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• Podscribe released its Q3 2024 performance benchmark report. Among the findings in US podcast advertising:
  • While host-read ads do work better, because they cost more, the cost-per-acquisition is actually the same as running produced spots. (And, as above, longer reads are more cost-effective).
  • Almost all advertisers only reach 25% of total monthly podcast listeners - so, there is significant potential for growth.
  • Amelia Coomber told Podnews that “audio is not a medium to be taken lightly. With all the stuff going on in the industry right now, I think (the report) is a shining light to speak to the exciting opportunity that is in front of us.”
• In the US, YouTube is the service used most often to listen to podcasts, according to Edison Research. 31% of weekly podcast listeners aged 13+ choose YouTube as the service they use most to listen to podcasts; Spotify is at 27%, and Apple Podcasts is at 15%, says the data.
• Attribution and analysis company Magellan AI has successfully joined the list of companies compliant with IAB Podcast Measurement Guidelines v2.2.
  • A number of companies have not recertified since 2021, although the IAB Tech Lab tells us that annual recertification remains a requirement. However, “a few companies” will be removed by the end of the year after choosing not to recertify, the company says, but wouldn’t confirm who.

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• BBC Studios are to use Triton Digital for audio advertising and analytics tools for podcasts outside the UK, making the broadcaster’s podcasts available to over fifty ad exchanges on Triton’s global Audio Marketplace. The BBC continues to work with Acast, who are “excited to continue working together to grow the podcast market globally”.
• Meanwhile, The Guardian has renewed its global podcast contract with Acast. The two companies have worked together since 2017.
• There have been a number of job cuts at Canada’s Rogers Sports & Media. Among wider cuts throughout the company, casualties include Jordan Heath-Rawlings - host and EP of The Big Story - alongside Mary Jubran, an Editor and Audience Development specialist, and producers Robyn Simon and Joseph Fish. Earlier this year, Rogers closed Pacific Content; the company’s strategy appears to be a focus on a shrinking radio business.
• Scott Galloway: “The Prof G podcast portfolio (Prof G, Prof G Markets, Raging Moderates) will register 2025 revenue of approximately $10m. We employ five producers, two analysts, and a technical director/sound engineer. I spend 8-12 hours (total) per week on the pod(casts)”.
• Spotify’s video strategy is critically examined by DWNLOAD Media’s Chris Peterson. “This strategy feels completely one-sided — focused on growing Spotify’s Premium product rather than growing the podcast industry,” he says.
• Like YouTube, Spotify is now displaying auto-generated wide, 14x9, thumbnails for video podcasts for some users.
• Tomorrow is the last day to submit your entry to The Ambies. The ceremony is in Chicago on Mar 31.
• Submissions are open for the fourth edition of the Ondas Podcast Awards. The awards for the Spanish-language sector are divided into three categories: general, specific and special.
• Popular iOS podcast app Overcast has received an update that adds listening stats and 48-hour listening history. The app has also received a price increase - Overcast Premium is up from $9.99 to $14.99 a year. (You absolutely don’t need Premium to use the app, but supporting developers is always a good idea).

Focus

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Tips and tricks

• Product management is hard (whether it’s your podcast or your website), especially when it comes to making choices about what you’re building or doing. Milly Botes, Acast’s VP of Product, suggests that you apply the same principles that you would apply to investment - diversification, rebalancing, and risk management.

Podcast News

• The Podglomerate has shared predictions for podcasting in 2025 sourced from eighteen industry leaders in its popular Podcast Perspectives show.
• From Puma, Green Flags launches today - hosted by Manchester United captain and Lioness, Maya Le Tissier, fashion and lifestyle Guru, Oli Bromfield and pro-footballer turned content creator, Moses Duckrell, it's a five-part video podcast to showcase how even small changes can make a big difference in reducing our environmental footprint. It's made by Mags Creative.
• Veteran radio DJ David Hamilton has launched a new podcast aimed at over 65 year-olds. Wise Words talks about maintaining friendships, cooking traditions, learning in later life and navigating modern technology. The podcast was launched following research that revealed the average over-65 spends less than an hour a day talking to other people.

