The iOS 14.7 update by Apple may already be showing up in podcast download numbers. The latest software version released last week fixed a problem that had been causing some podcasters to have smaller than normal download numbers. Now after several weeks of reporting declines, Podtrac says among the publishers it measures downloads grew three percent week-to-week. Read more
The sports podcast genre is getting its own awards show. Benchmark, the company behind the 20-year old Sport Industry Awards – has organized a new independent body called the Sports Podcast Group from creators around the globe. Its first effort will be the Sports Podcast Awards set to take place in February 2022. The Sports Podcast Group is led by former Spotify U.K. executive Dylan Pugh. Read more
SiriusXM, long synonymous with satellite radio, has become a bigger player in podcasting as it has gobbled up Stitcher and Pandora. How are things going? It laid out an update to investors showing not only growing revenue numbers, but also sliding Pandora users. SiriusXM also revealed how much it paid for 99% Invisible and updated the Stitcher price tag. Here are six takeaways from SiriusXM’s second quarter report to investors – Read more
The first challenge to getting someone to listen to a podcast is their awareness that it exists. Or that a new episode has been added to their cue. To help that cause, Spotify is adding the What’s New section to its app that will showcase the new episodes available from a podcast a user follows. It will also alert users of new songs from artists they have liked. Read more
Since debuting its first YouTube channel in May, the Locked On Podcast Network has generated more than 160,000 total hours of watch time and more than one million video views, which average more than 10 minutes apiece. Based on that early success, Locked On is expanding its YouTube footprint. The Tegna-owned company says 20 of its podcasts will now be available as YouTube channels. Read more
Thirteen podcast and content creators have become the first group of publishers that are making their paid content available via the Spotify app. The streamer announced in April that it was opening its system to third-party services in a move Spotify said would help broaden the distribution for creators who offer subscriber-only content. Read more
To mark the 40th anniversary of the birth of MTV, iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman takes listeners down memory lane to his days as an MTV co-founder on an encore episode of his podcast, “Math & Magic: Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing.” The episode tells the story of the beginning of MTV through the eyes of the people who were actually there when it happened. Read more
Apple Podcasts alerted publishers earlier this month that download numbers reported by third-party hosting providers may have been smaller than they actually were because of a now-repaired glitch in a recent iOS software update. Among those to have been affected was Podtrac, which has shown a consistent downward trend in the year-over-year growth rate of downloads since the beginning of June. But it says a deeper look shows June downloads actually were up 5% when accounting for the Apple problems. Read more
Sports Illustrated has struck a deal with iHeartMedia to stake a bigger claim in podcasting. The multiyear agreement will see the co-production of at least eight new original podcasts while the iHeartPodcast Network will pick up distribution duties for Sports Illustrated’s existing podcasts. There are also mutual marketing and promotion commitments between the two companies for all joint projects. Read more
Audacy is launching a new multiplatform podcast discovery show called Podsauce that will have both audio and video versions – as a well as an abbreviated “Podsauce Minute” feature that will air on Audacy’s portfolio of 235 radio stations. Hosted by TV personalities Dax Holt and Alesha Reneé, the one-hour program is designed to help consumers sort through all the new series that are becoming available each week. Read more
Comscore’s suite of tools to help brands avoid content they deem “unsafe” is heading to Acast. The podcaster has signed to use Comscore's natural language processing, machine learning, and AI for direct and programmatic ad sales. Taken together, they say it will enable brands to ensure that their advertising appears within podcast episodes that align with their brand preferences. Read more
With more than two million podcasts now in existence, it is getting harder and harder to come up with a show name that has not already been used. Just ask actor Kristen Bell. She has been forced to rename the podcast she hosts with friend Monica Padman after their show title – Shattered Glass – ran into another four-year old series of the same name. Their show is now called We Are Supported By. Read more
MTV is reviving its long-running “Behind the Music” series as a podcast. It is teaming up with iHeartMedia to adapt the original documentary series into a podcast... Mouth Media Network CEO Marco Raco has joined Linktree as Head of Audio... Tanzina Vega has exited from The Takeaway, the daily podcast and public radio show she has hosted for WNYC Studios since 2018... Targetspot has hired Laurence Henuzet as its new Operations Director. Read more
