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• Apple Podcasts shared the “most popular podcasts of 2024”. There’s more to the lists than just the US, though - we’ve compiled a list of the top shows in most English-speaking countries; plus, a way for you to view the top charts for 33 different places.
• Podcast host Ausha has launched two new tools as part of its Podcast Search Optimisation features. The PSO Checker gives recommendations to help optimise your titles, description and tags; and the PSO Live Search lets you compare your podcast with your competitors.
• “Spotify playlists and podcasts are being abused by spammers to link to pirate websites”, says Digital Music News, noting six-second podcasts that actually serve to link to websites. This isn’t entirely new - back in 2022, RSS.com’s Alberto Betella shared details of how that company deals with spam podcasts, mostly promoting Dubai sex workers.

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• Journalists in Europe are being invited to take part in the European Podcast Academy, a five-day educational event dedicated to advancing the art of podcasting. The event is in Milan, Italy, in mid-March.
• The Australian Podcast Ranker was released for October. Triton Digital is set to introduce a new ranker capability that will rank the podcast category by monthly listener, and integrate Triton Demos+ data.
• If you’re a registered owner of a Focusrite audio interface, you get to claim a free set of the iZotope Ozone 11 Elements mastering plugin.
• Libsyn Ads have announced an exclusive ad partnership with Envy Media’s Humble Brag with Crystal and Cynthia.
• Libsyn also released the company’s download statistics. Apple Podcasts improved its download share in October, up by 0.8%. (We know this isn’t a great number to measure, but it’s the only one we have).

Focus

Since 1996, The Webby Awards has been recognized as the preeminent international honor for Internet excellence. Last year’s Webby Awards received nearly 13,000 entries from around the world.

This year, The Webby Awards has expanded recognitions for independent creators with Best Indie Podcast and Best Indie Podcast - Limited Run in Features and is now honoring Best Creator or Influencer Series in Features and History in Individual Episode. Don’t forget, Podcast Company of the Year, a Special Achievement award recognizing the podcast company with the most accolades across the 29th Annual Webby Awards competition.

New judges for Podcasts this year include: Shannon Sharpe, NFL Hall of Famer & Host, Club Shay Shay & NightCapt, Michael Bosstick, Co-Founder, Dear Media, Ben Cave, Director, Apple Podcasts, Carrie Lieberman Chief Operating Officer, iHeartPodcasts, Bob Carrigan, CEO, Audible, and Sahar Elhabashi, Head of Podcast Business, Spotify.

Learn more, and enter the 29th Annual Webby Awards by the Final Entry Deadline on December 20th, 2024.

Moves and Hires

• Jim Ballas has been promoted to General Manager, Measurement, at Magellan AI. Ballas will oversee the company’s growing suite of measurement solutions.
• Congratulations to Jen Sargent, the CEO of Wondery, and the former publisher of the Podcast Business Journal, Streamline Media’s Deborah Parenti, for being among those honoured in the Gracies Leadership Awards.

The Tech Stuff

• Producing creator transcripts in RSS? The WebVTT format allows you to specify speaker names (which appear in Apple Podcasts transcripts), and work with web browsers too; so if you’re only going to support one format, we’d recommend this one. But: while the WebVTT format has no formal line length definition, we’d recommend no more than 65 characters per line: it’ll help podcast apps display captions, and adds better timing information. --split-on-word --max-len 65 is your friend, if you’re using whisper-cpp.
• An enhanced podcast:location tag is coming to Podcasting 2.0 - which lets you associate shows (and episodes) with locations: “This is a podcast about the Eiffel Tower” and “This is a podcast recorded in New York”. There’s a JavaScript tag generator here; and the specification discussion is here.
• If you show podcast descriptions and episode notes, as mentioned above, spammers are targeting podcast directories to hope that you link out to their naughty websites. Our podcast pages mark all links from podcasts as rel=“ugc”, following Google’s recommendations, which essentially makes these links worthless to spammers. You might want to check you’re doing the same.

Tips and tricks

• These tricks to get live captions for every podcast you listen to - on whatever app you use - also work for every remote recording tool, like Riverside, Cleanfeed or SquadCast.

