Today in the business of podcasting:

• Soros Fund Management is leading an investment round in MeidasTouch Network, the progressive media company behind The MeidasTouch Podcast. The move follows prior Soros investments in podcast-related companies including Audacy and Crooked Media.
• Marketing agency Right Side Up has published a newsletter revisiting its generative engine optimization (GEO) framework, outlining how brands can improve their visibility in AI-generated answers from tools like ChatGPT and Google. The framework emphasizes content structure, technical foundations, and third-party brand mentions across the web.
• Independent Australian podcast network Mashed Pumpkin Productions saw its show What I Survived reach number 31 on the overall U.S. Apple Podcasts chart, number one in Documentary Podcasts, and number four in Society and Culture within 47 days of launch. Host Jack Laurence credits an Apple Podcasts editorial feature on the platform's U.S. homepage for driving over 440,000 cumulative downloads.
• An anonymous podcast producer who worked on multiple hit narrative shows during the podcast boom recounts being laid off from two major companies as narrative podcast opportunities contracted around 2023. Published in The Hollywood Reporter, the piece examines the high cost of narrative podcast production and the industry's shift toward celebrity and influencer-hosted formats.

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Today in the business of podcasting:

• YouTube is rolling out new TV features including Stations (a FAST-style 24/7 channel hub), TV Companion (phone-to-TV interactivity), and voice-enabled Ask chatbot support on smart TVs.
• Despite sports podcasting's success in the U.S., sports podcasts barely register in Latin America's Spotify charts, but Genuina Media's David R. González sees the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a major growth opportunity for LatAm sports podcasters and advertisers.
• Spotify has launched a beta Prompted Playlist feature for podcasts, letting Premium users in seven markets use generative AI to build and auto-update personalized podcast playlists.
• Podcast strategist Steve Raizes shares how two structural changes, cold opens and episode callbacks, helped a struggling show achieve a 264% increase in cumulative downloads and views.
• Audacy is cutting jobs across its broadcast radio division and consolidating around a regional leadership structure, with the podcasting side of the business appearing unaffected.

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Today in the business of podcasting:

• Red Seat Ventures has launched Speakeasy, an all-in-one podcast hosting, distribution, and monetization platform supporting RSS, HLS, and video formats. CEO Chris Balfe says the platform addresses the growing complexity of podcast distribution beyond the traditional RSS feed.
• Sports podcast audiences show stronger athlete loyalty than general sports fans, with 76% of sports podcast listeners continuing to follow traded athletes versus 51% of general fans, per Edison Research. Sport Social Podcast Network Director of Sport Jim Salveson argues broadcasters can use podcasting to reach younger, mobile-first, and international audiences.
• OpenAI has acquired Silicon Valley tech podcast TBPN in a deal valued in the low hundreds of millions of dollars, with an editorial independence covenant and an ad-free model in place. Industry observers are divided on whether the acquisition makes financial sense or represents a long-term investment in AI-friendly media reach.
• The TuneIn broadcaster portal has reopened after closing in February 2024, following Stingray Group's acquisition of the platform in November 2025. TuneIn remains a key podcast directory for listeners on Tesla and Sonos, making it a worthwhile submission target for podcast publishers.
• Spotify's new "Sound-On Era" report, developed with Bold Insight and based on surveys of 5,000 consumers and 105 media buyers across multiple markets, finds 86% of Spotify users mute other platforms to listen to audio. The report positions audio advertising as a high-recall, high-attention alternative to digital and social video ads, with 75% of consumers reporting stronger memory of audio content over social media content.

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This week in the business of podcasting:

• beehiiv has launched podcast hosting and monetization, letting newsletter creators consolidate their audio content into one platform with IAB compliant infrastructure and built-in growth tools.
• New Sounds Profitable research reveals that podcast discovery relies heavily on algorithmic amplification, leaving moderate and centrist audiences without the institutional infrastructure needed to bring them into the medium.
• A 2025 survey shows podcast listenership in Japan has grown to 18.2%, with the highest adoption among Gen Z listeners aged 15 to 19 and strong representation among corporate decision-makers.
• Industry analyst Ben Robins argues that podcast advertising effectiveness data is being hoarded by major players, limiting market growth at a time when audio connection metrics could attract more ad spend.

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This week in the business of podcasting:

• Newsletter and blogging platform beehiiv has launched integrated podcast hosting and monetization services, with CEO Tyler Denk positioning podcasts as a core product pillar alongside its newsletter tools and IAB certification now underway.
• Sounds Profitable's new research report The Last Quarter finds that the 25% of Americans who have never listened to a podcast skew politically centrist, a group that algorithmically driven platforms are poorly designed to reach.
• Spotify's programmatic advertising platform SAX grew its monthly active advertiser count 222% year-over-year since its April 2025 launch, though media buyers say host-read podcast advertising still favors direct deals over programmatic buying.

