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• In Germany, Hypecast - which makes software for corporate podcasts - looked back at its year, noting in an email that the company started 2025 saying "we will have to be laser-focused to not get distracted from all the things happening around us" - advice perhaps we could all gain from for next year. The company opened a podcast studio in Berlin in 2025, will expand to video next year, and gave us the present nobody else did: a decent picture for the top of today's newsletter! Fröhliche Weihnachten!
• Amplifi Media's Steven Goldstein suggests that 2026 is a new era in podcasting - the year of liquid content, "defined by how audiences behave—not by how the industry wishes they would".
• USA Today covers "how to find your next favorite podcast". "Look at the charts," try the recommendations", and "ask AI" are in their list; the example app used is Spotify.

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• Deloitte suggests that global ad revenue for "podcasts and vodcasts" will reach $5bn in 2026, up 20% year-on-year. The report suggests that consumers will also gravitate towards video - suggesting that users who watch vodcasts consume 1.5x more content than those who just listen to podcasts. The benefit of "something for your ears when your eyes are busy" is perhaps a disadvantage for advertisers - 44% of vodcast watchers say they don't multitask when watching, compared with 29% of podcast listeners. The report came out last month, but was reported again yesterday.
• Hernan Lopez, the former CEO of Wondery, has had all charges against him dropped by the US DoJ, which is to dismiss a long-running bribery case against him. He has written about the legal process, which has taken six years. He has also spoken with Variety.
• The BBC posted year-end figures for its proprietary podcast and radio app, BBC Sounds. Podcast plays on the platform, which is only available in the UK, grew by 15%. The most listened-to podcast (based on plays) was Newscast. The corporation hasn't broken out any play numbers for its podcasts.

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• The iHeartRadio app in the US is to support video podcasts in early 2026, the company has announced. "Creators will be able to upload their podcast episodes, including full-length video versions, through their standard RSS feeds for seamless distribution in iHeartRadio," the company says. This is properly open podcasting: video won't need to be hosted on iHeart itself. We've asked for technical details.
  • Some of iHeart's own video podcasts won't, however, be in the iHeartRadio app in video, after the company signed an exclusivity deal with Netflix earlier this month.
• Meta's Threads social network is to launch podcast previews - a way to upload clips to the platform - in a bid to attract more creators. It launched podcast links from user profiles last month, though this still hasn't rolled out to all users.
  • We've been here before, haven't we: Meta's Facebook announced podcast integration in April 2021; launched to invite-only podcasters in June 2021 but it only ever worked in the US; and they quickly lost interest, announcing its closure in May 2022. Look! A squirrel!
• Eric Nuzum predicts "the HBO of podcasting finally emerges" in 2026, which he describes as "someone refusing to settle for the version of podcasting we have now and insisting on the version we have not tried yet."

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• Bloomberg's Ashley Carman reports a new number from YouTube's Steve McLendon, in a paid article: People watched 700 million hours of YouTube Podcasts on TV in October. It's claimed that this is "nearly double the amount of time a year ago", and it's "the new late-night TV". (In YouTube, a podcast is called a podcast if it's marked as such by the creator).
  • It's a big number, so let's put it in context: in February this year, YouTube claimed over 1 billion hours of YouTube content is streamed on TVs every day (a figure from December 2024). 700 million hours a month means podcasts represent, at most, 2.3% of all TV streaming on YouTube. (Podcasts are 20% of all ad-funded audio).
  • In the first half of 2025, Squid Game season 2 was globally watched for 840 million hours on Netflix - that's 140 million hours a month, or "a fifth of all YouTube TV streaming of podcasting".
  • As for being the new late-night TV? Kimmel, Colbert, Fallon and The Daily Show in total attracted an average of 6.7 million viewers on broadcast TV in 2024, with 621 new episodes. That works out as 173 million hours each month (we're assuming that viewers stay for half an hour). But YouTube's 700 million is global at all hours of the day and night, and late night's 173 million is just the US.
• Acast has acquired German content producer Wake Word Studios. The company will be rebranded Acast Creative Studios. The company makes fifty shows with more than two million monthly listens; and a media planning platform, Podius, which will continue to be run independently.
• iHeartMedia has extended its relationship with Charlamagne The God, the host of Power 105's breakfast show in New York, and the popular The Breakfast Club podcast. (Just as well - the show's part of the Netflix/iHeart deal).

