There is fresh data pointing to podcasting’s continued ability to reach listeners with ad messages. A new study from Edison Research and NPR finds two-thirds (65%) of people who reported listening to a podcast in a week prior to the survey listened to the commercial message. That is on par with broadcast radio (64%) and slightly above online audio services (62%). Edison found that audio overall outperformed video and social media. Read more
The New York Times may have grabbed an early lead with The Daily but a newspaper rival on the West Coast is hardly waving the white flag. The Los Angeles Times is ramping up its own podcast efforts. That includes a test of whether podcasts can help sell newspaper subscriptions. Read more
Cumulus has launched “104.5 The Zone TV,” a podcast/video/social media version of its sports/talk “104.5 The Zone” WGFX-FM, serving Nashville and Middle Tennessee. The company calls it “a new way to engage with The Zone’s live and local sports content, created exclusively for Nashville sports fans.” Four cameras will be placed in the radio studios to capture regular on-air programming as well as value-added new content. Read more
Car Thing, the hardware device designed by Spotify to bring streaming audio into the dashboard, has been released on a limited basis after nearly two years of development. The company said it would make Car Thing available to “eligible users” in the U.S. Mounted on a dashboard, Car Thing will rely on voice controls with users allowed to say “Hey Spotify” to wake up the device and then ask for a podcast, song, album, artist, or playlist. Read more
Radiotopia has signed The Stoop from parent PRX. Hosted by Leila Day and Hana Baba, The Stoop digs into stories from across the parent diaspora. Launched in 2017, The Stoop features conversations about what it means to be Black. The podcast network Radiotopia is a partnership between PRX and Roman Mars and has become home for shows outside the public radio realm. Read more
The artificial intelligence-powered podcast directory Podchaser has inked a deal to begin supplying data to TVEyes, the media monitoring service that since October 2019 has been analyzing thousands of podcasts to help its clients keep tabs on what is being said about them. The announcement comes after Podchaser raised new funding with plans to expand its “IMDb for podcasts” and build tools for podcasters, ad agencies and brands. Read more
This may be the year of billions. Forecasters predict the podcast industry will top a billion dollars in revenue for the first time in 2021 and financial whiz Dave Ramsey just became the fourth podcaster to hit a billion downloads. Now AdsWizz says its audio platform has just reached the milestone of over one billion monthly downloads. Read more
In time for the start of baseball season, Toronto Blue Jays’ pitcher Ross Stripling has launched a new podcast on pitching greats...Also this week, Wondery’s new Secret Sauce looks for the recipe of business success... Lemonada Media takes on health care costs...Parcast’s Internet Urban Legends looks to debunk (or confirm) what people buzz about online...CBC’s Life Jolt goes inside, literally, Canada’s correctional system...And Roaring Earth showcases the planet’s animals, wildlife, ecosystems, and natural phenomena. Here is some of what is new in podcasts this week. Read more
Podcasters may be in line to give advertisers as much as $400 million in free ad time in 2021 – added value in salesperson speak – according to an analysis of ad trends by Audioboom EVP of Global Sales & Development Thomas Mancusi. His projection is based on how much longer live reads run than what clients are paying for. Read more
Warner Music Group and Spotify are joining forces in a new partnership which will see the two companies develop a series of original podcasts built around the record label’s vast and diverse artist’ and songwriter catalogs featuring some of the biggest names in music. “Podcasts provide an opportunity to unlock value for artists and songwriters,” says Warner Music Group EVP/Chief Digital Officer Oana Ruxandra. Read more
Joe Purzycki, co-founder of the subscription podcast company Luminary, is one of three executives launching a new subscription news company. Purzycki, who currently serves as an advisor to Luminary, has teamed up with former New York Times editor Jon Kelly and Max Tcheyan, a veteran of The Athletic and Vanity Fair. In a Twitter post, Purzycki said they will “tackle some of publishing and medias bigger challenges.” Read more
Comedian Conan O’Brien may be scaling back his television work but the comedian who has professed his love of podcasting is launching a second series in the audio format. O’Brien has launched a companion to his Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend series that will bring listeners into the show. The new series called Conan O’Brien Needs A Fan will feature the comedian and co-hosts Sona Movsesian and Matt Gourley taking questions via Zoom calls with fans. Read more