Podcast News

• We covered the launch of Routes, the new show for British train company LNER, a few weeks ago. We mentioned that the show is even being promoted in station platform announcements - here’s what that sounds like. Her next guest is Candice Brathwaite.
• Table Read has just hit 5 million downloads and continued to keep a top 10 spot on Apple’s Fiction chart for 74 consecutive weeks. It’s also among the first podcasts to secure a SAG-AFTRA partnership, setting a new benchmark in audio storytelling and creator protections. Each episode features a selection of exceptional, award-winning scripts performed live by a talented cast of up to 20 working actors in a world-class studio.
• Pantsuit Politics has joined Lemonada Media. The weekly series is hosted by Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers, who listeners describe as “America’s political therapists” and “our trusted, smarter friends who can help us make sense of the world. The show promises real conversations that help us understand politics, democracy, and the news, while still treating each other like thoughtful human beings.
• Stop blaming boomers, says the host of new podcast Grandparenthood. Every episode offers wisdom and practical steps on how to grandparent from a distance, the value of grandparenting, spiritual support and what is distinct about a grandfather and grandmother.
• Views on First is new from the Knight First Amendment Institute, exploring the ways the US government uses the border as a justification for censorship and surveillance. It launched last week; future episodes look at the government’s online surveillance of visa applicants, phone searches at the border, and more.
• The Bruce Lee Podcast launched its eighth season today, featuring six new episodes with sport and entertainment luminaries. Each episode is aimed at amplifying how Lee’s philosophy can guide listeners in their professional pursuits and personal lives, while exploring topics that range from process and authenticity, to Taoist thought, self-realization, flow and tools to help us navigate life.
• A new comedy podcast launched last week from Absolute Radio's Andy Bush, about the always hilarious subject of death. DEADPOD looks at famous deaths in TV soap operas, villainous deaths in popular fiction, dead technology, strange burial rituals in ancient civilisations, incredibly weird historical deaths… Bush and co-host Brian Murphy will cover it all.

Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, The Podglomerate, Resound, Audiohook, Podscribe, Cohost, SALT, RedCircle, audioBoom, Steve Lack: Audio, Simplecast, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, Libsyn, Knucklehead Media Group, Evergreen Podcasts, We Edit Podcasts, Podpage websites, Disctopia

Silver supporters: Storic Media, Audacia Audio, Bumper, Magellan AI, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Voxtopica, Huberman Lab, Podium , Frequency, Gumball, Ausha, Storyboard, The Podcast Haven, Tink Media, Deepcast, PlayPodcast, Gilded Audio, Truefans, POW PR, The Roost, Red Seat Ventures, SoundStack, Cloud10, Jonekiri, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Wondery, Headliner, Zvook, Blubrry, Oxford Road, Transistor, Castos, Rephonic, Double Elvis Productions, Ossa Collective, matchmaker.fm, Podcast Taxi, Optimal Living Daily, Jam Street Media, Lemonada Media, Diversion Podcasts, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Heartcast Media50, Rhapsody Voices, Podcast Partnership, StreamGuys, Content10x, Hear.Here.Singapore, Ad Results Media, Cleanfeed, She Podcasts, Lower Street, School of Podcasting, Podigy, Adopter Media, Revolver Podcasts, Sonix, Podcast Movement, Edison Research, Signal Hill Insights

Our personal supporters: Eric Montgomery, Amy Woods, John, Jessica Alpert Silber, Armel, Oludotun Oyebolu, Mikel Ellcessor, Gene Monterastelli, Ed Sullivan, Neil Mody, David Lloyd, Lindsay Graham, Steven Goldstein, Matt Wade, Mirko Lagonegro, Andy Maher, [email protected], Kara Silverman, Eric Hunley, Liz Covart, Owen Grover, Justin Jackson, Karen Jackson, CESLIE Armstrong, Søren Hugger Møller, Josh Withers, Mike R, Michael Dell, Eric Nuzum, Benjamin Masse, Brett Johnson, Mark Ramsey, Steve Stewart, Pete Morgan, Jody Avirgan, Joe Stone, ShEvo (Sheila Dee & Evo Terra), James Atkinson, Helene Pawlitzki, Buzz Knight, Graeme Klass, Stephanie Arakelian, Kerry Donahue, Tony Garcia, We Are Libertarians, Stew Redwine, Dave Beasing, Meggan Ellingboe, EarBuds Podcast Collective, Andy Bowers, Mary Dooe, Alicia Mackey Huber, Paul Vogelzang, Vanessa Harris, Rekha Murthy, Mohammad Ali, Suzanne Schultz, Joanne Phillips, Niall Mackay, Courtney Reimer, Brandon Schexnayder, Sam Phelps, Doug Downs, Lex Friedman, Larry Rosin, Jeremy McCarter, Charles Spivey, Tom Teodorczuk, Ken Beyer, Bubbe Ann Schockett, Darius Derakshan, Stefano Mangone, Dave Campbell, Cindy Howes

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Every week, the Podnews Weekly Review is the last word in podcasting news - with a look back at the most important news in podcasting, and interviews with the people that matter.