Podcast advertising continues to be a good investment for marketers according to Podsights’ latest quarterly analysis of how their ad spending plays with listeners. Its latest benchmark report says brands received an average $2.23 return for every $1 of their podcast advertising investment as the medium scored high on converting listeners into buyers with a 97% lift rate on purchases after hearing a podcast ad. Read more
Are podcast ads reaching the same ears too many times? Podsights is offering what it says is a “call to action” to podcast publishers from the data collected in its quarterly industry analysis. In the latest quarter the average was a 3.55 average frequency, above the two to three ad exposure frequency rate it recommends. “Perhaps we are hitting the same audience a little bit too much,” said Matt Drengler, Director of Partnerships at Podsights. Read more
The delayed Tokyo Olympics finally get under way today with the opening ceremony and NBC is making podcasts part of its media offerings from the games. It has launched a pair of limited-run daily series focused on an NBC Olympics Channel on Apple Podcasts. There’s also a five-part series from an NPR producer, a special episode of How To, and a new feature from Ivy.fm to help listeners find Olympic content. Read more
Andrea Bernstein and Ilya Marritz, who created the award-winning Trump, Inc. podcast for WNYC Studios before leaving New York Public Radio last month, will keep their focus on Washington as they set out to create their next show. Bernstein and Marritz have signed with Audacy’s Pineapple Street Studios to create an investigative document series on the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The yet-to-be-titled series will launch in early 2022. Read more
Apple Podcasts Head of Editorial James Boggs has left the company... Google has announced it will be transitioning FeedBurner onto what it says will be a “more stable, modern infrastructure”... Spotify has signed a first-look deal with the U.K. podcast production house Noiser... The Wondery series Dirty John is getting a prequel... The Guardian newspaper has announced two new hosts for its flagship daily news podcast Today in Focus. Read more
Among the new shows this week is a series that will look for the truth behind a serial arson case in Southern California. There’s also a behind-the-scenes series of The Daily Show. A podcast tackling the two worlds that Latinx live in. A series that looks at some of the most infamous deathbed confessions. A series that features a pair of Beverly Hills doctors. And a yoga show for kids. Here is some of what is new in podcasts this week. Read more
Darren Davis, COO of iHeartMedia’s Digital Audio Group, has decided to step down from his role effective Jan. 1, 2022, the company announced Friday. Davis has been with iHeart for 30 years – CEO Bob Pittman says he has in essence “grown up through our organization” – starting as a programming intern in 1992 at WASH-FM and rising through a succession of senior management positions. Davis will continue with the company as an advisor. Read more
The quarterly Media Monitors Podcast Listener survey shows a turnaround for The Joe Rogan Experience which posted softer numbers earlier this year. “It appears his listenership has returned to levels last seen in Q4 2020,” says Media Monitors, which says Rogan once again had the top-ranked series. The Daily was second, followed by Audiochuck’s Crime Junkie. There was also a rebound for the True Crime genre. Overall, Media Monitors says iHeartMedia had the most shows in its top 200 with 17, followed by NPR, with 12. Read more
Audio Up, created by Jared Gutstadt in 2019, this week scored another big hit when it announced it was bringing horror and true crime legend Stephen King’s words to life in a podcast partnership with iHeart. It is the latest in a string of partnerships that has brought many big names to the medium. Podcast News Daily recently caught up with Gutstadt about his move from the jingle business to podcasting, and where he sees Audio Up heading. Read more
The conservative political podcast This is America with Rich Valdes has signed with YEA Networks to handle its hosting and sales representation. It is the first political podcast for YEA Networks whose lineup mainly includes unscripted shows by a variety of talent from radio, television, and social media. “We look forward to adding more shows with a variety of viewpoints,” said YEA Networks President Shawn Nunn. Read more
Former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen are morphing their podcast Renegades: Born in the USA into a new book. In partnership with the Obama’s Higher Ground media arm, Penguin Random House will publish a collection of their conversations in a book of the same name on Oct. 26. The podcast featured Obama and Springsteen talking about their backgrounds and lived experiences, finding they have much in common. Read more
