The New York Times devoted 900 words to a feature from pop culture reporter Reggie Ugwu about how news-oriented podcasts are now being broadcast from homes to “offer a comforting voice as the pandemic sequesters millions at home.” Read more
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
“We could all use a little positivity right now. That’s why we created a playlist of our favorite episodes to brighten your day.” That’s the mandate of iHeartRadio’s collective group hug via its newly released “The Best of Stuff” podcast playlist, compiled from episodes of its diverse “Stuff You Should Know” show archives. Read more
While U.S. podcast downloads and audience numbers continue to decrease slightly week over week, the latest rankings from Podtrac reveal that overall growth remains positive year-to-date. The March 29 metrics show a 4% weekly dip across all Podtrac measured podcasts, as the Coronavirus crisis continues. Read more
Popular Chicago radio duo “Stylz & Roman” have reunited more than a year since their exit from Entercom country “US99” WUSN Chicago. According to Chicago media reporter Robert Feder, they have launched the twice-weekly podcast “Stylz & Roman Uncensored,” featuring Cat Kennebeck as a regular contributor. Read more
Indiana-based operator Federated Media launches a new podcast division, including a podcast network and podcast production and marketing services. Known as Podcasts by Federated Media, the division boasts 46 podcasts at launch, including nearly two dozen original shows, seven branded podcasts and a variety of repurposed radio shows. Read more
Pocket Casts CEO Owen Grover exits the podcast app to pursue other opportunities. Matt Moog, a member of the board of directors, has been appointed as the company’s interim lead and new Executive Chairman. Read more
Monday, March 30, 2020
While the coronavirus pandemic may be testing podcasting’s reliance on a commuting audience, a Morning Consult poll reveals that listeners have increased tune-in over the past few weeks, with larger growth among younger people, as consumers adjust to a work-from-home norm. Read more
“How is the podcast advertising market changing in response to Coronavirus?” Magellan AI analyzed ad detections on podcasts for the broadcast week March 16-22 to suss out potential emerging trends. Read more
As folks grow potentially restless amid the ongoing stay-at-home lockdown, an endless array of consumer publications is offering relief via recommendations for podcasts to tune-in to while hibernating. Various versions of the story can be found via the likes of The New York Times, Vogue, Los Angeles Magazine, New York Daily News, the UK’s Independent newspaper and more. Read more
Midroll is hosting a webinar “The Power of Podcasts,” Wednesday, April 1, offering newly updated profiles of the podcast audience, how demographics have changed, types of ad messaging in podcasts, and targeting/measurement/attribution. Read more
Popular actress Jameela Jamil from NBC’s “The Good Place” is launching a new podcast “I Weigh” on April 3, which aims to “challenge society’s definition of worth through weight by asking thought leaders, performers, activists, influencers and friends how they are working through their past shames to find where their value truly lies.” It is part of Stitcher’s Earwolf comedy network. Read more
Election year meets a fast-growing medium. The result is more politicians becoming podcasters. Early data suggests they’re finding success connecting with voters, while the phenomenon is coming from both sides of the political aisle. Reps. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) are two of the latest host additions. Read more
Deezer has announced improvements and upgrades to its podcast home page for both iOS and Android users, including such new features as the ability to download podcasts, a progress bar, and a mention that lets users know they’ve previously listened to an episode. Read more
Friday, March 27, 2020
More than one in four (26%) core radio listeners now consume podcasts at least every week, led by Gen Z, Millennials and fans of spoken word formats. That is a five-percentage point gain in one year, up from 21% in 2019, according to Jacobs Media’s Techsurvey 2020, released Thursday. Read more
“When Chris Smith, a movie-star handsome ad exec, takes his fortune, charters a yacht and sails away with a Playboy Playmate, few are surprised or alarmed. But when he stays away, his family thinks there might be more to the story than escaping pressures at work.” That’s the premise behind ABC News’ new murder mystery podcast Cutthroat Inc. Read more