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

Silver supporters: Storic Media, Audacia Audio, Bumper, Magellan AI, Jonekiri, The Podcast Haven, POW PR, PlayPodcast, Truefans, Deepcast, Cloud10, Gilded Audio, Huberman Lab, SoundStack, The Roost, Frequency, Podium , Ausha, Tink Media, Voxtopica, Red Seat Ventures, Storyboard, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Gumball, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Jam Street Media, Oxford Road, Heartcast Media50, Castos, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Ossa Collective, Wondery, Transistor, Podcast Taxi, Diversion Podcasts, Lemonada Media, Blubrry, Headliner, Rephonic, Double Elvis Productions, matchmaker.fm, Rhapsody Voices, Zvook, Optimal Living Daily, Hear.Here.Singapore, Podcast Partnership, Content10x, StreamGuys, Ad Results Media, She Podcasts, Cleanfeed, Revolver Podcasts, Lower Street, School of Podcasting, Podcast Movement, Sonix, Podigy, Adopter Media, 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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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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• 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 nine 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, SALT, Audiohook, audioBoom, Simplecast, Resound, Podscribe, RedCircle, Cohost, Steve Lack: Audio, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, Disctopia, Knucklehead Media Group, Podpage websites, Evergreen Podcasts, We Edit Podcasts, Libsyn

Silver supporters: Storic Media, Audacia Audio, Bumper, Magellan AI, Deepcast, Voxtopica, PlayPodcast, Storyboard, Red Seat Ventures, The Roost, Frequency, Cloud10, Gilded Audio, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Jonekiri, Podium , The Podcast Haven, POW PR, Truefans, SoundStack, Tink Media, Ausha, Huberman Lab, Gumball, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Ossa Collective, Diversion Podcasts, Double Elvis Productions, Castos, Rephonic, Headliner, Rhapsody Voices, matchmaker.fm, Transistor, Blubrry, Lemonada Media, Optimal Living Daily, Zvook, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Oxford Road, Heartcast Media50, Podcast Taxi, Jam Street Media, Wondery, Podcast Partnership, Hear.Here.Singapore, Content10x, Ad Results Media, StreamGuys, She Podcasts, Cleanfeed, Revolver Podcasts, School of Podcasting, Sonix, Podcast Movement, Lower Street, Adopter Media, Podigy, 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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• 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, Simplecast, RedCircle, Audiohook, Cohost, audioBoom, SALT, Podscribe, Resound, Steve Lack: Audio, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, Knucklehead Media Group, We Edit Podcasts, Podpage websites, Disctopia, Evergreen Podcasts, Libsyn

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

Readers and supporters

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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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Video’s Rise in Podcasting - NEW Data — Join Tom Webster from Sounds Profitable and Crooked Media's Giancarlo Bizzarro for a FREE webinar on Audio Primes, Video Primes and the role of video in discovery and engagement. Wed. Nov 20 at 2PM ET

• 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, SALT, Simplecast, Audiohook, Podscribe, RedCircle, Steve Lack: Audio, Resound, Cohost, audioBoom, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, We Edit Podcasts, Libsyn, Evergreen Podcasts, Knucklehead Media Group, Disctopia, Podpage websites

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

Readers and supporters

Support us

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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.

Tired of podcast hosting without support? — People come first at Rogue Media Network. We will answer your emails, calls, and talk to you one on one. Cheap hosting, good people,and priceless service. Contact us today! [email protected]

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Subscribe to the Kat & Moose Podcast! — KAT and MOOSE PODCAST has over 220 episodes exploring the quirks of being human. We call ourselves a MENTAL HEALTH COMEDY PODCAST and won a Signal Award for Best Buddy Podcast. Subscribe today!

• 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.

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

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

Readers and supporters

Support us

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Magellan AI expands podcast promo tracking, Wondercraft and Frequency enables AI-powered ad personalization, while researchers examine podcast audience inclusivity challenges.

Visit https://podnews.net/update/hall-of-fame-governors for all the links, and to get our newsletter.

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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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