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• Senior executives from the biggest companies in podcasting give their highlights of 2025, and their predictions for the year to come, in a special episode of the Podnews Weekly Review, published today.
  • Ben Cave from Apple Podcasts underscores that podcasts are open by design; and teases us that the platform will "continue to innovate with new features". Buzzsprout's Jordan Blair highlights that we'll see an "absolute brick wall of AI fatigue"; Roman Wasenmüller from Spotify focuses on what he calls the authenticity and loyalty that has shaped podcasting; Shea Simpson from Amazon says that video will continue to evolve; Ellie from Pocket Casts wants to see more podcasters adopting new Podcasting 2.0 features; and slightly worryingly, Megan Lazovick from Edison Research threatens that the Infinite Dial presentation next year might be a musical. We hope she's joking. Tell us she's joking. The full set of guests are available wherever you get your podcasts.
• Netflix has signed a deal with Barstool Sports for three shows. The streamer will get exclusive access to the video from Pardon My Take, The Ryen Russillo Podcast, and Spittin’ Chiclets - the audio show continues everywhere.
  • As with all these deals, this effectively removes access to video versions of these shows to everywhere outside the US; Netflix's podcasts will initially be only available within the US, and the company only vaguely promises "additional markets to follow". Only 27% of Netflix subscribers are in the US.
• Magellan AI's November 2025 rankings have been released. BetterHelp was the top podcast spender, spending $5.9mn. Washable Sofas was #2, increasing their spend to $5.8mn. And both Aura Frames and The Coca-Cola Company appear high on the top movers & shakers list.

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• Why would anyone knowingly buy ads on a platform that works up to 25% worse? New research today from Oxford Road suggests that, in spite of the hype around YouTube, ads on YouTube shows are less effective than on audio-only podcasts. The data is based on more than a thousand campaigns - and shows that video comes at a heavy cost to advertisers, who might be better buying audio instead.
  • The data is also covered in the Wall Street Journal today.
• Initial Group has acquired podcast and YouTube producer Silver Tribe Media. No terms were given; the company will be called Initial Digital. Silver Tribe’s clients include Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios, and Colin Cowherd’s The Volume, among others.
• Now, short-form video is coming to books. Audible is adding swipeable vertical videos in its app, including trailers, author interviews, and behind-the-scenes clips, for select publishers. Here's an example of what you might see.

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• Netflix and iHeartMedia have announced an exclusive video partnership for top iHeartPodcasts. iHeart continues to retain audio-only rights and distribution; but the 14 announced shows will be removed from YouTube.
  • Some of the shows that are not part of the deal include On Purpose with Jay Shetty with 16mn views over the past 30 days, but which isn't headed to Netflix. Nor is Club Shay Shay (20mn), Drink Champs (2.2mn), or Las Culturistas (3mn). One of iHeart's biggest shows is also obviously missing: Stuff You Should Know doesn't currently make video versions of its podcast. (There are more shows to be announced though.)
  • How big is Netflix? In 2023, Podnews built a tool using Netflix's own data to help compare the size of Netflix shows to podcasts; our own Podnews Weekly Review is bigger than 1-in-5 of all the shows on Netflix, despite only getting 26,500 downloads a month.
• Good news from the UK: after a lobbying campaign by AudioUK, the UK Government has granted a seat on the Creative Industries Council to podcasting and audio, representing a significant recognition of the creative, cultural and economic value of podcasting and audio. It will allow the industry to engage directly with policymakers.
• The BBC's future funding model from 2028 is the subject of a green paper and public consultation from the UK government. (In the UK, "green papers" propose policy ideas for discussion and consultation). Radiocentre, the UK commercial radio trade body, has suggested that ad funding should be ruled-out; earlier this year, after considerable industry pressure, the BBC abandoned plans to place ads in its podcasts in the UK.
  • The BBC currently earns most of its funding from a $233 "licence fee" directly from UK households - which raises $5bn per year. This week, US President Donald Trump announced plans to sue the BBC for $10bn for a misleading edit of a speech in a TV program which did not air in the US.