Major League Baseball umpire Joe West has been awarded $500,000 in damages from a defamation lawsuit brought after former All-Star catcher Paul Lo Duca alleged on The Action Network’s The Favorites Sports Betting podcast that a personal beef between the ump and the player led to him to repeatedly be ejected from games. The Action Network reached a settlement with West last July. As part of its confidential deal the episode was taken down. Read more
A new slate of podcasts is blossoming this spring at Evergreen Podcasts. The company says the list of shows demonstrates its mission to deliver entertaining, thought-provoking content. They include Lost & Found in 2020, a new limited-run podcast highlighting ten stories of life and loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more
The podcast distribution platform Audioboom is offering the industry a first look at how advertising trends are developing in 2021. First quarter revenue set a record for Audioboom which reports revenue jumped 49% from a year ago. Revenue was also up 12% compared to the fourth quarter. CEO Stuart Last says that growth came despite little COVID impact to Q1 revenue a year ago. “Q1 2021 was a breakthrough period for Audioboom,” he says. Read more
Digital audio ad spending, including both audio ads streamed and video and display ads on mobile apps, are projected to grow at a faster pace this year than last. Analysts at the media research firm eMarketer forecast digital audio services ad spending will reach $5.59 billion in 2021, a 16% increase over a year ago. “Digital audio will hit a milestone. It will reach 50% of traditional radio advertising dollars,” says analyst Peter Vahle. Read more
Google Podcasts has crossed an important milestone with the app reaching 100 million installs since its debut in June 2018. More than just a numeric breakthrough for the app, it also shows the pace of growth of the industry. It took Google Podcasts two and a half years to hit 50 million installs but just five months to add the next 50 million. The milestone comes as Gabe Bender, Google Podcasts Product Lead, has left the company. Read more
Owners of Amazon Alexa devices can already ask Alexa for podcast recommendations, but Amazon says it is working to fine tune the interaction between smart speaker users and podcast listeners. It said Wednesday that podcast fans will soon be able to listen to podcasts they subscribe to on Amazon Music by just saying, “Alexa, play my followed podcasts.” It will also allow Alexa’s users to ask the device to play music for a set amount of time. Read more
Podcast charts are more than bragging rights, for many listeners they are how they discover new shows. To help with that goal Spotify has just rolled out two new podcast-focused charts – a new Top Podcasts chart, Top Episodes, and a Trending Podcasts chart ranking shows distributed via its app. It has also created a website listing all of its new U.S.-focused charts. Read more
Stingray, the Montreal-based music, media and technology company, is teaming up with Triton Digital to support the podcasts that are part of its Stingray Radio app. It will use Triton’s Omny Studio to create, publish, and promote their portfolio of podcast content. Read more
Media habits have changed plenty during the pandemic, and a new survey from Morning Consult says for podcasters that is a good thing. More than one in five consumers say they listened to podcasts more than usual during the past year. Importantly, the data suggests the effect was not limited to the early months of lockdowns with podcast listening scoring higher today than when the pandemic began a year ago. Read more
Libsyn will pay $1.2 million to buy the podcast monetization platform Glow according to a company filing late Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The price tag was not part of Libsyn’s earlier announcement that it would acquire Glow and integrate its membership platform into Libsyn’s platform as part of the Libsyn 5 platform’s rollout. Read more
Chelsea Clinton has been in the spotlight nearly her entire life and now at the age of 41 she is using that notoriety to create a podcast that looks to educate as much as entertain. Clinton’s new In Fact podcast aims to recast public health from the wonky to the real-world impacts that policy decisions are having. The past year, she says, has created a unique opportunity. Read more
Marketing attribution provider LeadsRx is aligning its advertising attribution platform with Triton Digital's Omny Studio podcast platform and Tap Advertising Server. As a result, LeadsRx says it will now be able to provide attribution studies for podcasts hosted on the Omny Studio platform, as well as for ads served by Triton's Advertising Platform. Read more
The Amazon Original series “The Boys” has earned an Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Sound Editing For A Comedy Or Drama Series category. What better way to show off the TV show’s sound editing than create an audio-only companion podcast? That is what Amazon Prime Video has done with release of The Boys: The Official Podcast. Read more