Canadian broadcaster Corus is making a commitment to podcasts by giving its Curiouscast podcast network a regular timeslot on the radio. The Curiouscast Podcast Hour will air each weekend on eight news-talk stations and feature some of the best podcasters have to offer. Corus National Director of Talk Radio Larry Gifford says after taking radio content to make podcasts, the time has come to head in the other direction. Read more
Bloomberg Television has abruptly pulled the plug on a new TV series it planned with Scott Galloway, the host of the Vox Media podcast The Prof G Pod and New York’s Pivot podcast. The Daily Beast reports the decision came after the marketing professor posted what it describes as a “bizarre, sexually charged” Twitter post to promote the show. It was apparently too much for the button-down business network. Read more
Work from home is morphing back into working from the office for a lot of Americans, and in response theSkimm is recasting its series Skimm'd From the Couch into a new weekly career podcast for its core Millennial female demo. It has launched 9 to 5ish with theSkimm as a show that features conversations with female leaders about the defining moments in their careers and offer listeners actionable advice on topics like navigating pay disparity and taking maternity leave. Read more
The online mental health service provider BetterHelp was podcasting’s biggest advertiser during June. It was the tenth consecutive month that the brand has topped Magellan AI’s list of the biggest spenders in the medium. It estimates BetterHelp spent $6.56 million during June. NBCUniversal, ZipRecruiter, Hello Fresh, and ExpressVPN rounded out the top five. And a tech brand topped Magellan’s ranking of movers and shakers for a second month. Read more
Netflix has had 4.2 million downloads to date of the podcasts it has created and the recent hiring of N’Jeri Eaton to lead the company’s growing podcast business signals it aims to grow those numbers. But Netflix CEO Reed Hasting says the aim of podcasts remains to serve as a promotional tool for its video streaming service, not to make money on its own. “We’re a one product company with a bunch of supporting elements,” he said. Read more
The king of the horror genre, Stephen King, has dominated books and movies for decades. Now his stories are coming to podcasting. King’s short story “Strawberry Spring” is getting its first ever adaptation as a new scripted podcast. Audio Up Media and iHeartMedia are teaming up with television producer Lee Metzger to create an eight-episode podcast series set for release later this year. Read more
The newsletter service Substack began offering creators free podcast hosting services last December, now it is launching a new podcast network. It has teamed up with a pair of public radio veterans to create Booksmart Studios with five shows cued up with an optional subscription offering. Read more
Crooked Media has partnered with Acast to monetize its podcasts internationally. The move would enable ad buyers to reach English-speaking listeners in Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand for the first time on Crooked Media shows like Pod Save America and Pod Save The World. Read more
Libsyn is making it easier for podcasters to design artwork. It has struck a deal with the online design and publishing platform Canva to use the free Canva plan levels to design show and episode artwork that is then published directly to the Libsyn platform. The company says the integration will not only make it easier to create the required artwork to have a podcast listed, but also meet required technical specs. Read more
Top 10 all-time NBA scorer and ten-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony is joining the growing ranks of sports stars launching a podcast. Anthony and his multi-platform content company Creative 7 are partnering with Cadence13 to launch a podcast version of his viral wine-focused YouTube series “What’s In Your Glass?” Read more
The Interactive Advertising Bureau will use the fall IAB Podcast Upfront as the foundation for a newly expanded fall marketplace for digital advertisers. The four-day affair kicks off Sept. 9-10 with the 2021 IAB Podcast Upfront Fall. As part of the event, the IAB will release its first-ever Audio Landscape report, examining consumption trends, ad spend patterns and measurement. Read more
Apple has released the latest update to its operating system that comes packed with a fix that has been causing some podcasters to have fewer than normal downloads. The iOS 14.7 update also has a few other updates for Apple Podcasts. The podcast library will now allow users to choose whether they want to view only the shows they follow, or all shows. Read more
Audioboom reports its revenue during the first six months of the year nearly doubled compared to a year ago as it not only set a record during the second quarter compared to a year ago – when the pandemic’s impact was the most significant – but the entire first half. That delivered a second consecutive profitable quarter. Audioboom also saw the number of advertisers on its roster top three hundred, pushing up its ad fill-rate. It also says programmatic ad sales accounted for 9% of ad revenue during the first half. Read more