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• First look: In a move that could be targeted at Spotify, Amazon Music is adding the entire Audible audiobook catalog to its app. Unlimited subscribers in the US, UK and Canada can now listen to one Audible title for free each month (of any length), alongside more than 100 million songs in HD Audio, and a range of ad-free podcasts. Audible is the best-known brand for audiobooks (and lays claim to be an early podcast company, too): this offer also includes the company’s original productions. We’ve analysis, below.
• First look: Acast has signed an exclusive ad sales deal with Casefile - and it’s a big deal: the show has 80 million listens. The show was with Audioboom.
• How bad is “podfade”, the phenomenon where podcasters stop podcasting? Research by Podnews suggests that of the 24,464 podcasts started in January this year, 7,388 - 30.2% - haven’t posted a new episode since the end of February.
  • 22.7% of shows started on Spotify for Creators in January haven’t posted a new episode since the end of February - that’s better than the average, as is 20.4% for Ausha, 18.9% for Megaphone, 12.6% for Podbean and 12.3% for Libsyn. As you’d expect, podcast hosting companies with well-publicised free trials show the highest levels of podfade, including Spreaker (40%), RSS (71%) and Hubhopper (83%).
  • These figures were calculated from Podcast Index data in August, using the dates for the first and last episodes in the feed. Some podcast hosting companies delete free accounts when the free trial ends, so they’ll not appear on this data. The top 5 companies with new shows in January this year were Spotify for Creators, RSS, Buzzsprout, Spreaker and Acast: who between them attracted 60% of new shows in that month.

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• Adobe Podcast has released Enhance Speech v2 - an, um, enhancement of the original technology. There’s a free tier. We’ll find out more later this week.
• The UK’s Goalhanger has announced its latest launch - The Rest is Classified will launch at the end of this month, hosted by a former CIA analyst and a national security journalist. The show will uncover the murky and often misunderstood world of international espionage. It’s to launch on podcast apps and YouTube.
• New data shows that a significant portion of listeners takes action after hearing a podcast ad. The most common actions include visiting a brand's website (57%) and making a purchase (28%). The data is released as part of Veritonic’s November 2024 Podcast Study, which is free and released today.
• Podtrac’s “top podcasts by country” rankers have been updated for October.
• Magellan AI has released its top podcast advertisers ranker for October. Amazon is #1; BetterHelp at #2, T-Mobile at #3. The biggest movers this month were investment company Robinhood and AI company Anthropic. The page has details of a webinar.
  • Also, because we asked... Magellan AI have started archiving these rankers. :-)
• Speech enhancement tool ai|coustics has announced a partnership with Sieve, a video and audio infrastructure company.

Focus

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Analysis

On the face of it, Amazon Music’s announcement today is a better deal than Spotify. Spotify offers 350,000 audiobooks, but only offers around 250,000 in its Premium bundle: and a confusing “15 hours per month for free”. Today’s Amazon offer is four times as large, and the offer of one book a month is much clearer, and broadly similar (most books we found in Spotify’s featured section are around 8 or 9 hours long, so you get one whole book a month there anyway). Amazon’s offer for podcasts is better for many people, too, with ad-free podcasts (which the company pays for); and Amazon launched HD Audio back in 2019, whereas Spotify HiFi, announced in Feb 2021, still has yet to launch.

Amazon Music has a free tier for Prime subscribers, though Unlimited is an extra US $9.99 a month. In 2020, Amazon reported over 200mn Prime subscribers globally, though they’ve not updated that figure since. In spite of that, Amazon Music is only responsible for 1.5% of all podcast downloads globally (OP3, Aug), 0.9% (Buzzsprout, Oct), 0.3% (Libsyn, Sep). Will a free audiobook change the numbers?

Elsewhere, Apple offers audiobooks, as does Google, yet neither offers a subscription offer, and both are entirely separate from podcasts and not cross-promoted. And perhaps you don’t need to pay at all: your library card also gives you free audiobooks, thanks to the Libby app - even books banned in some US states.

Tips and tricks

• What has podcast download numbers got to do with a pizza shop? Our article about understanding podcast stats includes a tale about a man called Jimmy, and his magic pizza shop.

Podcast News

• My Mate Bought A Toaster has joined the Audio Always originals network. The show chats with celebrities about their Amazon purchase history, and the stories behind some of the purchases there. The show is hosted by Tom Price.
• As above, Goalhanger announced The Rest Is Classified - the latest in its successful series. The show will launch at the end of this month.
• In 1912, more than 1,000 Black residents were forced out of Forsyth County in Georgia. From WABE and the Atlanta History Center, 1912: The Forsyth County Expulsion and Its Aftermath aims to correct the historical record and confront widely held myths about Forsyth County, and to highlight the generational impact that has persisted for over a century in the county. It launches today.

Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, The Podglomerate, Audiohook, RedCircle, Resound, Simplecast, audioBoom, SALT, Steve Lack: Audio, Podscribe, Cohost, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, We Edit Podcasts, Libsyn, Podpage websites, Evergreen Podcasts, Knucklehead Media Group, Disctopia

Silver supporters: Storic Media, Audacia Audio, Bumper, Magellan AI, The Podcast Haven, Voxtopica, Gilded Audio, Deepcast, Jonekiri, PlayPodcast, Podium , Storyboard, Red Seat Ventures, SoundStack, Cloud10, Huberman Lab, Truefans, Tink Media, Gumball, Ausha, Frequency, POW PR, The Roost, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Diversion Podcasts, Jam Street Media, Optimal Living Daily, Castos, Ossa Collective, Heartcast Media50, matchmaker.fm, Blubrry, Headliner, Double Elvis Productions, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Oxford Road, Rephonic, Wondery, Rhapsody Voices, Zvook, Podcast Taxi, Transistor, Lemonada Media, Ad Results Media, Content10x, StreamGuys, Podcast Partnership, Hear.Here.Singapore, She Podcasts, Cleanfeed, Lower Street, Revolver Podcasts, Podcast Movement, Sonix, Podigy, Adopter Media, School of Podcasting, Edison Research, Signal Hill Insights