Audacy, the parent of Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Studios, has extended its agreement with Veritone. Audacy will use Veritone’s AI-powered content search and analysis application to ingest, index, organize and analyze its content. The result will put into Audacy’s hands in-depth analytics visibility into their content performance and data about how brands, advertisers and other stakeholders are performing. Audacy will also be able to visualize and correlate advertising efficacy for its radio stations. Read more
Libsyn’s rash of deal making has brought a second deal focused on podcast monetization in two weeks. On the heels of its deal to acquire Advertisecast, Libsyn said Monday it is buying Glow. The podcast monetization platform allows show producers to offer “memberships” to fans – who in exchange gain access to ad-free content, early access to new episodes, and a back catalog. Libsyn will integrate Glow into its hosting and monetization platform, giving podcasters another option to choose from when considering adding membership revenue to the mix. Read more
Café Studios, the media venture launched by former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and his brother, Vinit “Vinnie” Bharara in 2017, has been bought by Vox Media. Café Studios is the publisher of several series including its flagship Stay Tuned with Preet. It will operate as a division of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Preet Bharara and Head of Content Tamara Sepper and a team of hosts, producers, and product developers will join Vox. Read more
Broadcasters are embracing digital like never before and for good reason – it is projected to be the fastest-growing ad segment this year. But a new forecast from Magna suggests some categories may deserve more focus than others since they will grow their digital spending more quickly than others. And thanks to faster-than-expected economic growth and vaccine rollouts, Magna sees a “tailwind” even among the less digital-focused categories. Read more
The Governor’s Award at the upcoming Awards for Excellence in Audio – better known as The Ambies – is designed to honor a show that raises the profile of podcast. In the award show’s inaugural year that trophy will go to the independently produced WTF with Marc Maron. Read more
Obsessed Network, the true crime podcast company behind the show True Crime Obsessed, has signed a development deal with Audioboom. The arrangement will provide funding to the network to develop new shows and expand distribution of the brand’s existing and new podcasts under the Obsessed Network banner. Audioboom has secured long-term distribution rights to True Crime Obsessed. Read more
As LiveXLive builds out its platform for live streaming, on-demand audio, video and podcast/vodcast content, it also is building its team. The company has announced several new hires, including luring away a Howard Stern staffer. Read more
Podcasting, music streaming and broadcast radio are processed differently by consumers, giving each their own strengths and effectiveness levels for advertisers, according to new neuro research conducted in Australia. The study looked at how listeners’ brains respond differently. Podcasts tended to deliver higher levels of memory encoding. Read more
Veritonic says strong brand identity propelled several advertisers to the head of the pack on the company’s monthly Audio Ad Index. The ranker looks at which audio ads are performing best with listeners on traditional radio, podcasts, and streaming audio services. Topping the list in March was the job site Indeed. Meanwhile, there may be a wider trend developing with brands using more female voiceovers. Read more
PodcastOne has struck a deal with Samsung that will, for the first time, make all PodcastOne distributed content available for the first time via the Listen tab within Samsung Free. That is the portal on select Samsung devises that includes breaking news, podcast, free TV, and games. “Listening to your favorite hosts and shows shouldn't be more than a one tap process,” says PodcastOne President Kit Gray. Read more
Riverside.fm has announced they have released a beta version of their iPhone app that records using phone’s camera...AudioValley, parent of Targetspot and Shoutcast, is looking to raise $9.5 million... Libsyn says for episodes published in February, 6.2% of all shows hosted by Libsyn had five thousand downloads or more through the end of March...Wondery is launching its first U.K.-originated podcast as Audioboom strikes a strategic partnership with the rep firm MAPP Media to monetize its podcasts in the U.K...Actor Anthony Anderson is making the jump into podcasting. Read more
The 2021 Masters Tournament got underway Monday at the Augusta National Golf Club and the excitement about the upcoming PGA season is being used by Cadence13 and ThreeFourTwo Productions as they launch a new podcast hosted by pro golfer Adam Scott. The show is Fairgame, a limited-run series that will release three episodes this week coinciding with the Masters’ schedule. Read more