Audible today announced a multi-project first look development deal with Flavor Unit, the production company founded by Queen Latifah and Shakim Compere. Audible and Flavor Unit will create a slate of audio-only original projects. “A common thread within all of these shows will be to share stories that bring hope and entertainment to those at home who’ve had a tough year,” said Queen Latifah. Read more
Voyage Media is an incubator of original film and television content. Now it is casting its sights on audio. The company has launched a podcast production division, debuting with three series including two true crime podcasts and a third show featuring true war stories. “Podcasts offer uniquely unlimited mobility,” says Voyage CEO Nat Mundel. Read more
Gastropod, one of the of the largest food podcasts, is forming a long-term partnership with Eater and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Launched in 2014 and hosted by journalists Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley, the show will turn over its sales, marketing, and distribution duties to the Vox Media Podcast Network. It will also look for editorial collaborations and extensions with the Vox Media-owned Eater. Read more
The conservative news site The Daily Wire has entered the daily news podcast race. It launched The Morning Wire on Monday. The podcast will cover politics, culture, education, sports and other topics. Each episode will run about 15 minutes. The Daily Wire is pitching it as an alternative to shows like the New York Time’s The Daily and NPR’s Up First. Read more
Accessing one of dozens of podcasts from the sports site The Athletic is going to cost more. The subscription site is raising its annual price to $72. It previously had cost $60. The monthly subscription rate will remain $8 per month. The Athletic CEO Alex Mather says the rate hike puts the price more in line with its resources. Read more
Radio may be a hundred years old, but how audio advertising works is quickly evolving as consumers have more ways to access content whether it’s from their car radio, their phone or smart speaker. In a back-to-basics primer on how to approach audio advertising, one of the primary messages was the need to tailor audio ads in a way that best resonate with consumers, which often means first acknowledging it’s not simply television without pictures. Read more
Ashley Flowers, whose Crime Junkie series spawned the creation of the Audiochuck studio, has created a nonprofit to help victims of unsolved crimes. Season of Justice is dedicated to providing funding to law enforcement agencies and families to help solve cold cases. Season of Justice has so far distributed more than $226,000 for 31 unsolved cases. Read more
She Rates Dogs co-host Mat George was struck and killed by a car Saturday in Los Angeles in what police say was a hit and run incident. He was 26. George was crossing in in an unmarked crosswalk when he was struck by a white BMW. “Whenever you think of him in the future, please do talk about him,” cohost Michaela Okland wrote on Twitter. Read more
Start your engines. As a go-to resource in the automotive world, TheDetroitBureau.com is launching a podcast designed to be heard… where else, but behind the wheel. Each Monday, new shows open with a rundown of the important and interesting stories of the past week, followed by a deep dive into the top story and an auto review. Read more
Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Longreads, and Tumblr, has acquired podcast player company Pocket Casts, ending a sale process that began at the start of the year. Terms of the deal were not announced. “We will explore building deep integrations with WordPress.com and Pocket Casts, making it easier to distribute and listen to podcasts,” it said in the announcement. Read more
Scribd Inc., an online platform for podcasts, e-books, audio books, magazines and news, is in discussions to potentially go public in 4Q 2021, according to Bloomberg. The company has held talks with potential advisers about an initial public offering or merger “with a blank-check company.” Scribd could be valued at about $1 billion. Read more
Content producers, distributors, streamers and buyers across all platforms were present for the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) virtual event “ContentCast: The Business of Podcasting Content.” The forum’s focus was on the intersection of audio and television, both in taking IP from podcast to screen and as a powerful tool for television brands to service their audience. Read more
Radio One news/talk WBT-AM Charlotte is teaming with Radio One and Matt Doherty to launch “The Rebound Podcast with Coach Matt Doherty.” As a former University of North Carolina basketball player and then its renowned coach, the new podcast follows his best-selling book “Rebound: From Pain To Passion, Leadership Lessons Learned.” Read more