Our personal supporters: Eric Montgomery, Amy Woods, John, Jessica Alpert Silber, Armel, Oludotun Oyebolu, Mikel Ellcessor, Gene Monterastelli, Ed Sullivan, Neil Mody, David Lloyd, Lindsay Graham, Steven Goldstein, Matt Wade, Mirko Lagonegro, Andy Maher, [email protected], Kara Silverman, Eric Hunley, Liz Covart, Owen Grover, Justin Jackson, Karen Jackson, CESLIE Armstrong, Søren Hugger Møller, Josh Withers, Mike R, Michael Dell, Eric Nuzum, Benjamin Masse, Brett Johnson, Mark Ramsey, Steve Stewart, Pete Morgan, Jody Avirgan, Joe Stone, ShEvo (Sheila Dee & Evo Terra), James Atkinson, Helene Pawlitzki, Buzz Knight, Graeme Klass, Stephanie Arakelian, Kerry Donahue, Tony Garcia, We Are Libertarians, Stew Redwine, Dave Beasing, Meggan Ellingboe, EarBuds Podcast Collective, Andy Bowers, Mary Dooe, Alicia Mackey Huber, Paul Vogelzang, Vanessa Harris, Rekha Murthy, Mohammad Ali, Suzanne Schultz, Joanne Phillips, Niall Mackay, Courtney Reimer, Brandon Schexnayder, Sam Phelps, Doug Downs, Lex Friedman, Larry Rosin, Jeremy McCarter, Charles Spivey, Tom Teodorczuk, Ken Beyer, Bubbe Ann Schockett, Darius Derakshan, Stefano Mangone, Dave Campbell, Cindy Howes

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• Just days after Spotify’s video announcement, YouTube has announced that it is to run an online Q&A session on Dec 12. Kai Chuk, Global Head of Podcasting, and Steve McLendon, Podcast Product Lead, will be “spilling the tea on platform updates and answering your burning questions”. The session is free; they’ll be joined by Stephanie Chan, a Strategic Partner Manager for YouTube Podcasts.
• Ashley Carman got an interview with Gustav Söderström at Spotify’s Now Playing event last week. In her newsletter, she managed to prise a little more information from him about how the revenue for videos will work - though much is still under wraps - and she notes the tension from some publishers with the announcement.
  • John McDermott from Calaroga Shark Media is quite critical. For podcasters: “Do video if you wish. Do audio if you wish. But I don’t think this announcement wasn’t meant for you.”
  • Tech Radar suggests that Spotify “cares more about video podcasts than launching its long-awaited lossless HiFi tier”, adding “Maybe you'll be able to play Spotify Hi-Fi in your flying car”. Ouch.
• In Russia, Apple Podcasts has removed a number of Russian-language shows, including a BBC podcast and shows from The Insider and Echos of Moscow. It’s also removed some apps including the US’s Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Podnews is unavailable in Russia, otherwise we’d ask whether people there can get the shows putting the RSS feed directly into Apple Podcasts. We’d be curious to know.

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• iHeart’s Inside Radio reports that iHeart’s Triton Digital is to launch its Demos+ product in the Netherlands. It’s the first time the product has launched in the EU, which has significantly enhanced privacy laws.
• Audioboom released a trading update, suggesting that the company should make an EBITDA profit of $2.8mn, rather than the $2.5mn they were previously forecasting.
• Kast Media’s bankruptcy continues to roll on. If you’re curious what contracts in the podcast industry often look like, recent court filings have included Jim Cornette’s podcaster contract (appendix B); and X1T’s affiliate contract, a company that brought Kast a set of smaller shows.
• Wanted something more tangible than our screenshot of an email that Samsung Podcasts is closing down on Dec 1? It’s all we had at the time; but there’s a now link at the top of this Samsung page.
• Sounds Profitable are hosting a webinar this Wednesday at 2pm Eastern, called Video’s Rise in Podcasting.

The Tech Stuff

• Cleanfeed has made a number of improvements to the core audio quality of its remote audio tool. The Podnews Weekly Review uses this every week; advantages for podcasting over tools like Riverside and SquadCast are significantly lower latency and “what you hear is what you record”, rather than hoping that the local audio recording will be OK. Cleanfeed are a long-term supporter of Podnews, but we’d recommend them anyway.
• Transistor has added a look-up feature for podcast guests, that grabs details from Bluesky, Mastodon, GitHub and X. It puts the details on podcast RSS feeds.
• Alby appears to be shutting down its remaining lightning wallets, pushing people towards Alby Hub. Meanwhile, Proton’s Proton Wallet is now rolling out to existing customers; it doesn’t support Lightning, as yet.