Podcast fans are passionate about their favorite shows, and a new magazine looks to tap into growing consumer love for the medium. Steve Olsher has published the first issue of Podcast Magazine, described as a “podcasting culture and lifestyle publication that goes beyond the microphone and into the lives of the leading podcasters that fans love.” Read more
Two prominent Chicago communications consultants are teaming for “The Crisis Cast,” a podcast focused on crisis management “in uncertain times.” Lissa Druss and Thom Serafin offer up expertise in the first project from Chicago-based EarSight Studios, founded by media innovator Todd Manley, former station manager and VP of content at news/talk WGN (720). Read more
The passion that listeners have for their favorite podcasts isn’t new, and many marketers are now cashing in on that relationship. But freshly released data shows there’s another element working in podcasting’s favor: consumer concentration… and the value that listeners find in the time they dedicate to podcasts. Read more
Popular UK podcast “Shagged. Married. Annoyed” is launching in the States, via a deal with the Acast Creator Network. Hosted by Chris and Rosie Ramsey, the award-winning comedy “pokes fun at arguments, parenting, relationships and other aspects of their married life.” Overseas, it claims more than 20 million listens. Read more
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Religion remains podcasting’s most active genre, according to an analysis of what shows are being published. Dan Misener, head of audience development at Pacific Content, says that’s one thing that hasn’t changed in the months since Apple’s new podcast genres took effect last August. But one thing that has changed is the rise of Daily News, which is now among the categories with the most episodes. Read more
Attracting more blue-chip marketers to podcasting is said to be how the industry not only will cross the billion-dollar revenue marker, but how it will continue to grow beyond that. One way is to demonstrate the medium works. The audio intelligence platform Veritonic has just released more top-level details on a case study it did with the podcast hosting and ad serving platform Art 19 for the pharmaceutical giant Bayer. Read more
Fans of “The Wire” will be able to take a deep dive into the classic HBO show courtesy of a new podcast from Bill Simmons’ The Ringer, The Hollywood Reporter says. “The Wire: Way Down in the Hole” will explore every episode of the acclaimed crime drama. It will be hosted by Van Lathan and Jemele Hill, a former ESPN journalist and now a contributor to The Atlantic. Read more
eMarketer estimates there will be 105.6 million monthly active podcast listeners by the end of 2020, more than double the 45.8 million monthly listeners estimated in 2015. And in a new report on the industry from Business Insider, the highly-sought $1 billion threshold in advertising revenue should become a reality in 2021, due to highly engaged listeners who are “quite receptive” to ads. Read more
Society needs “comfort and leadership” from businesses during these trying times, according to Norm de Greve, Senior VP and CMO of CVS. De Greve, former MTV exec Judy McGrath and iHeartMedia EVP/CMO Gayle Troberman join iHeart CEO Bob Pittman on the latest episode of the “Math & Magic” podcast, which focuses on how companies should communicate to consumers during these challenging times. Read more
Digital audio advertising company AdsWizz has a new feature within AudioMatic, its audio-centric programmatic buying platform, to enhance podcast planning and buying for large agencies. The new features include automating host-read campaigns and offering brand safe audience buys. “While host-read ads represent an important part of podcast advertising, the process of managing these campaigns is still very manual,” said Alexis Van de Wyer, CEO of AdsWizz. The updates provide a simpler and scalable way through automation.” Read more
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is making an impact on virtually every angle of life in the U.S., including Americans’ appetites for podcast listening. The latest rankings from Podtrac find that weekly downloads and audience numbers have been trending downward since March 9, while overall growth in those metrics remain positive on a year-over-year basis. The one podcasting category seeing a big spike: news. Read more
Radio companies saw a rise in their streaming numbers with the start of 2020, with most groups posting double-digit percentage increases from December 2019, according to the latest Triton Digital Monthly Webcast Rankers. The increases are largely due to a return to normal listening patterns, following the end of the holiday season. Read more
Many companies are reporting a surge in podcast listening as the public looks for news on the coronavirus, as well as entertainment that helps them escape that same news. Podcast giant Acast reports that last weekend was its biggest ever weekend for listens, with a 7% increase in listens globally, equivalent to more than 750,000 listens. Read more