Radio is now clearing the way for podcasts, in literal fashion. An 8,700 square foot building that once housed Audacy’s AC “Star 102” WDOK Cleveland and other stations will now become the home base for Evergreen Podcasts. The building is six times larger than the company’s current 1,400 square foot offices, and still has many of its studios intact, despite being empty for nearly a decade. Read more
Summer doldrums? There’s no such thing in the land of podcasting, where new and updated shows are tumbling out with ferocity. Here are some of the new podcasts hitting your favorite streaming sites… Read more
Salesforce had the top scoring podcast ad during the first half of 2021, according to Veritonic, whose mid-year ranker looks at which audio ads perform best with listeners. One year ago it ranked No. 8, but it has moved up to the top spot in the latest research released Thursday. “This ad stood out from the pack because of its strong recall score,” the company said. Second place went to bedding company ChiliPad, which had high scores for emotional attributes, including familiarity, likely because of its conversational tone between podcast hosts. Read more
BBC Sounds has launched a new program designed to accelerate grassroots podcasters and amplify the next generation of podcast creators. Its Audio Lab podcast masterclasses aim to open the industry to a wider range of people by giving six chosen audio creatives an opportunity to turn ideas into podcast series to air on BBC Sounds. Read more
An influential financial analyst is questioning Spotify’s investment in podcasting, as Bernstein downgraded Spotify on Monday from “market perform” to “underperform.” The firm’s Todd Juenger wrote, “We continue to believe it’s unlikely Spotify will generate much earnings from podcasts.” The criticism sent Spotify’s stock tumbling 3.96% on Wednesday, down 7% since July 1. Read more
General Motors is among blue chip advertisers looking to utilize podcasts to reach consumers, and its latest execution is more involved than the typical live-read ad. GM’s Buick brand provided “Office Ladies” podcast hosts Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey with a pair of Buick Envision SUVs to drive around for a few weeks—and then discuss their experience in a specially created bonus episode of the popular Earwolf series. Read more
Public media’s PRX is partnering with Sonos and creative agency Work X Work to produce “This Summer of Live Music,” a podcast and radio special from the team behind the podcast “Object of Sound.” The aim of the project–which has already aired on several radio stations–is to highlight how music is again bringing people together after a long year apart. Read more
With some 50% of the shows listened-to on Audioboom accessed from podcast producers’ back catalog, the company has now launched AdRip, a tool that automatically “rips out” live ad-reads in old podcasts, and replaces them with new ads. Obviously, the intent is to create new revenue streams for content creators. Read more
Following this week’s pair of Emmy nominations for “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” Comedy Central is expanding its Daily Show podcast catalog with the new podcast “Beyond the Scenes,” produced in partnership with iHeartMedia. Hosted by Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr., it offers an inside look at how producers and writers of the series use comedy to tackle a variety of complex topics, from racial injustice to sex robots. Read more
The outlook for radio ad spending has brightened considerably during the past six months, according to global advertising conglomerate Dentsu Aegis Network, which now projects radio ad spending will climb 10.4% to $35.6 billion worldwide this year. That’s more than double the 4.7% estimate from its January forecast. In addition to an improving ad marketplace, Dentsu credits radio’s evolution for the change saying the medium’s growth is “heavily driven” by podcasting and digital audio, as well as the continued rise of smart assistants. “Radio will increasingly be used in conjunction with out of home to deliver geo-targeted, location-based advertising,” it predicts. Read more
Cumulus Media sports/talk “104.5 The Zone” WGFX Nashville is launching “The Install with Greg Cosell,” a new podcast hosted by veteran NFL analyst Greg Cosell, Senior Producer for NFL Films and Executive Producer of NFL Matchup. It is co-hosted by The Zone’s midday host Buck Reising. Read more
The podcast listening gap between Hispanics and the overall U.S. population closed significantly during the past year, according to the Latino Podcast Listener Report 2021 from Edison Research. It finds that 36% of U.S. Latinos 18+ have listened to a podcast during the past month, marking an increase of 44% compared to a year ago. And 59% said they have ever listened to a podcast. “A majority has now tried a podcast at one point in their life; we couldn’t say that last year,” said Edison’s Gabriel Soto. Read more
