster suggested that we need to talk about Netflix, and its effect on podcasting; that podcasting's stars need to give back and promote the medium; and that we need to tell our story as an industry. He said that Sounds Profitable will assemble a strategic group to discuss the findings more.
  • Speaking in a separate session, Rob Walch suggested that Netflix lists just 1 in 67,547 podcasts. (And doesn't list yours.)
• More than 400 people showed up for the Sounds Profitable Business Summit earlier in Podcast Week, according to organisers, including more than 200 brand and agency buyers.
  • Here are all of the Sounds Profitable Business Summit photos - the download PIN is 8086. (And sessions are on YouTube)
  • Here are day 1 of Podcast Movement 2026's photos - the download PIN is 2045
  • It's the final day of Podcast Week today, as Podcast Movement NYC concludes.
• You can now earn from Spotify in more places. Not at Podcast Week, Spotify announced that the Spotify Partner Program is expanding to a further 35 new markets, including much of Central and South America, and more countries in Europe. The program lets creators earn with advertising on Spotify's free tier, and on revenue from Premium users for video. "Total monthly payouts to enrolled shows have increased by more than a third" since the platform expanded earlier this year. It also gives access to dynamic sponsorship adtech. The company lowered the eligibility requirements in January.

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• At the IAB Podcast Upfront during Podcast Week, Jason Adamski of the IAB announced a new downloadable guide focusing on (among other things) the measurement of video podcasting. The IAB appears to reject a medium-agnostic measurement standard like the recently-released AMP Accords, saying "the solution is not to build a new framework from scratch", and instead suggests that we use two separate standards from the IAB Tech Lab - the "Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines v2.2" and the "Digital Video Served Impression Guidelines". It adds: "The practical challenge is not the absence of standards. It is knowing which standard applies where."
  • The guide - and even the full press release for it - requires a registration with your email address to read. That's not how you set standards. As a service to our readers (and to protect our own business) you can download the document directly here.
• Missed the Sounds Profitable Business Summit? All the sessions are now available on-demand on YouTube, for free. We enjoyed Ira Glass - here's his - as well as Krystina Rubino and Greg Glenday about the Spotify Skip Button. You can also flick through all these lovely photographs from both days of the summit, for a sneak peek into the venue (see if you can spot our Editor recording the daily Podnews podcast).
  • Podcast Movement starts in a few hours - Tom Webster has a keynote with some surprising news, while our Editor, James Cridland, will talk about podcasting's history and why it matters.
• Threads has added more support for podcasts. We've discovered how it all works, and it's pretty great: see the "Tips and Tricks" section below.

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• First look: The creators of the New York Times's Hard Fork, Kevin Roose and Casey Newton, are to join NPR - for a new show called Machine Gods. Starting in October, it's the first deal under new Chief Content Officer Nadine Zylstra: it will be in video, and will also be aired on NPR member stations from early next year. Zylstra and NPR CEO Katherine Maher will discuss the deal later today at the IAB Podcast Upfront, part of Podcast Week.
• The Podcast Study 2026 was announced at the Sounds Profitable Business Summit, as Podcast Week continues in New York City. Among the findings revealed: 45% of podcast listeners would be "at least somewhat likely" to pay for a subscription tier to remove ads; and 64% would sign up for email from their favourite podcasters. The authors of the study have announced four upcoming webinars.
• Speakers at the Sounds Profitable Business Summit yesterday included Don Lemon, the former CNN anchor, and a special session about YouTube's recent changes.

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• In the opening Sounds Profitable Business Summit session, with plenty of ear-catching audio, Ira Glass from This American Life highlighted "what podcasts do better". Podcasts go so much deeper than what most influencers are putting out there, he said - and that means a deeper connection - which also means that the ads work harder. The Business Summit kicks off Podcast Week in New York City; with buyers and networks in one room, the summit included a number of well-attended talks and plenty of networking time.
• TYT has named Airwave as exclusive advertising sales partner, in a seven-figure deal. Airwave is expanding its in-house sales operation; the company will represent premium advertising opportunities across TYT’s podcast, digital video and live programming.
• Krystina Rubino from Right Side Up and Greg Glenday from Acast spoke about the Spotify skip button at the Sounds Profitable Business Summit. Glenday said that he spoke to a number of creators who pulled their shows off Spotify as a result. However, "digital display has already had a similar reckoning," Rubino said, highlighting the viewability metrics that are now used for display advertising, following ad-blockers. "If your ads suck," she said, "maybe you should do better." She added: "We have ruined many websites with ad banners." "If you're afraid of sharing consumption data with your advertisers, you have a deeper problem."