Big newspapers like The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times have been reaching new audiences with podcasts. They aren’t alone as more local and regional newspapers want a piece of the audio market, and podcasts are the way they’re aiming to achieve that goal. Read more
While critical college scouting events have been cancelled, the NBA draft has not. It’s still scheduled for June 25th, and there’s plenty to talk about. So after a two-year hiatus, the Locked On Podcast Network is bringing a veteran back to its NBA lineup with draft expert Chad Ford. Formerly of ESPN.com, Ford brings 25 years of NBA draft knowledge to a new, twice-weekly show titled Chad Ford’s NBA Big Board. Read more
Anchor is launching a feature today that’ll make it easier for friends to record podcast episodes together from afar. The feature, called Record With Friends 2.0, allows people to record a podcast from their browser, even if they don’t have an account with Anchor. Up to five people can record at once, although the host still has to use the Anchor app. Read more
Bonneville news/talk KIRO-FM Seattle (97.3) launches a new daily podcast, “Covid-19: Seattle Podcast.” The podcast is hosted by Dave Ross of “Seattle’s Morning News” and KIRO Radio reporter Aaron Granillo. The aim of the podcast, which will be released each afternoon, is to condense the most important updates of the day into a short podcast format. The podcast will also have an accompanying email newsletter. Read more
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
CNN’s Coronavirus: Fact Vs. Fiction hosted by CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been one of the big audience draws among podcasts focused on the global pandemic. Now the news network’s sister ‘CNN en Español’ is launching a Spanish-language version of the podcast. It’s called Coronavirus: Realidad vs. Ficción and will be hosted by Dr. Elmer Huerta, public health specialist and CNN en Español contributor. Read more
NPR’s kid-friendly podcast, Wow in the World, is adding a daily game show. Curious kids and their parents can expect to hear all new full-length episodes of Wow in the World every Monday and a brand new interactive, science-based game show, Two Whats and a Wow!, every Tuesday through Friday. The seven-minute daily game show was created as a rapid response to worldwide school closures affecting almost a billion children due to the coronavirus. Read more
It looks like an updated Android app was just the start of Google’s plans for a podcast overhaul. Google has released its first version of Podcasts for iOS, giving users a way to listen to podcasts that sync with virtually any device where your Google account works. This new app is also a showcase for a larger redesign meant to not only help you find new shows, but satisfy curiosity about subjects mentioned in those shows. Read more
Can your employees feel like part of a team and stay motivated when they’re not spending time together every day? There’s a new study that hopes to show you one way in which they can: through audio. The author, Colin Gray of The Podcast Host, believes research shows that listeners engage with audio in a huge way, growing to know and trust the host. Read more
In a commentary at MediaDailyNews, Jeff Larson writes about how as Americans’ focus on health and safety grows during the COVID-19 outbreak, many are working from home — and about to set records in media consumption. In 2019, prior to the outbreak, Nielsen reported the average U.S. consumer watched, read or listened to 10.5 hours of media each day. But you can expect that to grow in this “new reality.” As with other media, look for podcasting to grow. Read more
Alice Cooper’s new podcast, Alice Cooper’s Vintage Vault, premieres today, culled from the hundreds of interviews recorded during the past 16 years of Alice’s Nights With Alice Cooper radio show and from the United Stations archives that will air weekly on Apple podcasts. Cooper says, “My podcast series is a platform to do a deeper dive into a select group of top-level musicians and I really value the opportunity.” Read more
Monday, March 23, 2020
So much of everyday life has been upended by the coronavirus outbreak, with millions of Americans now working from home – and spending a lot more of their free time in their house than in the past. The impact that will have on podcast consumption is something the industry is still trying to determine. “It would not surprise me if there’s a bit of a flight to comfort,” Edison Research SVP Tom Webster said. Read more