The iconic Newsweek has launched its first podcast series, “The Debate.” The weekly show is inspired by an ongoing Newsweek opinion section franchise by the same name, pairing opposing thinkers side-by-side in a written—and now audio—format. Opinion Editor Josh Hammer and Deputy Opinion Editor Batya Ungar-Sargon, who are far apart on the political spectrum, serve as hosts. Read more
Storytelling Podcast Week is returning later this month. Organizer Podbean says the event that showcases audio drama, non-fiction and narrative podcasts will be held July 21-25 with a mix of livestreamed podcast episodes, panels and sessions as well as pre-recorded podcasts. Podbean’s goal is to highlight stories and the podcasters who tell them. “We believe in the power of storytelling to inspire and unite,” notes Podbean CEO David Xu. Read more
In a novel showcase of a beloved local merchant embracing its community, Canada’s famed camera retailer Henry’s has opened a public podcasting studio in its Vancouver retail base. In addition to a recording studio, the “all-in-one podcast HQ” offers equipment as well as professional tips and tricks from on-site podcast experts. Read more
Production and branded content company Will Packer Media has aligned with iHeartMedia to launch “The Lower Bottoms,” a scripted shadowy podcast series told through the voices that make up a quickly gentrifying neighborhood in West Oakland, CA. The 10-episode series will be narrated by actor Kelsey Grammer. Read more
Just-released results of Christian radio consultancy Finney Media’s “Why Listen” study show one clear trend since 2018, the last year the survey was conducted: There’s a greater interest in not only all Christian formats but also in the encouragement and spiritual growth stations can provide. Read more
Podcast database Podchaser is the pick for communications technology platform PRophet. CEO Aaron Kwittken told PR Week of the deal that will help its clients pitch their stories to podcast producers. “By integrating a robust podcast database into PRophet’s offering, we’re able to provide brands and the PR firms working on their behalf with an expansive and useful tool to reach alternative forms of media,” Kwittken said. The licensing deal will also reportedly give Podchaser access to PRophet’s platform. Read more
Spotify’s third annual “Culture Next” report, focused on GenZs and Millennials, shows how both groups’ distinct perspectives continue to reshape the audio landscape since the beginning of the pandemic, including listening to more podcasts, embracing diversity and ultimately becoming the “Curation Generations.” Read more
Maybe it’s because kids are on summer break… Education, Science and History podcasts all saw gains last week, according to Podtrac. At the same time, as Americans are returning to traditional summer pastimes, podcast listening slid over the past seven days. Overall, Podtrac says downloads fell 8%. They are also down 25% compared to a year ago. Read more
The New York Times’ fourth annual podcast contest for teens fostered a record number of submissions, with more than 1,500 entries. The newspaper invited teenagers to create an original audio program, 5 minutes or less, about anything they wanted. “Using a range of podcasting formats and techniques, including storytelling, interviews and archival sound clips, these middle and high school students informed, inspired and entertained our judges using only a few minutes of thoughtfully produced audio,” the Times said. Read more
Audioboom is upping two C-suiters. Thomas Mancusi becomes Chief Revenue Officer, promoted from his role as Executive VP of Global, Sales & Development; while Erica Tong is named Chief Operating Officer, elevated from her post as Senior VP, Sales Planning & Operations. Read more
City Cast, the national network of daily local news podcasts launched last fall by media giant Graham Holdings, has added eight cities to its burgeoning roster of daily local podcasts. In March, the project debuted in Chicago and Denver, and now is expanding reach to Boise, Houston, Las Vegas, Nashville, Oakland, Omaha, Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City. Read more
iHeartMedia has aligned with Protozoa Pictures—the production company of Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Darren Aronofsky—to launch the podcast “Psychoactive.” Hosted by Ethan Nadelmann, founder of the Drug Policy Alliance, the new show aims to foster an understanding of the nation’s “strange relationship to drugs.” Read more
While Apple Podcasts remains a dominant player in the industry, 9to5 Mac is vexed that “it’s 2021 and the app still struggles to sync across multiple devices.” Writer Bradley Chambers notes in the post, “Apple has long been the dominant player in the podcast market, however, while Apple Podcasts has evolved quite a bit since the ‘tape player’1.0 version, it’s not perfect.” Read more
Journalist Ronan Farrow’s investigative “The Catch and Kill Podcast with Ronan Farrow,” based on his 2019 book of the same name, is now getting a third media treatment. The story of how he exposed decades of sexual abuse allegations against Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein is the topic of HBO documentary series “Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes.” It premiered Monday and will stream on HBO Max. Read more