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• Some of the best performing podcasts for advertisers are tried and trusted shows that have been established for more than five years. That's according to Oxford Road's ORBIT data, which draws on $1.6bn+ in ad campaigns. Top performing shows include The Tim Ferris Show, Young and Profiting with Hala Taha, and Crime Junkie - all of whom have been podcasting since before March 2020, and out-perform newer shows.
• The Washington Post knew that its AI-produced podcasts were going to be poor after internal tests but launched them anyway, reports Futurism. A piece in LAist quotes Gabriel Soto from Edison Research - 1 in 5 podcast consumers say they've listened to an AI-narrated podcast; but many prefer the human connection, he says.
• The new features in Apple Podcasts makes the app "finally good again", says HowToGeek. The automated chapter feature is "really slick", according to none other than Podcasting 2.0's Dave Jones, who says that he's now using Apple Podcasts for his work-related podcasts. (You get the new features by updating your device to v26.2 - chapters and timed links are also visible on Mac using 26.2 as well).

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• 2025's best true crime podcasts have been announced by the true crime review podcast Crime Writers On. The podcast has reviewed more than a thousand true-crime and crime-adjacent podcasts. We publish the full list today.
• iOS podcast app Castro has blocked Inception Point AI podcasts from its app search results. In a blog post, Castro's Dustin Bluck says that Inception Point AI "seems to be keying on popular searches in order to flood search results and deceive users."
  • Is the accusation fair? A search in Apple Podcasts for Charlie Kirk brings up four shows from Inception Point AI in the results - Charlie Kirk Biography Flash, Charlie Kirk, Charlie Kirk Death and Charlie Kirk Manhunt. The company's CEO, Jeanine Wright - who is a former legal attorney - has been clear about the company's SEO policy, saying in an interview for the Podnews Weekly Review podcast: "When people typed Charlie Kirk into Apple and Spotify, we were three of the top five shows - even beating out the Daily Mail." Only one of those shows makes any mention of AI in the audio; another claims it has "personal interviews" and "a team of expert researchers and journalists".
  • As of checking today, Inception Point AI's biography channel contains 733 shows; the vast majority of which are, according to the company, not checked by humans before publishing.
• Apple released iOS v26.2 at the end of last week. In Apple Podcasts, it rolls out automated chapters for every podcast, as well as "timed links", which is particularly helpful for guests, allowing links to their podcasts to appear when they're mentioned in the audio. We've updated our FAQ. The v26.2 update also includes more than 25 different security fixes, so we'd suggest you update as soon as you're able to.
  • To update your iPhone or iPad to v26.2, open the Settings app, choose "General" then "Software Update", and pull down the screen to check for the latest. (Do it from a fast wifi connection!)

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• List of 75+ Brands Buying Podcast Ads Now — Handpicked list with decision-maker contacts included. Perfect for podcast ad agencies and podcast networks.
• Free: Podcast Marketing Playbook — Learn what the top shows do differently. Free playbook from the team behind 100M+ downloads.

Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, Sounds Profitable, PodMatch, The $100 MBA, Cloud10, The Podglomerate, Podscribe, Companion Arts, RedCircle, PAVE Studios, Simplecast, Audiohook, Cohost, Resound, SALT, Steve Lack: Audio, Magid, audioBoom, Riverside.fm, Jar Podcast Solutions, Podchaser, Awesound, We Edit Podcasts, Podpage websites, Knucklehead Media Group, Acast, Evergreen Podcasts, Disctopia

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

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• In the US, there are almost twice as many men creating podcasts as women, according to The Creators 2025, a new study from Sounds Profitable into the creator ecosystem for podcasting, which became available to all yesterday. The full report is a free download.
  • While there is woefully poor gender balance in podcast creation, there is growing creator participation from multicultural communities, the study suggests, with the number of Hispanic, Black and Asian creators outpacing White creators. White creators also are less likely to create video.
  • The data also shows that one in three podcast creators quit. That figure is higher for those aged 55+, or for those who identify LGBTQ+.
  • “Women aren’t quitting podcasting more than men — they’re just not starting. That’s an entry problem, not a commitment problem,” said Sounds Profitable’s Tom Webster, suggesting that there are structural barriers to entry. “We lose something when voices opt out before they ever opt in.”
• Good news for fans of Nerdette - the show is to relaunch as an independent production, called Happy to Be Here. Nerdette was the casualty of cuts at WBEZ announced in April 2024; the host, Greta Johnsen, was able to use the old Nerdette feed for this new show.
• The Fiction Podcast Weekly newsletter is now independent. Expect resources and news for fiction podcast makers.