The number of Americans that are aware of smart speakers may not be growing all that much anymore – an estimated 78% of people aged 12 and older are familiar with the devices. But ownership is still expanding. The annual Infinite Dial report shows among smart speaker owners, the average number they have is 2.2 per household, a 10% year-to-year increase. That compares to 1.5 traditional radio receivers. Read more
A former Chicago morning radio show is reuniting, this time as a podcast. Mike Love and Victor “The Dizz” Blackful have been off urban WGCI-FM (107.5) since their ten-year run as the “Bad Boy Radio” duo ended in 2007. “After a full decade it just seemed like it was time to reconnect and embrace a part of Chicago history that we are a major part of,” said Blackful in an interview with Rolling Out magazine. The result is the podcast Chicagofamous. Read more
Crooked Media, the progressive podcast network best known for shows such as Pod Save America, has created a Coronavirus Relief Fund. It has raised more than $475,000 so far…iHeartRadio adds drop-down menu for coronavirus podcasts…CNN Audio’s Boss Files pivots to how CEOs are responding to business disruption… Google begins rolling out a redesigned version of its Google Podcast app for Android phone users. Read more
Best-selling author Dr. Brené Brown is marking her return to podcasting with a new show called Unlocking Us. Cadence13 says the new Unlocking Us podcast will feature episodes, with Brown teaching to listeners, audience Q+A shows and live events, all featuring the trademark mix of research, storytelling and a straightforward style that has given Brown a following. Read more
Spotify has opened its podcast catalog to third-party apps, allowing them to link to Spotify to manage a Spotify user’s library of saved podcasts. The opening of the podcast API also allows developers to build podcast experiences that search Spotify’s podcast catalog, and to improve listener discovery of podcasts. Read more
Friday, March 20, 2020
The number of Americans who listen to a podcast each month has crossed the 100 million mark. That’s according to the annual Infinite Dial study. The joint effort of Edison Research and Triton Digital found 37% of Americans aged 12 and older said they had listened to a podcast in the prior month. The data also shows podcasting’s ranks of hardcore fans also continues to expand. Read more
There’s no shortage of things to listen to – the number of podcasts just crossed the one million mark – but making a dent in that content pile remains a challenge. The latest Infinite Dial report shows the average podcast consumer listens to six shows per week. Read more
Young people aren’t big viewers of cable news or readers of the New York Times. To get the message about the COVID-19 pandemic to people who may be light news consumers, the Trump administration has turned to podcasts. Among the guests on Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take this week was Dr. Anthony Fauci, and other podcasters could soon also feature top officials as part of an effort to reach Millennials. Read more
Actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani and producer and screenwriter Emily V. Gordon are like a lot of other people around the globe holed up inside their home during the coronavirus outbreak. The married couple have a unique perspective they’ll be sharing in a podcast during the coming weeks about living under quarantine based their experiences in dealing with chronic illness. All proceeds will go to charity. Read more
IPG Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Philippe Krakowsky was born in Mexico City and came to the U.S. as a child who spoke no English. But he ended up at Harvard, where he studied linguistics and comparative literature — and funded his education by debugging Atari games. He tells his story in the latest edition of “Math & Magic,” the marketing-focused podcast hosted by iHeartMedia Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman. Read more
Best-selling author, professor and entrepreneur Scott Galloway is now another thing: a podcaster. He’s teamed up with Westwood One to launch a podcast that will focus on business, money and technology. The first episode of The Prof G Show talks about how to prepare, adapt and respond during volatile times. Read more
Friday, March 20, 2020
The Ad Council, in collaboration with the White House, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and major media networks and digital platforms, have launched a series of national public service announcements and multi-channel content to provide critical and urgent messages to the American public. Read more
Thursday, March 19, 2020
A milestone more than a decade in the making for the podcast industry has just occurred. There are now more than one million podcasts, according to the podcast search engine Listen Notes. The counter crossed over during the past day as the number of show launches continues to grow. Read more