Moves and Hires

• Greg Wasserman is no longer Head of Relationships at Castmagic. He was employee #4 at the company, and led partnerships, sales, training, community building and advocacy. A podcast coach and consultant, and extremely active on LinkedIn, he’s looking for a fabulous next role.

Tips and tricks

• Making evergreen content is a good plan - since it means it’s ever-listenable (and ensures long-term revenue, rather than short-term hits). Philip Pape has written a guide to producing evergreen content, based on his podcast.

Podcast News

• Today In History with The Retrospectors will release their 1,000th episode today. It produces ten-minute daily episodes bringing you curious moments from this day in history
• The founder of Barstool Sports, Dave Portnoy, is to leave BFFs with Dave Portnoy, Josh Richards, and Brianna Chickenfry. He says he's uninterested in the topics, and becoming too old; and there's been other drama that we assume some people care about.
• The Podnews Weekly Review reached episode 100 at the end of last week. Matt Campion from Spirit Studios joins us to talk about the company's IP 360 strategy; while James and Sam talk about Spotify's push to video.
• Tenderfoot TV and Audacy today release an investigative series which revisits a 1995 murder after uncovering a box of forgotten VHS tapes and police reports. Evidence is discovered linking the crime to a secretive cult that required its members to “take a soul” as part of their initiation. There's a possible connection to several unsolved murders. , and exposing of a mysterious group known as The Lords of Death.
• SmartLess Presents ClueLess is an all-new bite-sized brain teaser podcast. Emmy-winning writer Elliott Kalan guides listeners through different puzzles, brain teasers, and conundrums, to see if they’re faster than this season’s permanent contestant, SmartLess co-host Sean Hayes. In each episode, Hayes will be joined by his close friends and family, who also share a love of games.

Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, The Podglomerate, Steve Lack: Audio, SALT, Cohost, Simplecast, Podscribe, Audiohook, audioBoom, RedCircle, Resound, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, Evergreen Podcasts, Libsyn, We Edit Podcasts, Knucklehead Media Group, Disctopia, Podpage websites

Silver supporters: Storic Media, Audacia Audio, Bumper, Magellan AI, Voxtopica, Cloud10, Podium , Tink Media, Red Seat Ventures, The Podcast Haven, Storyboard, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Ausha, POW PR, Gilded Audio, Gumball, Deepcast, Truefans, Jonekiri, SoundStack, The Roost, Frequency, PlayPodcast, Huberman Lab, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Jam Street Media, Oxford Road, Diversion Podcasts, Ossa Collective, Zvook, Blubrry, Optimal Living Daily, Lemonada Media, Heartcast Media50, Podcast Taxi, Headliner, Wondery, Castos, matchmaker.fm, Rhapsody Voices, Transistor, Double Elvis Productions, Rephonic, Hear.Here.Singapore, Content10x, StreamGuys, Podcast Partnership, Ad Results Media, She Podcasts, Cleanfeed, Adopter Media, Revolver Podcasts, Podcast Movement, Lower Street, Sonix, School of Podcasting, Podigy, Edison Research, Signal Hill Insights

Our personal supporters: Eric Montgomery, Amy Woods, John, Jessica Alpert Silber, Armel, Oludotun Oyebolu, Mikel Ellcessor, Gene Monterastelli, Ed Sullivan, Neil Mody, David Lloyd, Lindsay Graham, Steven Goldstein, Matt Wade, Mirko Lagonegro, Andy Maher, [email protected], Kara Silverman, Eric Hunley, Liz Covart, Owen Grover, Justin Jackson, Karen Jackson, CESLIE Armstrong, Søren Hugger Møller, Josh Withers, Mike R, Michael Dell, Eric Nuzum, Benjamin Masse, Brett Johnson, Mark Ramsey, Steve Stewart, Pete Morgan, Jody Avirgan, Joe Stone, ShEvo (Sheila Dee & Evo Terra), James Atkinson, Helene Pawlitzki, Buzz Knight, Graeme Klass, Stephanie Arakelian, Kerry Donahue, Tony Garcia, We Are Libertarians, Stew Redwine, Dave Beasing, Meggan Ellingboe, EarBuds Podcast Collective, Andy Bowers, Mary Dooe, Alicia Mackey Huber, Paul Vogelzang, Vanessa Harris, Rekha Murthy, Mohammad Ali, Suzanne Schultz, Joanne Phillips, Niall Mackay, Courtney Reimer, Brandon Schexnayder, Sam Phelps, Doug Downs, Lex Friedman, Larry Rosin, Jeremy McCarter, Charles Spivey, Tom Teodorczuk, Ken Beyer, Bubbe Ann Schockett, Darius Derakshan, Stefano Mangone, Dave Campbell, Cindy Howes

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• Edison Research has released a study showing the comparative difference between Trump and Harris appearances on podcasts before the election. Trump spoke to over three times the number of listeners, says the data.
• Acast has tweaked its free podcast hosting plan. It used to offer unlimited episodes; it now offers up to five; and there are adjustments to website and embed player customisation options. “We're making these changes to ensure we can continue providing reliable, high-quality hosting services for the long term,” said an Acast spokesperson. “Like many platforms, we've found that a balanced approach between free and premium features helps us invest in better infrastructure and support.”
• Acast has also launched a campaign showcasing the effort and research that goes into delivering trusted news content. The Podcasts You Can Trust campaign includes videos with Tortoise Media, The Guardian, the FT, The Telegraph and The Times.