> > > Read more of today’s podcast industry news stories on the Podnews website: and get our free daily newsletter.

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• Happy Holidays from John Wordock Media — Did your podcast or network underperform this year? Make 2026 better. Consultant John Wordock lives where content strategy meets audience and revenue. So contact him today. All meetings confidential.
• Free Tap-to-Share Podcast Beacon for Podfest — Headed to Podfest? Get a free event-use Podcast Beacon to instantly share your show with one tap. Try it at Podfest, then share feedback or a post to upgrade to a permanent Conntap device—free!

Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, Sounds Profitable, PodMatch, The $100 MBA, Cloud10, The Podglomerate, Steve Lack: Audio, Podscribe, PAVE Studios, Audiohook, Companion Arts, Magid, RedCircle, audioBoom, Cohost, SALT, Resound, Simplecast, Riverside.fm, Jar Podcast Solutions, Podchaser, Awesound, We Edit Podcasts, Acast, Disctopia, Podpage websites, Evergreen Podcasts, Knucklehead Media Group

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

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• The inductees of the 2026 Podcast Hall of Fame have been announced, recognising what the organisers call “visionary creators, innovators, and advocates whose work has shaped the modern podcasting landscape”. The Hall of Fame Ceremony is at PodFest, Jan 16 2026; the evening will be hosted by John Lee Dumas, founder and host of Entrepreneurs on Fire.
  • This year’s inductees are: \ Mark Asquith, Founder of Captivate \ Arielle Nisenblatt, founder, EarBuds Podcast Collective \ Dan Carlin, Creator, Hardcore History \ James Cridland, Editor, Podnews \ Pat Flynn, Founder, Smart Passive Income\ Julie Samuels, President/CEO Tech:NYC, Senior Staff Podcast Troll Attorney, EFF \ Veronica Belmont, CNET’s Buzz Out Loud, Sword & Laser, Mahalo Daily, co-host of Tekzilla \ Sarah van Mosel, former VP, Sponsorship at New York Public Radio, Acast, Stitcher, iHeart, SiriusXM \ Paul Colligan, President, Podcast Partnership \ Kerri Hoffman, CEO, PRX \ Dan Miller, host, 48 Days to the Work You Love, in memoriam - to be presented by Dave Ramsey
  • Speaking of which: Podfest’s pricing goes up on Friday. As a Podnews newsletter subscriber, you can save a further 10% over here.
• Libsyn has published its new pricing on its website. Its “bare essentials” plan has been removed.
• YouTube’s Neal Mohan has been named TIME’s 2025 CEO of the Year.

> > > Read more of today’s podcast industry news stories on the Podnews website: and get our free daily newsletter.

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• Podcast Growth & Monetization tips every Thursday! — Subscribe to the FREE Podcasting Business School newsletter and get fresh tips every Thursday for podcast growth, monetization, and online business strategies. Join over 4,000+ Pod Pals on this list.
• List of 75+ Brands Buying Podcast Ads Now — Handpicked list with decision-maker contacts included. Perfect for podcast ad agencies and podcast networks.
• Precision Denoising with Auphonic — Select exactly where noise is removed in your recording and which model is used. Clean speech, music, and ambience differently with precision. More control. More creative freedom. Try it now!

Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, PodMatch, Sounds Profitable, The $100 MBA, Cloud10, The Podglomerate, RedCircle, Podscribe, Cohost, audioBoom, Resound, Steve Lack: Audio, Companion Arts, SALT, Simplecast, Magid, Audiohook, PAVE Studios, Riverside.fm, Jar Podcast Solutions, Podchaser, Awesound, Disctopia, Acast, Knucklehead Media Group, We Edit Podcasts, Podpage websites, Evergreen Podcasts

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

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