Podcasting has been more of an at-home than at-work medium, and there’s little doubt with the coronavirus outbreak listeners around the globe are spending more time at their house than before. What impact that sudden but perhaps lengthy change could have on media consumption habits is far from known. But there are some indicators that suggest podcasters could see a rise in their use. Read more
NPR is launching a new daily afternoon podcast focused on the COVID-19 pandemic. Coronavirus Daily is a ten-minute podcast hosted by Kelly McEvers, who is also the host of the Embedded podcast. NPR says the purpose of the podcast is to offer listeners all the news they need to know about the outbreak in a single place. Read more
It’s Judge Judy meets the Food Network. Food Court is the new high-energy, game-show style podcast from the iHeartPodcast Network. Hosted by celebrity chef Richard Blais, he’ll be joined by a panel of guests including comedians, writers and chefs to debate opposing food-related viewpoints in a hilarious way. “It’s not life or death, perhaps it’s more important,” Blais says. Read more
Who couldn’t use a good laugh, especially now? Enter Seth Rudetsky, the actor and satellite radio personality who is launching a new podcast called Back to School. The show’s premise is life is merely an extension of high school. He’ll put that to a lineup of big names in entertainment for the podcast’s debut season. Read more
It’s not just events that are falling by the wayside as day-to-day life is shaken up with the COVID-19 pandemic. So are fund drives. Maximum Fun, the listener-supported podcast network, has pushed back its planned two-week pledge drive that was set for this week, citing the coronavirus. Read more
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
For many podcasters, the coronavirus pandemic is the first time they’ve held a media role during a national crisis, let alone a global one. For many podcasters the playbook includes many lessons that radio has learned through its decades of service. But podcasting also offers new ways of addressing things. Podcast News Daily caught up with Amplifi Media CEO Steve Goldstein, who has worked in both industries, to get his take. Read more
Hulu and the iHeartPodcast Network are joining forces to create a companion podcast for the streaming network’s highly anticipated limited series Little Fires Everywhere. The show stars Hollywood A-Listers Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. It is the second Hulu-iHeartPodcast Network alliance announced this month. Read more
August is months away, but the organizers of the Podcast Movement conference are already planning for how the coronavirus outbreak may impact the industry’s largest conference, which is set to take place in Dallas. “We have every reason to believe that we will be able to proceed,” the organizers said Thursday. Podcast Movement noted it is based in Dallas, which it said puts it in an ideal position to make needed adjustments to what’s happening in the city. Read more
Axios has already extended its news brand to HBO where its weekly documentary news program airs. Now the website is looking to expand into podcasting. Axios is partnering with Pushkin Industries to develop a new daily news podcast. The show is expected to launch this summer. Read more
The next generation of podcasters may come out of the coronavirus outbreak, and Pineapple Street Studios may have something to do with it. It has today announced Stuck at Home, a creative podcast experiment for kids who find themselves at home due to the coronavirus restrictions.As part of this experiment, kids are encouraged to create their own podcast featuring the content of their choice. Read more
The ‘we’re all in this together’ spirit that’s shined through the dark clouds of the coronavirus pandemic has taken many forms, from neighbors helping neighbors to similar moves in the business world. A growing number of companies are offering products or services free of charge to customers racing to adjust to sudden changes in how they do business. Veritone is the latest to join that list. Read more
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
As Americans consume more online audio like podcasts and streaming radio, a new report says the auto industry is following. Borrell Associates says the automakers, regional dealer associations and local car dealers will increase their spending on digital audio to a projected $604.55 million in 2020. The largest share of digital audio ad dollars comes from local dealers, forecast to contribute eight of every ten dollars spent on online audio ads. Read more