“Wayne D” Danielson, the Nashville-based afternoon host for iHeartMedia “The Big 98” WSIX Nashville and “95.5 The Bull” KWNR Las Vegas, launches an iHeartRadio original podcast Friday called It’s All Relative. “You know the big stars but what about their families, life away from the spotlight,” Danielson says. Read more
It’s a big week for new seasons with podcasts including Adult ISH, Daddy Issues, Let’s Go Together, Family Secrets, Future Hindsight and Fuelling Around just some of the shows with new seasons debuting. There were also new shows, including one hosted by musician Ben Folds. And another called Bear Grease on the culture of rural America. A radio vet takes listeners into a home for seniors, while another radio outlet explores AI. Plus, publications TechCrunch and Politico are also launching new podcasts. Here is some of what is new in podcasts this week. Read more
A new analysis of Edison Research Share of Ear data shows that Americans who are listening to AM/FM radio station streams are not necessarily listening to podcasts too. The data also shows podcasts now have a bigger reach than the ad-supported versions of either Spotify or Pandora. The numbers, says Westwood One, make the case for why advertisers benefit by adding podcasting to their media plan. Read more
In a first for the podcast industry, writers and producers at the Spotify-owned Gimlet Media and The Ringer, have ratified their first collective bargaining agreements with the audio streaming company. The three-year agreements, which include salary minimums, guaranteed pay increases and other benefits were unanimously approved. Both Gimlet and The Ringer are represented by the Writers Guild of America, East. Read more
Westwood One has tapped Millennial- and Generation Z-targeting media platform Barstool Sports for a new weekday program “Picks Central,” adapted from Barstool’s sports betting podcast and video series. The show marks the second broadcast offering in the past several weeks based on an existing podcast with the recently announced launch of conservative talk host Dan Bongino’s weekday show. Read more
The music business and media from the perspective of those working in the field is the focus of “The Biztape,” a new podcast added to Bobby Bones’ Nashville Podcast Network. Formerly known as “That’s Showbiz Baby,” the weekly podcast debuts today (April 7), hosted by music industry pros Colin McKay and Joe Wasilewski who dive into the business and technical side of these closed-curtain industries. Read more
Pop culture personality Kelly Osbourne and Hollywood and Vegas showman Jeff Beacher are leading PodcastOne’s next hybrid podcast and vodcast project. The pair is creating a weekly podcast that will resemble a live theater experience that will also be available as a video series. The show will record and film from the penthouse of the iconic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel which is the former home to Beacher's Madhouse theatre. Read more
What are podcasters talking about? Brands want to know. And so the media monitoring service Talkwalker has become the latest to add podcasts to the list of sources it covers. It says it will monitor a catalog of 35,000 podcasts from a variety of platforms using its new Speech Analytics technology to give brands and advertising agencies the ability to analyze conversations on podcasts. Read more
Digital audio advertising revenue grew by more than $350 million in 2020 according to the Internet Advertising Bureau which has released its annual ad revenue report. It said total digital audio ad revenue increased 13% to $3.085 billion. The tally includes streaming radio, podcasting and music services. The IAB data, which was compiled by PwC, also said overall internet advertising revenue grew 12.2% last year. Read more
Patreon, the membership platform that allows podcasters and other content creators to monetize their work with fans, has raised $155 million in a financing round that values the company at $4 billion. That is three-times bigger than its valuation six months ago. The investment comes as the number of creators continues to increase worldwide, with Patreon seeing the pandemic as a catalyst for the growth of the creator economy. Read more
Author and TV personality Nicole Lapin is adding podcasting to her media lineup. She has launched Money Rehab, a call-in style financial podcast that aims to explain money topics for everyday people. Distributed by the iHeartPodcast Network, the podcast will release daily new episodes airing every Monday through Friday. Each will run about 15 minutes. Read more
After approaching producers of its Apple TV+ series last year pushing them to create companion podcasts to their television shows, a second combination of podcast and television has debuted. Apple has released a six-part narrative non-fiction audio podcast called The Line that will serve as a preview to a four-part limited documentary series premiering on Apple TV+ in the fall. It is the second such announcement since the start of the year. Read more
