Podcast Movement Evolutions: Awards, announcements, and hard-core learnings in Vegas

Podcast Movement Evolutions, the business-oriented variation of the creator-focused Podcast Movement conferences, was held at the Westgate Conference Center in Las Vegas this week. A somewhat more intimate experience than Podcast Movement, Evolutions offered several knowledge tracks featuring keynotes, interviews, and panel discussions along with numerous networking opportunities during three and a half days. There were announcements, too. Continue Reading

“Voice tech is everywhere” and other findings from Edison/NPR Smart Audio Report

Edison Research and NPR have released the 2022 Smart Audio Report, an annual survey study measuring the growth, impact, and user behaviors of conversational AI audio. This field is generally summarized as “smart speakers,” but the Edison/NPR work includes digital assistants built into phones, TVs, tablets, cars, and appliances. Continue Reading

NPR’s “How I Built This” moves to Wondery / Amazon in exclusive licensing deal

Apple top-10 charter and NPR hit How I Built This with Guy Roz has been licensed by Amazon Music subsidiary Wondery for semi-exclusive distribution. Wondery and Amazon get the show exclusively for a week, and also enjoy exclusive ad-repping. NPR continues to underwrite. Click for details. Continue Reading

Spoken-word listening rapidly growing; music and AM/FM erode (Spoken Word Audio Report)

The 2021 edition of the annual Spoken Word Audio Report, a comprehensive survey study fielded by Edison Research with support from NPR, is out. Key findings include how all kinds of spoken word audio listening (podcasting, audiobooks, AM/FM talk radio) is quickly growing, and largely eating into AM/FM talk radio. Click through for many in-depth details, graphics, and the download link for full results and videos. Continue Reading