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Silver supporters: Audacia Audio, Gamut Podcast Network, Bumper, Sounds Debatable, True Native Media, Magellan AI, Nomono, Tink Media, Castbox, Red Seat Ventures, Truefans, iono.fm, SoundStack, Voxtopica, Ausha, Podium, PodAnalyst, Compliance Podcast Network, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, The Podcast Haven, Hypecast, Podium , Jonekiri, POW PR, Frequency, Blubrry, Locked On Podcast Network, Podcast Movement, Companion Arts, Health Podcast Network, Rephonic, Transistor, Double Elvis Productions, CreatorX, Rhapsody Voices, Jam Street Media, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Headliner, Diversion Podcasts, Lemonada Media, Podcast Partnership, Content10x, Cleanfeed, School of Podcasting, Podigy, Lower Street, Revolver Podcasts, Adopter Media, Signal Hill Insights

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• Podcast Week kicks off in New York NY, USA, today - a week of events focusing on podcasting. Today and tomorrow, the Sounds Profitable Business Summit brings together the business of podcasting with those that buy it - a one-stage event with an emphasis on networking. Then, the 2026 IAB Podcast Upfront takes place on Wednesday, unveiling the content coming up for brands to work with; and finally, Podcast Movement on Thursday and Friday, where creators come to refine the craft they have already built. Podnews will be in New York throughout Podcast Week.
• AI replicas of the voices of podcast hosts outperform human announcer-read ads by +26%, according to a new study. The data shows that an AI cloned voice of the podcast host works +26% better than an ad that has been read by a different (and human) pre-recorded voice. An ad actually read by the real podcast host works +9% better still, though. Podnews readers can download the case study here.
• Broadcast-ready AI-voice production tool AudioStack has been upgraded to use a multi-agent system "that reasons through a brief before producing anything".

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• Podcast Ads in Japan, Made Simple — Launch podcast campaigns in Japan through Audiostart. A simple entry point for global brands and agencies looking to reach Japanese listeners.

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Silver supporters: Audacia Audio, Gamut Podcast Network, Bumper, Sounds Debatable, True Native Media, Magellan AI, Nomono, iono.fm, Podcast Movement, Hypecast, Compliance Podcast Network, Podium , The Podcast Haven, Jonekiri, Tink Media, PodAnalyst, Frequency, Voxtopica, SoundStack, Locked On Podcast Network, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, POW PR, Red Seat Ventures, Blubrry, Castbox, Ausha, Companion Arts, Truefans, Podium, Health Podcast Network, Transistor, Lemonada Media, CreatorX, Double Elvis Productions, Diversion Podcasts, Rhapsody Voices, Jam Street Media, Rephonic, Headliner, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Podcast Partnership, Content10x, Cleanfeed, School of Podcasting, Adopter Media, Podigy, Revolver Podcasts, Lower Street, Signal Hill Insights

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• Substack has launched a new podcast tab in its app: "a dedicated space where you can easily reach your existing listeners, and help new listeners find you". The tab lists shows from Substack creators. The company tells Podnews that "creators publishing podcasts collectively earn over $200 million per year on Substack" - here's a list of the most popular.
  • Substack has also published download and view numbers from the Organizing Things podcast, which launched last week on the platform. The first week got 10,385 downloads - "entirely organic, no paid promotion or ad spend". What's the secret of its success? The show's co-host Shea Serrano is a five-time NYT best-seller, and was previously with Amazon and Wondery; and already had 128,000 subscribers to his newsletter: so that might be a factor.
• Are you measuring the success of podcast ads too soon? Magellan AI released its Q2 2026 Podcast Measurement Benchmark Report - and in it, we learn that 41% of site visits happen in the first week, and 76% by the end of the first month: so if you judge campaigns after just one week, the figures will be less than half of what the ads are really delivering.
• Spotify's Megaphone has made another unannounced change - this time, the qualification process for new shows to join SPAN, the Spotify Audience Network. As of Sep 8, a show needs at least three published episodes before it can be submitted to SPAN. Previously, only one published episode was required, so you could publish a trailer and be able to monetise your show from the first scheduled episode - but, no longer. One creator, who posts limited-run series, told us: "having to wait to monetize halfway through the run is pretty debilitating".
  • As with other changes that Megaphone has made recently, it is wholly undocumented; the company has repeatedly ignored any requests for comment. Perhaps creators might find a human to talk to in New York next week.

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• The "Episode Engineering" trick to unlock clients — Converting clients from a podcast is like pulling teeth... Unless you build 3 specific segments into every episode that naturally prime & attract your best buyers. This free case study shows you how.
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Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Beehiiv, The $100 MBA, Podbean, The Podglomerate, Cloud10, Magid, audioBoom, RedCircle, Audiohook, Libsyn, PAVE Studios, Cohost, Scicomm Media, Simplecast, Podscribe, Sounds Profitable, The Content Creator's Accountant, Jar Podcast Solutions, Awesound, Acast, Podpage websites, We Edit Podcasts

Silver supporters: Audacia Audio, Gamut Podcast Network, Bumper, Sounds Debatable, True Native Media, Magellan AI, Nomono, SoundStack, Jonekiri, Companion Arts, Castbox, Compliance Podcast Network, Frequency, Voxtopica, Truefans, Podium, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Tink Media, Blubrry, PodAnalyst, Podium , iono.fm, Hypecast, POW PR, Ausha, Red Seat Ventures, The Podcast Haven, Podcast Movement, Locked On Podcast Network, Health Podcast Network, Double Elvis Productions, Diversion Podcasts, Rhapsody Voices, Headliner, CreatorX, Rephonic, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Transistor, Jam Street Media, Lemonada Media, Content10x, Podcast Partnership, Cleanfeed, Revolver Podcasts, Adopter Media, Lower Street, School of Podcasting, Podigy, Signal Hill Insights

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