Securing the rights to the ‘80s hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” would be a cost-prohibitive logistical nightmare for most podcast producers. But the team at QCode will have a heavy dose of singer Rick Astley nevertheless in their series Unwanted. He wrote the official theme song for the scripted comedy series. And now the track “Unwanted,” which Astley co-wrote and co-produced with Deron Johnson, QCode’s Head of Music, is being released as a single. Read more
NPR has announced the winners for its first-ever Student Podcast Challenge: College Edition. Rather than pick one student-produced show as its winner, a team of judges instead picked two champions after what NPR says was “much discussion” and a “judging process like no other.” Read more
All but two of the top 20 podcast publishers measured by Podtrac had an increase in their monthly audience in March versus February. But iHeart had the biggest headline, setting a new record by topping more than 30 million downloads last month. NPR remained a distant second. Read more
March was a month of uncharacteristic stability in the top ten podcasts. Podtrac’s monthly report of the most listened-to shows among those it measures includes no change in the top nine podcasts. The news podcast The Daily remained the most downloaded and streamed show in March. The Daily has sat on top of the ranker for more than two years. Read more
Casted, the podcast platform geared toward business-to-business marketers, has raised $7 million in new funding. The new funding will be used to expand the team and scale the platform with new integrations and partnerships. Casted said in 2020 it quadrupled revenue, tripled its customer base, and doubled its team size. Read more
After striking deals to distribute podcasts by former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, iHeartMedia is making it a family affair. It has teamed with Chelsea Clinton to produce her new podcast In Fact. The series from the former first daughter and public health expert will pull back the curtain on some of the biggest public health challenges of our time. Read more
Syndicated radio host Clark Howard is expanding his portfolio of on-demand content, but this time he will not be in front of the microphone. Howard is partnering with financial radio host and best-selling author Wes Moss to create a new series called Retire Sooner that will be produced and distributed by Clark’s company. Both hosts have programs on Atlanta’s WSB. Read more
As Audible expands its audio menu to also include podcasts, Zola Mashariki has joined Audible as Head of Audible Studios. Mashariki will spearhead the creation of all original content from conception through release. Based in Los Angeles, the company says the Hollywood veteran of film and TV will have vast oversight of the entire studio operation including the development and implementation of content strategy. Read more
PRX has named Audrey Davidson as Senior Director of Revenue Partnerships for the public media company. She will lead a team focused on advertising operations and sales support and will provide strategic integration and collaboration across key areas of revenue, including podcasting, public radio broadcast sponsorships, and licensing. Read more
The impending start to second quarter is expected to bring a bump in ad spending according to several forecasters. MediaRadar has been analyzing which brands are pointed to spend the most during the coming months, and the list includes some good news for podcasters. Some of the medium’s biggest brands are already ramping up their marketing this year. Read more
Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, who has seen his support of President Trump and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election cost his company retail outlets, says he will snuggle up with podcasts and radio as the pillow retailer embraces a direct-to-consumer model. “We've expanded so much in radio and podcast,” Lindell told Insider. “We hope that that makes up a lot of it." Read more
MeatEater, the outdoors lifestyle brand made popular by the Netflix Original series of the same name, has signed a production and distribution deal with iHeartMedia. Under the pact, all existing and upcoming MeatEater podcasts will be distributed by the iHeartPodcast Network and will be promoted across the audio giant’s multi-platform network, including iHeartRadio. Additionally, the two companies will collaborate on new co-produced podcasts. Read more
Car Thing, the voice-controlled podcast and music device that Spotify has been working on since at least 2019, has popped back up. Tech writer Steve Moser has uncovered what appear to be images of how Car Thing would be used in the Spotify app’s iOS code. It hints of a new podcast commenting feature. Read more
Reality TV personality, entrepreneur and author Bethenny Frankel brings her “Just B with Bethenny Frankel” podcast to the iHeartPodcast Network under a freshly-inked multi-year deal. Under the new agreement, iHeartMedia and Frankel will expand the series, airing episodes two times per week all year. Frankel will also produce a slate of podcasts and content for the network. Read more