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• Spotify probably emailed you yesterday with details of its new video clips/thumbnails feature. Headliner has worked with Spotify to produce a guide on how to produce them.
• Realm has added the Countdown Network to its roster for sales and distribution.

Moves and Hires

• Craig Stein has been hired by AdResults Media as SVP of Media Planning. He joins from consultancy R3.

Tips and tricks

• Evergreen content is a great way to make valuable content for your show. In a new article, Philip Pape explains how to create episodes that are relevant a month, a year, even ten years from now. How I make Wits & Weights tells us the details in full.

Podcast News

• The Good Whale is new from Serial today. Fans of the movie “Free Willy” are outraged to learn that the real whale who played Willy lives in a tiny pool at an amusement park in Mexico City. So well-intentioned experts embark on an epic science experiment to try to teach one celebrity orca how to be free — while the world watches.
• Headgum are making you an offer you can't refuse - a new comedy podcast called Chicken Podmesan. NYC-based comedians, Dan Licata (SNL, Late Night with Seth Meyers) and Nick Naney (The Tonight Show) are hosting the six-episode part improv / part interview comedy series, where they play characters interviewing Italian-American figures and comedians, discussing all aspects of Italian American life - from the food and their family antics to why there are so many guys named Tony.
• The author of a new "how I make" article, Philip Pape, highlights Wits & Weights - a show which cuts through the noise, and deconstructs health and fitness with an engineering mindset to help you develop a strong, lean physique without wasting time.

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Silver supporters: Storic Media, Audacia Audio, Bumper, Magellan AI, Voxtopica, Tink Media, Storyboard, Red Seat Ventures, Truefans, Cloud10, Jonekiri, Frequency, POW PR, Deepcast, Podium , The Roost, Gilded Audio, Huberman Lab, SoundStack, PlayPodcast, Gumball, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, The Podcast Haven, Ausha, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Ossa Collective, Optimal Living Daily, Zvook, Heartcast Media50, Diversion Podcasts, Blubrry, matchmaker.fm, Transistor, Podcast Taxi, Wondery, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Castos, Headliner, Jam Street Media, Rhapsody Voices, Double Elvis Productions, Rephonic, Lemonada Media, Oxford Road, Hear.Here.Singapore, Content10x, StreamGuys, Podcast Partnership, Ad Results Media, Cleanfeed, She Podcasts, Podcast Movement, School of Podcasting, Adopter Media, Lower Street, Sonix, Podigy, Revolver Podcasts, Signal Hill Insights, Edison Research

Our personal supporters: Eric Montgomery, Amy Woods, John, Jessica Alpert Silber, Armel, Oludotun Oyebolu, Mikel Ellcessor, Gene Monterastelli, Ed Sullivan, Neil Mody, David Lloyd, Lindsay Graham, Steven Goldstein, Matt Wade, Mirko Lagonegro, Andy Maher, [email protected], Kara Silverman, Eric Hunley, Liz Covart, Owen Grover, Justin Jackson, Karen Jackson, CESLIE Armstrong, Søren Hugger Møller, Josh Withers, Mike R, Michael Dell, Eric Nuzum, Benjamin Masse, Brett Johnson, Mark Ramsey, Steve Stewart, Pete Morgan, Jody Avirgan, Joe Stone, ShEvo (Sheila Dee & Evo Terra), James Atkinson, Helene Pawlitzki, Buzz Knight, Graeme Klass, Stephanie Arakelian, Kerry Donahue, Tony Garcia, We Are Libertarians, Stew Redwine, Dave Beasing, Meggan Ellingboe, EarBuds Podcast Collective, Andy Bowers, Mary Dooe, Alicia Mackey Huber, Paul Vogelzang, Vanessa Harris, Rekha Murthy, Mohammad Ali, Suzanne Schultz, Joanne Phillips, Niall Mackay, Courtney Reimer, Brandon Schexnayder, Sam Phelps, Doug Downs, Lex Friedman, Larry Rosin, Jeremy McCarter, Charles Spivey, Tom Teodorczuk, Ken Beyer, Bubbe Ann Schockett, Darius Derakshan, Stefano Mangone, Dave Campbell, Cindy Howes