Podcasters continue to respond to the global coronavirus pandemic with the launch of new shows. From series that are focused on the health aspects to the challenges that social distancing is creating, new content continues to sprout up even as companies adjust how they do business. Read more
Tony Phillips is returning to London after nearly four years as VP of On-Demand Content for New York Public Radio’s WNYC Studios. Phillips is joining Broccoli Content as Chief Content Officer for the joint venture between Sony Music Entertainment and veteran podcast producer Renay Richardson. Phillips’ mission will be to scale Broccoli’s ambitions and develop international partnerships with key talent and producers. Read more
With social distancing guidelines upending life, the podcast hosting company Podbean is making a pitch to churches, synagogues and mosques to take advantage of its free audio live streaming service. The company is also offering a steep discount to educational institutions and not-for-profits. “We also know how important access to education, information and connection is during times when people need to practice social isolation,” CEO David Xu said. Read more
A new forecast from eMarketer says Amazon will remain the most prominent player in the U.S. smart speaker marketplace through the end of next year. According to the latest estimates from the research firm, roughly 70% of total U.S. smart speaker users will use an Amazon Echo device. Read more
Monday, March 16, 2020
There was remarkably little change in Podtrac’s monthly ranker of the most-listened shows in the U.S. during February. The top eight podcasts all remained the same as in January led by the New York Times-produced The Daily, which remained in the top spot for the 16th consecutive month. The relative stability among the most popular shows comes despite a big jump in listening last month. Read more
In what may prove to be a pivotal moment in podcasting’s young history, listeners around the globe have been turning to the medium for information about the COVID-19 outbreak. CNN’s Coronavirus: Fact Vs. Fiction has had more than a million downloads or streams and has become a top five podcast. “The most important objective for this podcast is to be a calm, informative resource during a time when there is a lot of fear and confusion,” says Courtney Coupe, Vice President of CNN Digital Productions.” Read more
Cavalry Media, a Los Angeles-based media company formed last year by Hollywood producer Dana Brunetti and former Relativity Media finance executive Keegan Rosenberger, is branching out into podcasts. They’ve created Calvary Audio, a division that will develop a slate of new shows. Cavalry is producing the podcasts with plans to leverage the stories for film and television adaptation projects. Read more
Podcasts are a way that radio hosts are expanding their show, even when they have a 29 hour, six-days a week nationally syndicated schedule like country radio-targeted “Big D and Bubba” show. Hosts Derek “Big D” Haskins and Sean “Bubba” Powell put that on display with their latest podcast episode when they interviewed California radio owner Carl Goldman, who has been in quarantine since mid-February after contracting COVID-19. Read more
The coronavirus pandemic that’s gripped the U.S. and the world at large — disrupting nearly every component of daily life — has led eMarketer to revise its global ad spending forecast. Citing the lingering uncertainty, the research firm now projects total worldwide media ad spending of $691.7 billion. That represents an increase of 7% over 2019. The previous forecast from eMarketer called for an increase of 7.4% to $712.02 billion. Read more
With millions of students now out of school because of the coronavirus outbreak, it has thrown a potential monkey wrench into the timeline of NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge. NPR says it isn’t scrapping the contest, but it will push back the deadline. “We are extending the deadline for the Student Podcast Challenge by two weeks,” it announced. The new submissions deadline is April 7. Read more
Friday, March 13, 2020
“Stay classy San Diego,” the sign-off by fictional TV anchorman Ron Burgundy, has become “stay home San Diego” as the coronavirus outbreak has led to the cancellation of a planned live taping of actor Will Ferrell’s iHeartPodcast Network show The Ron Burgundy Podcast. It’s not alone. Several other podcasters are scrapping their planned live tapings as big gatherings are discouraged. A Maryland podcaster convention has also been called off. Read more
As health concerns about the coronavirus continue to grow, the way companies conduct business is rapidly evolving. For an industry that often began as a hobby in a home studio, office jobs have been only more common in recent years. Now with the health crisis some companies are closing their offices for as long as two weeks while others are encouraging staff to telecommute. Read more