Buzzsprout says among the 100,434 podcasts it hosts more downloads went to Spotify than to Apple during March, likely due in part to where Buzzsprout shows are being listened to...LiveXLive, the parent of PodcastOne, expects to generate $100 million to $110 million in revenue during its fiscal year that ends March 31, 2022. Among the various metrics it also released is that PodcastOne now generates more than 2.25 billion downloads per year... The Shorty Awards, which honor the best of social media and digital, has announced its finalist for best podcast, best podcast miniseries and best branded podcast. Read more
Religion remains podcasting’s most active genre, according to an annual analysis of what shows are being published. Dan Misener, head of audience development at Pacific Content, says that has not changed since a year ago. While Religion remains on top, the News category moved up to the fifth most-crowded genre. Education was also one of the past year’s big growth categories. The analysis is based on a sample of more than 38 million podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts. Read more
Following its acquisition of Wondery, Amazon is planning to grow the podcast studio. Jen Sargent, who took over as Wondery’s chief executive with the exit of founder Hernan Lopez, tells Variety their new owners are looking to double the size of the team this year. In addition to growing staff, Sargent said in the interview that Wondery will also expand the types of podcast genres and formats that it produces. Read more
Serial Box, which describes itself as “part podcast studio, part magical refuge” is doing a disappearing act to its brand name. The audio entertainment company has rebranded as Realm. The move comes as it expands beyond its audio fiction roots into a global podcast network where some of its content will now be available for free as podcasts. Read more
Podcast host and entertainment TV personality Nick Viall is launching the Viall Files Media Group, which will serve as a podcast network under the Kast Media umbrella under a new multiyear agreement between the two. Viall plans to create and develop a slate of podcast programming across multiple genres. Viall will host some shows in addition to solely producing others. Read more
Evergreen Podcasts has just struck an alliance to help feed content into its business-to-business channel. Evergreen has connected with IndustryPods, a B2B podcast production company. It will allow Evergreen to showcase all the IndustryPods podcast shows on its network. Read more
Podimo has signed a deal with Wondery to translate several of its podcasts into additional languages... Trailblazer Studios has launched a new podcast initiative... Comedians and actors Tig Notaro and Cheryl Hines have signed with Art19 to handle hosting, ad sales, and distribution for their podcast... Actress Amanda Seyfried has signed to play the lead in the television adaptation of the ABC News podcast The Dropout being produced for Hulu. Read more
Chef and TV favorite Geoffrey Zakarian is serving up four courses of questions on his new podcast. Also this week, YouTube star Elle Mills and creator Michelle Platti take on pop culture. Plus, CNN launches a podcast companion to its new series “The Story of Late Night.” The Recount debuts a new daily news podcast. Healthcare economist David Smith explores how healthcare in America can bankrupt someone. Infamous Russian agent Maria Butina tells her side of the story. And MLB icon Jim Leyritz takes on “cancel culture” in sports. It’s a big week for new releases. Here’s some of what is new. Read more
The number of new podcasts grew by 150,000 during the first quarter of 2021. The podcast search engine Listen Notes says second quarter begins with 2,106,124 podcasts now available to listeners. That is an 11% increase from the end of 2020. And during the first three months of this year, Listen Notes says new and existing podcasts released 6.8 million new episodes. Read more
Triton Digital is now part of iHeartMedia as the $230 million sale from E.W. Scripps Co. to iHeart closed Wednesday. In addition to the Webcast Metrics reports that measure streaming audio and the Podcast Metrics reports that track podcast downloads, Triton Digital also owns a programmatic advertising marketplace, a suite of ad-serving technologies, and Omny Studio, the podcast technology and hosting company. Read more
On this, the one-month anniversary of the death of conservative talk radio groundbreaker Rush Limbaugh, Premiere Networks says it will continue to provide the voice of Limbaugh for the long term. Meanwhile, plans are being developed for a podcast focused on the life of Limbaugh, with details shared at a later date. Read more
Southern California Public Radio has named Antonia Cereijido as an Executive Producer of LAist Studios, the organization’s podcast development and production studio. In her new role with LAist Studios, Cereijido will have creative oversight of upcoming podcast productions, as well as ongoing shows. Cereijido joins the LAist Studios after hosting and producing Norco ‘80, a podcast it coproduced with Futuro Media. Read more