Podcast News Daily and Inside Radio invite you to nominate podcast professionals for our 2021 “Most Powerful People In Podcasting” tally. Each year, we name the top 10 executives our panel believes have had the greatest impact on the growing podcast business. Now we are asking readers to nominate those you believe deserve the spotlight for their good work in advancing the podcast industry. Read more
The Townsquare Media Podcast Network is expanding with the launch of the Radio Texas Live Legends series. The show will be helmed by KNUE Tyler-Longview, TX afternoon personality and “Radio Texas Live!” host Buddy Logan. Interviews comprise Texas natives and musicians Kacey Musgraves, Aaron Watson and Cody Johnson, as Logan revisits interviews from the past decade on the new podcast. Read more
This weekend’s 2021 British Podcast Awards named “VENT Documentaries” the Podcast of the Year. The partnership between VICE UK and the London Borough of Brent features young people reporting on a wide swatch of formative stories covering such topics as identity, love and justice. VENT was also named Best Documentary and Smartest Podcast at the ceremony. Read more
The Associated Press now serves as the primary news/talk content source for LiveXLive’s Slacker Radio. The new collaboration will offer a user-created “AP News” station, where listeners can skip, play/pause and personalize their own novel news/talk experience. The partnership with LiveXLive—the owner of Podcast One—also includes the release of the “AP Headline News Update,” a once-an-hour 90-second news break for music stations. Read more
Audacy-owned Pineapple Street Studios is creating an unconventional new podcast series that issues one new show each month. The only consistent variable is the date it is released: the 11th of the month. Otherwise, each cycle will bring a new shape, length and style for the shows. Pineapple Street says it’s looking for projects “that feel new and ambitious,” that may not fit into the typical 10-episode series model. Read more
Podcasting and media platform uStudio has created a series of on-demand courses to help teach the company’s podcasting customers how to master the creation and production of a podcast. The virtual uStudio University’s curriculum is organized into uStudio’s core focus areas—which it calls the 6 P’s of Podcasting—including people, programming, production, publishing, promotion and performance. Read more
While podcasting has evolved into an established part of western media audio, it is just beginning to gain ground in China’s tightly managed media ecosystem, serving up counter-narratives and critical social analysis. That’s the take in a story from the Hong Kong Free Press, which discusses how the medium is gaining traction among the nation’s youth. Read more
N’Jeri Eaton, a veteran of Apple and NPR, has been hired by Netflix to lead the company’s growing podcast business. “I'm thrilled to join Netflix as the Head of Podcasts,” she said in a Twitter announcement. Eaton will guide Netflix’s podcasting efforts , including hiring hosts and producers and working with outside creators. Read more
It has been eight years since the sitcom “The Office” ended its original run on NBC. But last year Americans streamed more than 57 billion minutes of the series on Netflix. That success has led one of the castmates, actor Brian Baumgartner, to launch the rewatch podcast The Office Deep Dive. “It truly did start for me as an exploration of why this show is now what it is,” he said. Read more
In a sign of how important podcast stories have become to television producers, when the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) holds its virtual ContentCast conference next Wednesday (July 14), podcasters will have a starring role. “It is without question that podcasting has grown into a powerful force, attracting new audiences, support from brands, and investments from major media and tech companies,” said NATPE President/CEO JP Bommel. Read more
After a year in which lots of podcasters recorded their shows in closets at home, a novel idea from a Detroit company may sound extra appealing. Grove Studios has teamed with the cargo company Three Squared to transform shipping containers into compact recording studios. Known as GrovePods, the 320-square-foot studios are being marketed to podcasters, musicians, and anyone else who needs a spot to record. Read more
Apple Podcasts has alerted publishers that download numbers reported by third-party hosting providers may be smaller than they actually are due to a glitch in the new iOS 14.6 software...IAB sets dates for fall IAB Podcast Upfront... TargetSpot grows its Spanish-digital audio inventory... Libsyn continues to target the fast-growing Indian market... TV writer Aaron Steven has signed on to a podcast project with Gen-Z Media...Podthon ‘21 will remain a virtual conference when it is held next week. Read more