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• Spotify announced a set of new features for creators at its Now Playing event in Los Angeles, with Gustav Söderström announcing its podcast (and video) hosting platform has been renamed to Spotify for Creators. Eligible creators in the US, UK, Canada and Australia are able to join the brand new Spotify Partner Program, which earns money from podcast audio ads (both on and off the platform), and, from early next year, revenue based on how much your video podcast is streamed by Premium users. (The videos will appear uninterrupted and ad-free for those users).
  • Eligibility for the Spotify Partner Program requires you to use Spotify for Creators to host your podcast (or Megaphone in some cases); and you need at least twelve episodes, 2,000 unique Spotify users in the last month, and 10,000 streamed hours in the last month. (YouTube, by comparison, needs 1,000 all-time subscribers, but 4,000 streamed hours in the last year.)
• Spotify also announced that it’s now possible to upload video clips and video thumbnails for every episode.
  • The event happened in Spotify’s Los Angeles studios, in front of around 150 creators including Stephen Bartlett, Meghan Trainor, Jay Shetty, Emma Chamberlain and Don Lemon. Halsey played an acoustic set and there were a number of sessions. In one of them, when asked what his favourite thing about podcasting was, Geoff Chow, Head of Podcast Studios at The Ringer, said that it was that podcasts are open. (Admittedly, after saying that his favourite thing about podcasting was Bill Simmons.)
  • Podnews is here as a guest of Spotify.
• On Tuesday, Spotify announced its Q3/24 financials. The company reported record income, record gross margin of 31.1%, and revenue up by 21% year-on-year. It made $32mn profit in the quarter, and is on course to post a yearly profit for the first time. Spotify is now used by 640 million active users every month.
  • Ad-supported revenue, including advertising in podcasts, grew 6% year-on-year. However, yield appears to be an issue: the company noted that “podcasting advertising was driven by growth in impressions sold, partially offset by softness in pricing.“

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• Edison Research revealed the top 50 podcasts in the US, by total audience, for Q3/2024. Our list includes links to listen; 21 of the top 50 are hosted by Spotify’s Megaphone.
• iHeart Media is laying off up to 500 people. A large number of radio people affected have been documented by radioINSIGHT; we understand there have been cuts in some of the company’s podcast businesses too.
• BlogTalkRadio is to close on Jan 31. One of the earliest podcast and live-streaming hosts, it launched in January 2006. It merged with Spreaker in August 2017; Voxnest bought Spreaker in 2018; iHeart bought Voxnest in 2020. Most recently it’s been part of Triton Digital. In August this year, it hosted 3,293 podcasts.
• Samsung Podcasts has emailed licensing partners to reveal that it is to close on Dec 1. The service was latterly known as “the listen tab on Samsung Free or Samsung O”. It launched in March 2021.
• The Locked On Podcast Network has added the Locked On NBA FAST channel, a sixth FAST TV channel on YouTube, Local Now and Zeam, with Amazon Fire to come shortly. The channel carries daily episodes from Locked On NBA video podcasts.
  • The company as a whole saw a record listens+views figure in October of 37.5mn - almost 10% higher than September.
• Acast now represents the TED Audio Collective for ad sales, hosting and distribution. TED Talks Daily, the flagship show of the network, is currently a top 40 podcast in the US. TED moves from PRX and Soundrise. The deal covers everywhere outside Australia and New Zealand, where ARN’s iHeart is currently partner.
• New US podcast consumption data from AnalyticsIQ suggests that YouTube is the most popular place for podcast listening, with 59% of people saying they’d listened to a podcast on it in the past three months. Comedy is the #1 podcast category; 23% say they’ve bought products because of a podcast ad. Not given in the report: the survey was undertaken in Q1/24 (which explains why 16% of listeners say they were using Google Podcasts, which closed in March).
• The Podcast Marketing Academy released its Podcast Marketing Trends report for 2024. It contains a lot of data to allow you to compare your podcasts with others. It’s the latest report to make note of the disruption caused by Apple’s iOS 17 changes.

Focus

Where were you when Donald Trump was declared winner of the 2024 election? And where were you a few hours later when the German government coalitioncollapsed-the same day? If you’re interested in politics and in events shaping our world, and if you’re interested in what Trump 2.0 and a weak Germany means for the future of geopolitics - then DW Berlin Briefing should be right up your alley. The new video podcast on all things German politics and the German view on events worldwide was launched on November 8.

Join the three hosts, Nina Haase, Michaela Küfner and Richard Walker, as they offer you a unique perspective on Germany’s role in today’s rapidly changing world.

Listen and subscribe to Berlin Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever else you get your podcasts. A new episode every Friday.

Tips and tricks

• Why can’t I see my YouTube plays in my podcast host? Because they’re measuring different things, probably. We dive in.