Rainn Wilson, an actor best known for his work on a television series, is launching a podcast about a radio show. The newest Audioboom Originals Network show is a fictional, dark comedy podcast written by, and starring, Wilson. Called Dark Air, the podcast features Wilson reprising the role of Terry Carnation, who first appeared as a character in 2019’s Radio Rental podcast. Carnation is a late-night talk radio personality. And in Dark Air, he will be the focus of the series. Read more
For the first time in 2021, the NPR Student Podcast Challenge is open to college students – a group of creators that could soon be joining the podcast workforce. NPR says it received podcast entries from students around the country and it has narrowed down the list to ten finalists. They cover topics including the impact of the pandemic, cultural identity, public transportation, music, and racism in art. Read more
The outlook for digital audio advertising continues to brighten according to ad giant Magna. It has released an updated forecast for 2021 advertising revenue and it now projects digital audio advertising will grow 7.5% this year. That is a half-point improvement over its earlier forecast released in December. “Digital ad formats will capture two-thirds of total advertising sales for the first time,” said Magna in the latest update. Read more
The podcast hosting and distribution company Libsyn is looking to ramp up its advertising capabilities with a $30 million deal to buy the podcast rep firm AdvertiseCast. It sells inventory for more than 1,500 podcasts and Libsyn says its combination with Libsyn’s 75,000 hosted podcasts will accelerate revenue opportunities for podcast creators and provide advertisers with significant new inventory. Read more
The Interactive Advertising Bureau says 30 podcast companies are slated to take part in the IAB Podcast Upfront, scheduled for May 11-13. The podcast-focused event will come hot on the heels of the IAB NewFronts, which is expected to have thousands of buyers registered to attend. Read more
The federal government has teamed up with iHeartMedia and ABC to create a podcast geared toward addressing questions and concerns about the COVID-19 vaccines. The Department of Health & Human Services has also enlisted ABC’s “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts to host the iHeartRadio Original series COVID-19 Immunity In Our Community. Read more
Audioburst is launching a new service designed to bring its audio content search and discovery platform into a variety of podcast and music streaming apps. While providing incremental, recurring revenue for the thousands of app developers looking to increase app monetization, it is also a move the company says will help podcasters reach new audiences. Read more
With basketball fans focused on March Madness, Hyperobject Industries and Three Uncanny Four Productions, in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment, have just dropped a basketball-focused documentary series. Death at the Wing is a new series that focuses on the intersection of basketball, politics, and socioeconomics in the 1980s that led to an extraordinary number of untimely deaths of rising basketball prospects. Read more
One year after the pandemic brought some sudden changes in media consumption habits, including some dips in downloads for some publishers, the latest Podtrac data shows how a year later the story for the industry is much different. Podtrac says downloads for the shows and publishers it measures were up last week compared to a year ago. And many of the medium’s biggest categories had double digit year-over-year growth. Read more
Entercom, the parent of podcast studios Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Studios and the podcast ad marketplace Podcorn, has rebranded itself as Audacy. As part of the change, it will sunset the Radio.com brand for its podcast and streaming radio app but keep the podcast company names. The newly rebranded Audacy app will include podcasts and streaming radio. Audacy has also announced some podcast plans. Read more
After spending hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire a string of podcast companies, Spotify has struck a deal to buy Betty Labs, the creators of the live audio app Locker Room. Terms of the deal were not immediately released. Spotify said the move will accelerate its entry into live audio. In the coming months, Spotify said it will “evolve and expand” Locker Room to offer a range of sports, music, and cultural programming. Read more
The global podcast platform Acast is launching a series of subscription tools that will allow its customers to offer a variety of revenue-generating options to their users. What it is billing as Acast+ will give publishers the ability to offer ad-free streams, exclusive content, early access and other incentives to paying subscribers. Acast+ formally launched in beta earlier this year with four publishers. Read more