Evergreen Podcasts continues to expand its roster of shows. The latest to make the move to Evergreen is None But The Brave. The series takes a comprehensive look at the music and career of Bruce Springsteen. It is hosted by film producer Hal Schwartz and Backstreets Magazine contributor Flynn McLean. Separately, Evergreen Podcasts says its daily news podcast Five Minute News just celebrated two years in production. Read more
This week’s crop of new podcasts includes the hunt for ghosts in some of America’s most haunted locations to the search for answers of who killed an Illinois family. There is also an up close look at the famed Newport Folk Festival as well as boundary-pushing show from two hip-hop stars. And there’s a new show aims to get men talking about their bodies, while another podcast will focus on what people are talking about on TikTok. Here is some of what is new in podcasts this week. Read more
Two years ago PodcastOne launched a division aimed at small, independent podcasts offering hosting, distribution and monetization opportunities. But with the sale of the company to LiveXLive and a management shuffle, what was billed then as LaunchpadDM fell by the wayside. Today PodcastOne is relaunching the initiative under a new name – LaunchpadOne – with more than a thousand shows and plans to lure more producers with a variety of new features. Read more
The background music in a streaming music or podcast commercial does not need to be a fixed audio element thanks to new technology that AdsWizz is bringing to brands and ad agencies. It has inked a deal with AI Music to integrate its music technology into AdsWizz AudioMatic, the company’s programmatic buying platform for streaming audio and podcasts. Dunkin’ has become the first marketer to tap into the solution as a way to boost engagement with listeners. Read more
The Daily, as its name suggests, is published on a near-daily basis – it doesn’t release episodes on weekends. But even as more shows than ever release episodes that frequently, an analysis by Pacific Content Head of Audience Development Dan Misener finds most podcasts publish biweekly. Read more
Conflict resolution, making new friends and keeping friendships alive during difficult times like the pandemic. Those are some of the topics that actor and best-selling children's book author Jamie Lee Curtis will tackle as she comes to podcasting. Curtis has partnered with iHeartMedia to launch the show Good Friend. The weekly podcast will talk about the good, the bad and the ugly of friendships according to its creators. Read more
In a first for two-year old Lemonada Media, the company is creating a new studio division that will expand the types of content it will produce. Lemonada has to date been focused on shows that offer what it calls an “unfiltered version of the human experience” best presented by its flagship Last Day series. Lemonada has teamed with reality television veteran Kasey Barrett to launch Being Studios, which will create new audio reality series of what it’s like to “be” someone else. Read more
Ivy.fm, a new podcast discovery service and player, has implemented the use of Podcasting 2.0 tags for funding, person and episode chapters. Promoted by industry forefather Adam Curry, Podcasting 2.0 is an initiative to include additional data fields in the RSS feeds podcasters are already using, in order to power new listening experiences. Read more
A nine percent increase in iHeartRadio’ss unique U.S. monthly audience in June kept the company at the top of Podtrac’s monthly ranking of the top publishers it measures. iHeartRadio had a reach of 31.7 million last month with nearly 252 million downloads expanding its lead on No. 2 NPR. The big mover was Barstool Sports which fell from No. 4 to No. 8 last month after it lost its biggest show – Call Her Daddy – to Spotify. Read more
The top four podcasts during June among publishers measured by Podtrac remained the same as the New York Times-produced The Daily marked 32 consecutive months at the top. And the disappearance of last month’s No. 5 show Call Her Daddy, which is now a Spotify-exclusive and not measured by Podtrac any longer, allowed The Ben Shapiro Show to move into the top five. And the rest of the top ten marched in unison up one slot allowing last month’s No. 11 show – CNN 5 Things – to move into the top ten. Read more
The times they are a-changing Bob Dylan once sang long before podcasting was a thing, but the 1964 song could be one of the theme songs to Stitcher’s just-released annual report on podcasting. It shows that while drops in listening have mostly recovered, when people listen to podcasts has been one of the lasting shifts in behaviors from the pandemic so far. Among the other findings is men listened more last year than women, a reversal of 2019’s results. And growing listening is in Middle America. Read more
No technology is perfect, but Acast CEO Ross Adams thinks RSS is perfectly suited for podcasting. And as apps like Spotify make some of the most popular shows exclusives, Adams is making a public pitch for an open ecosystem powered by RSS as the only way the industry will meet some of the lofty revenue projections. “We need everyone pulling in the same direction,” says Adams. Read more