The normal flu season may be enough to have podcast producers on edge in a studio, but the Covid-19 outbreak may be taking that to a whole new level. From microphones just inches from a host’s mouth to studio boards touched by many, there’s lots of potential ways to transfer a virus. What can hosts do? Here are 12 tips from the Telos Alliance’s Kirk Harnack. Read more
The lure of audio continues to pull in more magazine publishers. Heavy Metal, the science fiction and fantasy comics magazine, has struck a deal with Allyance Media Group’s DiGa Studios to translate its brand into podcasts, television and film. And under the deal, Heavy Metal will be DiGa’s preferred publishing partner. Read more
Podchaser has added a new feature that allows show producers to reply to reviews they receive from listeners…Libsyn has announced it has added an integration to Headliner to its dashboard…Breaker has arrived on Android…Edison Research and Triton Digital have cancelled the live event presentation of the 2020 Infinite Dial scheduled for March 19 in New York. The online presentation of the annual research project will take place as scheduled. Read more
Craig Schwalb, a veteran podcaster who most recently was a consultant to ABC News’ morning podcast Start Here and other podcasts produced by the network, is joining Hubbard Radio’s all-news WTOP-FM Washington, DC (103.5) as Director of Content Integration and Operations, effective March 16. Read more
Thursday, March 12, 2020
One in four of the top 20 news podcasts are now focused entirely on the coronavirus. That’s according to Chartable’s ranker of the top daily news podcasts in the U.S. based on Apple Podcast listening data. The list is led by CNN’s podcast Coronavirus: Fact vs Fiction. The network said Thursday the show has already been downloaded a million times. Read more
Digital advertising from podcast, streaming and website display ads were a growing contributor of the bottom line at iHeartMedia – the segment grew 32% to more than $376 million in sales in 2019. The segment contributed one of every ten dollars in the company’s revenue. One of the tools it uses to secure those dollars is Comscore data. And the two companies have just inked an agreement giving iHeart access to digital audience measurement data. Read more
Backtracks, the data analytics and advertising platform, has taken the wraps off a new suite of publisher tools it says are designed to bring transparency and better measurement to podcasting. It says it will use its technology to create Backtracks Charts, a searchable index and real-time data of more than 15 million episodes of 500,000 podcasts. Read more
Cyber-attacks on Entercom last year not only disrupted internal communications and in some instances radio station AudioVault systems. According to a new report, the attacks also caused a data breach involving the names, usernames and passwords of registered Radio.com users. An investigation into the September 2019 cyber-attacks on the company revealed a data breach that occurred a month earlier. Read more
Jenna Owens, who stepped down from her full-time role with the Yea Networks-syndicated “Kidd Kraddick Show” last month to focus on her three-year old Fitish brand, has good reason to feel good about her decision. It looks like a lot of her listeners came with her as she launched her new podcast Fitish, which has come out of the gate with a strong debut and is among the most listened-to Health & Fitness podcasts. Read more
There’s a new big dog on the porch when it comes to the U.S. music streaming space. According to a new forecast on digital music listeners from eMarketer, Spotify has supplanted Pandora as the most popular streaming service in the U.S. In fact, it’s been No. 1 since last year — two years ahead of the research firm’s March 2019 forecast. Read more
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Developing new genres and topics are where many podcasters have been focused as a way to grow the medium. But is the industry missing a more obvious opportunity? iHeartMedia thinks so, and that’s why it’s stepping up efforts to develop shows that appeal to teens and young adults – the demos where listening levels are among the highest but to date few producers have specifically targeted. Read more
Jake Brennan has become one of the breakout star producers in podcasting and his inaugural podcast Disgraceland is now heading for television. Kapital Entertainment has acquired the rights to the product which it will make into a TV series that embraces the storyline that explored the nexus of rock n’ roll and true crime. The announcement comes as Disgraceland this week begins releasing its fifth season. Read more