Tinkercast, the children’s media company and podcast producer, is teaming up with Sony Music Entertainment to develop premium podcast content appealing to the growing kids and family-based audio market. Under the agreement, Sony Music will support Tinkercast’s rollout of new episodes and international versions of Tinkercast’s existing content, including its flagship Wow in the World series, and a new slate of shows that will begin to roll out later this year. Read more
The heat of the presidential election season may have cooled a few degrees, but as a new battle over voting access plays out in Georgia, there comes the newest series from Serial Productions. The series is taking on the hot topic of election fraud in a limited-run show called The Improvement Association. In the series, host Zoe Chace investigates the power of election fraud allegations in rural North Carolina. Read more
Financial advice radio talk show host Dave Ramsey has just joined an exclusive list among podcasters. “The Ramsey Show” podcast has just surpassed one billion downloads, a rare milestone reached by only a handful of podcasts in the world. The daily three-hour radio show produces a trio of one-hour podcasts each day. “The Ramsey Show” becomes the fourth podcast to cross the one billion download mark. Read more
Podcast is helping provide some “sizzle” to radio and that is one reason GroupM thinks radio should experience “significant growth” during 2021 and “return towards the prior trajectories.” GroupM is projecting radio advertising will grow 7.6% this year. GroupM is also revising its outlook for overall ad growth. It now expects the U.S. ad market to grow 15% compared to last year when the impact of political advertising is removed. Read more
Podcasting has seen its roster of famous faces grow exponentially during the past two years. Often, it was the appeal of the audio medium that brought them to podcasting. But Bethenny Frankel also illustrates another big appeal. When she considered doing a satellite radio show, it required a five day a week commitment. “It sounded like a time suck,” she said. And that led to the launch of her Just B with Bethenny Frankel podcast last October. Read more
Salem Media Group’s new podcast network is adding another talk radio voice. Conservative host Todd Starnes’ daily podcast will become part of the Salem Podcast Network with distribution, marketing, and sales representation for the “Todd Starnes Podcast” beginning April 5. “His courage in saying what needs to be said is unmatched,” said Phil Boyce, Senior VP of Spoken Word for Salem Media Group. Read more
Adelaide, a research firm with a mission to help advertisers understand the quality of the media they’re buying, is planning to expand into the audio world. The company, which measures consumer attention to advertising, is initially focusing on podcasting but also has broadcast radio in its sights. Read more
The podcast ad rep firm True Native Media has added three employees in what it says will be a year of growth for the company. The new hires include Cami Abouleinein, AJ Archibald and Ame Fuhlbruck. “I anticipate 2021 being a year of exciting opportunities,” said Heather Osgood, founder of True Native Media. Read more
Streaming audio users spent an average of one hour and 57 minutes each week listening to online content on smartphones and tablets during the third quarter of 2020 according to Nielsen’s just-released Total Audience Report. As would be expected, the data – which reflects both streaming music and spoken word content like podcasts – shows younger demos dedicated the most time to online audio listening. Podcast advertising also had solid trustworthiness scores, especially among consumers 50 and under. Read more
As the first quarter draws to a close, Audioboom CEO Stuart Last is offering the industry’s first assessment of how business has been so far in 2021. In an update to investors, he said Audioboom has already booked advertising representing more than 80% of the revenue the company had projected for the full year. “The traditional seasonal drop-off in first quarter advertising demand has not materialized,” said Last. Read more
The new alliance between PRX and the media group Religion of Sports has delivered its first series. In a seven-episode series called Crushed, they aim to have a reckoning with Major League Baseball’s steroid era. Hosted by former Sports Illustrated staff writer Joan Niesen, the show drops just in time for the start of a new MLB season. Read more
Public radio’s WBEZ Chicago (91.5) has been a producer of some of podcasting’s biggest shows, most notably Wait Wait Don’t’ Tell Me and This American Life. Now it is launching a new weekly series that host Aarti Shahani says is a “a different kind of inspiration podcast for 2021.” Read more
Baratunde Thurston, author and a former Obama White House advisor, became a podcaster last year with his iHeartPodcast Network series How to Citizen. It is gearing up to launch season two. Now Thurston is breaking into television. He will host a six-part series for PBS and Twin Cities PBS. An outdoor enthusiast, the series titled “American Outdoors” will follow Thurston on an adventure-filled journey to explore the diverse array of regions across the U.S. Read more