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This week in the business of podcasting:

• Ben Robins shares his takeaways from Advertising Week Europe, arguing the podcast advertising industry is data-rich but insight poor. Sounds Profitable's Tom Webster will debut the 2026 UK Advertising Landscape Study at The Podcast Show London in May.
• Spotify has launched interactive carousel ads and branded playlist takeovers for advertisers, adding A/B testing and automated bidding to its Ads Manager platform.
• A federal judge has issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration's executive order cutting federal funding for NPR and PBS, though the operational impact remains uncertain as an appeal is expected.
• Podcast brands get into the April Fools' spirit: Noiser, Airship, and Magellan AI turn a History Daily episode into a 1572-themed ad experiment, while Headliner announces "Full Circle," a tool that converts video back into video.
• Podnews is accepting submissions for its fifth annual podcast platform report card through April 30, with results to be presented at The Podcast Show London in May.

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Podcast holdouts aren’t missing content. They’re missing a signal strong enough to cut through the platforms they already use—and moderate voices can’t generate that signal.

Why do politically moderate and center-right Americans make up a disproportionate share of podcast holdouts, even as right-leaning shows dominate the charts? Data from The Last Quarter reveals that the gap isn't about ideology or content, but about discovery architecture: the platforms conservative audiences rely on surface content algorithmically, while podcasting demands initiative. The real problem isn't a content gap but a distribution problem that leaves center-right listeners with no clear on-ramp to the medium.

• Written by Tom Webster
• Edited and narrated by Gavin Gaddis
• Text and audio edited by Gavin Gaddis

Click here to register for the Audio Primes webinar.

Find the full article here on Sounds Profitable.

This week in the business of podcasting:

• Beehiiv Enters Podcasting: Newsletter platform Beehiiv is quietly recruiting independent podcasters from Substack to join its upcoming podcast program, with a full launch expected this week. Podnews Weekly Review will feature an exclusive interview with Beehiiv CEO Tyler Denk this Friday.
• JAR Podcast Solutions Launches JAR Replay: JAR Replay is a new podcast audience retargeting tool that uses listening signals to serve Visual Audio ads to recent podcast listeners in premium mobile environments. The product lets branded podcasts stay ad-free while still monetizing audiences post-listen at a $12 CPM, including ad production.
• IAB Identifies Ad Fragmentation as Top Barrier to Video Ad Growth: IAB CEO David Cohen says streaming, connected TV, social video, and creator content have converged for consumers, but ad buying remains fragmented across platforms. The IAB is pushing for standardized frameworks across key categories in 2025, with creator-driven content measurement and sales being the most relevant development for podcast advertising growth.

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This week in the business of podcasting:

• Podcast Movement Evolutions at SXSW 2026 recordings are now live: The official Podcast Movement YouTube channel has published a playlist of 25 session videos, ranging from 10-minute Discovery Track talks to full 50-minute panels.
• Japan podcast listenership is growing, especially among younger audiences: An annual survey by Otonal and The Asahi Shimbun found national podcast consumption reached 18.2% in 2025, with 15-19-year-olds hitting 40.5% usage. Podcast listeners also over-index as corporate decision-makers, ranking second among seven major media types.
• HLS video podcast adoption tracker launches on Livewire Labs: Researcher John Spurlock is tracking HTTP Live Streaming video podcasts on Apple Podcasts, identifying 78 shows and 1,070 episodes as of March 29, with detailed data on hosting platforms, codecs, and video formats.
• IAB NewFronts 2026 signals a shift toward always-on ad buying: Ad Results Media reports that traditional upfront tentpole buys are fading as connected TV and creator-led media become ongoing investments, with NewFronts moving earlier in the year to reflect the new buying landscape.
• Versant is reportedly pursuing Vox Media's podcast network: The CNBC and MS NOW parent company is in talks to acquire Vox Media's podcast business, aligning with CEO Mark Lazarus's goal to diversify revenue away from pay-TV and expand Versant's existing audio footprint.

To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

This week in the business of podcasting:

• Apple launched its new HLS video experience for Apple Podcasts with the iOS 26.4 update, bringing full video podcast support to iPhones — with hosting platforms Podspace, Riverside, Ausha, and Firstory joining the growing list of supported services.
• Sounds Profitable's Tom Webster debuts new research on podcasting's "last quarter" — the 25% of American adults who have never listened to a podcast — revealing a Spanish-language opportunity, a word-of-mouth "Bubble Problem," and a case for leading promotional efforts with topics over technology on platforms like YouTube and Facebook.
• Spotify laid off 15 employees in its podcast group on March 23, primarily from The Ringer and Spotify Studios, with the company describing the cuts as an alignment move rather than cost-cutting.
• YouTube has rebranded its BrandConnect creator monetization tool as Creator Partnerships, adding a Gemini-powered suite of influencer matching and campaign management features.

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Today in the business of podcasting:

• Apple Podcasts Video Launch: Apple released iOS 18.4 with HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) support for Apple Podcasts video, with 48 podcasts available at launch including 31 hosted on Acast, though macOS and Apple TV support is not yet available.
• FIFA World Cup 2026 Podcast Advertising Opportunity: With $10.5 billion in incremental global ad spend forecast during the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarter, brands are expanding beyond live match broadcasts into companion media like sports podcasts, creating a major growth opportunity for podcast advertising revenue.
• Audio Advertising Spend Gap Study: Audion and WPP Media released a French-market study revealing that audio accounts for 34% of media consumption time but only 6% of advertising revenue, highlighting a significant audio advertising spend gap similar to trends seen in the U.S. market.

To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.