Znak & Co, the television production company behind such shows as the Netflix series “I Am Killer” and the HBO sci-fi drama “Westworld” is making the move into podcasting. “Podcasts are the perfect next step for Znak & Co, allowing us to build on our expertise in producing fan shows,” company president Natalka Znak said in the announcement. Read more
Fresh from its split with Himalaya Media last week, the content studio formerly known as HiStudios has rebranded itself as Notorious to help put further distance from its previous sister company. Based in Los Angeles, CEO Peter Vincer says his team will continue to produce sports and entertainment-focused shows. Read more
To succeed outbound president Patrick Dolan, the Interactive Advertising Bureau has tapped media agency vet David Cohen to be its new President. Cohen assumes No. 2 position at the digital media trade association April 1, after serving as President, North America for Magna, one of the media buying agencies owned by the conglomerate IPG Mediabrands. Read more
Chartable, the podcast analytics and attribution company, has announced it will begin publishing a weekly list of the top 200 podcasts based on data from its analytics platform. The Chartable Top 200 will rank podcasts for any show or networks that opt-in. So far it says NBC News, Wondery, Vox Media and more than 4,000 independent creators and networks have done so. Read more
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
More evidence that podcast listeners are super fans of audio comes from Edison’s Third Quarter 2019 “Share of Ear” study. According to the latest data, the average American consumes nearly four hours of audio each day, including everything from personal music collections and satellite radio to AM/FM, streaming and podcasting Yet podcast consumers spend more than five hours a day with audio, 36% more than the average. Read more
Sounder, the podcast management and monetization platform, has raised $1.8 million in a seed financing round. The company, launched in September by former Google and Spotify executives, says its main mission will be to make podcasts it hosts more discoverable. The company will use the proceeds to make several key hires, marketing initiatives and further development of its end-to-end podcast management platform. Read more
In a move Veritone says will allow for better targeting of podcast advertising, it is expanding the content classification capabilities of its aiWare operating system. Leveraging artificial intelligence and metadata, Veritone says it enables podcast distribution platforms to programmatically transcribe and tag audio streams with topical, descriptive and time-correlated keyword metadata prior to publishing. That will allow for advanced contextual ad targeting at scale. Read more
Van Gogh, Beethoven, Einstein, Frida and Harry Houdini are all significant figures in history. But how much of the success they found in their fields was driven by their personal psychology? That unraveling of the clues left behind in history and their work is the subject of a new iHeartPodcast Network show Personology, hosted by best-selling author Dr. Gail Saltz. Read more
The ABC News-produced podcast COVID-19: What You Need to Know is becoming a daily program. Hosted by anchor and correspondent Aaron Katersky, it features the latest headlines and updates on the coronavirus outbreak, as well as ABC Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton answering questions from social media. Each episode will run about 25 minutes. Read more
More English-language podcasts are turning up on Triton Digital’s Latin American Podcast Report. Six English-language shows produced by Stitcher have turned up on the latest update, which covers podcast listening between Jan. 20 and Feb. 16. The Fox News Radio on-demand newscast, which previously was the only English-language podcast on Triton’s Latin American report, also remains. Read more
Monday, March 09, 2020
February was a strong month for podcast listening, according to Podtrac. It reports the top ten publishers it tracks had a combined 41% increase in their unique monthly audience compared to a year ago. And the average publisher saw their numbers up 9% versus January. NPR remained at the top, iHeartMedia remained the largest commercial publisher, and the New York Times jumped to third place. Read more
AM/FM isn’t where people are pulling their media time from in order to consume podcasts, according to iHeartMedia President and Chief Operating Officer Rich Bressler. “Everything we’re seeing on podcasting is that the listening is coming from video. It’s not coming from the audio side,” he told the Morgan Stanley Media Conference last week. The growth of the podcast market was never far removed from the conversation at the San Francisco gathering. Read more