Podcast News

• Permission To Shine, the show dedicated to highlighting humble, inspiring people, has reached episode #50. The 50th guest is Eric Byrnes. He spent 11 years in the MLB, holds a Guinness World Record for golfing 420 holes in 24 hours, completed a triathlon across America, author of 3 books, completor of the Western States 100 race, and is founder of the Let Them Play foundation -- emphasizing the importance of kids getting active.
• What does a day in the life of Austin TX sound like? To make 24 Hours in Austin, which launches today, twenty audio producers spent 24 hours in different Austin locations - recording peoples' stories. The show kicks off today, spending 24 hours in 6th Street.
• At least one-third of residents in the Navajo Nation — the largest Indigenous tribe in the United States — need to travel miles to get water for drinking, bathing, cooking and cleaning. New from ABC Audio this week, Reclaimed: The Lifeblood of Navajo Nation chronicles the Navajo Nation’s generations-long fight for water rights — a battle that has reached a critical turning point with a landmark bill in front of Congress that, if passed, would create critical infrastructure that diverts water to Navajo communities.
• REDACTED: Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamana is new this week from Ballen Studios and Wondery. Each week, the show pulls back the curtain on what once was classified information - exposing the secrets and lies behind the world’s most powerful institutions. Say it ain't so!
• The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior is a co-production of the Australian ABC and RNZ, exploring the Greenpeace ship's last voyage before it was bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour, killing a photographer. Hosted by writer, podcaster and comedian James Nokise, the story follows the fallout - scientifically, politically, and socially - from the nuclear tests at the Pacific Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands, home to the people of Rongelap Atoll. It's new this week.
• After three years, host Nikkiesha McLeod and producer Jeremiah Lee McVay are producing the 2nd season of When We See Each Other, their podcast that features mainly BIPOC, trans, queer, and non-binary artists talking about their work, their creative processes, their identities, and their lives. The show originally ran during the pandemic.

Today’s most important question

What even is a podcast? After all the talk of video yesterday, we didn’t go to this session at Spotify’s Now Playing - we know the answer already.

(Thumbnail image: Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Spotify)

Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, The Podglomerate, Simplecast, RedCircle, Resound, Audiohook, SALT, Podscribe, audioBoom, Cohost, Steve Lack: Audio, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, We Edit Podcasts, Podpage websites, Knucklehead Media Group, Libsyn, Evergreen Podcasts, Disctopia

Silver supporters: Storic Media, Audacia Audio, Bumper, Magellan AI, Gumball, Huberman Lab, The Podcast Haven, Ausha, PlayPodcast, SoundStack, Red Seat Ventures, Tink Media, The Roost, Truefans, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Frequency, Podium , Deepcast, Jonekiri, Voxtopica, POW PR, Gilded Audio, Storyboard, Cloud10, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Heartcast Media50, Castos, Diversion Podcasts, Podcast Taxi, matchmaker.fm, Headliner, Blubrry, Zvook, Wondery, Optimal Living Daily, Transistor, Double Elvis Productions, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Ossa Collective, Rhapsody Voices, Oxford Road, Rephonic, Lemonada Media, Jam Street Media, Ad Results Media, Hear.Here.Singapore, StreamGuys, Content10x, Podcast Partnership, Cleanfeed, She Podcasts, Lower Street, Sonix, Adopter Media, Revolver Podcasts, Podigy, Podcast Movement, School of Podcasting, Signal Hill Insights, Edison Research

Our personal supporters: Eric Montgomery, Amy Woods, John, Jessica Alpert Silber, Armel, Oludotun Oyebolu, Mikel Ellcessor, Gene Monterastelli, Ed Sullivan, Neil Mody, David Lloyd, Lindsay Graham, Steven Goldstein, Matt Wade, Mirko Lagonegro, Andy Maher, [email protected], Kara Silverman, Eric Hunley, Liz Covart, Owen Grover, Justin Jackson, Karen Jackson, CESLIE Armstrong, Søren Hugger Møller, Josh Withers, Mike R, Michael Dell, Eric Nuzum, Benjamin Masse, Brett Johnson, Mark Ramsey, Steve Stewart, Pete Morgan, Jody Avirgan, Joe Stone, ShEvo (Sheila Dee & Evo Terra), James Atkinson, Helene Pawlitzki, Buzz Knight, Graeme Klass, Stephanie Arakelian, Kerry Donahue, Tony Garcia, We Are Libertarians, Stew Redwine, Dave Beasing, Meggan Ellingboe, EarBuds Podcast Collective, Andy Bowers, Mary Dooe, Alicia Mackey Huber, Paul Vogelzang, Vanessa Harris, Rekha Murthy, Mohammad Ali, Suzanne Schultz, Joanne Phillips, Niall Mackay, Courtney Reimer, Brandon Schexnayder, Sam Phelps, Doug Downs, Lex Friedman, Larry Rosin, Jeremy McCarter, Charles Spivey, Tom Teodorczuk, Ken Beyer, Bubbe Ann Schockett, Darius Derakshan, Stefano Mangone, Dave Campbell, Cindy Howes

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Pocket Casts aligns with Apple and Spotify by changing Subscribe to Follow, while The Podcast Haven launches a unified search tool

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Financial results from iHeart, Auddia, and the New York Times

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Spotify makes it easier to share to TikTok

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And new FTC rules

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