Swedish-based global podcast company Acast has appointed two new directors in its U.S. Creator Network: Tiffany Ashitey as US Director of the Creator Network, and Tim Ruggeri as US Director of Development and Studios. Continue Reading
Jottings of Note, smart speaker edition
— South Africa metrics (Edison Research
— Key Historical Moment (EFF & Marc Maron)
— Atop (ARN / iHeartRadio Australia)
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
Sweden-HQ’d global podcast company Acast released Q4 and full-year 2021 finances today. For the first time, Acast shows registered a billion listens in a single quarter. Full-year listening reached 3.7-billion plays. Click for finance details. Continue Reading
In Podtrac’s Top Podcast Publishers monthly ranker for January we learn that the metrics for audience growth were mainly on the upswing. Click through for the results, and RAIN’s remix, which re-sorts the top publishers by average listeners and plays per show. Continue Reading
After a four-year hiatus, Podcast Movement is partnering with podcast host Libsyn to introduce the 2022 Podcast Hall of Fame with eight inductees. They are: Dr. Virginia “Ginger” Campbell, Host & Producer of Brain Science Marc Maron, Host &… Continue Reading
“We’re really pleased with Stitcher where we’re at right now,” said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer. He and his executive colleagues bragged about Stitcher’s shows and the placements on “best of” lists in the past year. Additionally, the call noted a synergy of content, marketing, and sales which, Greenstein said, would attract new podcasting talent to Stitcher. Click for more, including an interesting bit about semiconductor shortages. Continue Reading
Jottings of Note, smart speaker edition
— Looking Back (Magellan AI)
— Heroic Listeners (Edison research & Ad Results Media)
— Getting Along Great (PRX and Futuro Media)
Edison Research has released its always-interesting Top Podcasts list, this one for all of 2021. (See the bottom of this post.) The Joe Rogan Experience is atop the list, followed by The Daily at #2. Edison’s reckoning of top podcasts is importantly different from Podtrac, Triton Digital, and other machine-based measurements, because no podcast is excluded. Click through for the list, and a link to a nifty interactive version of it. Continue Reading
Leaping into the moment, Canadian research firm Signal Hill Insights has produced a survey study of consumer reaction to the controversy swirling around Spotify’s distribution ownership of The Joe Rogan Experience. Rogan’s wide-ranging interview show is possibly the most successful podcast in the world. Signal Hill dashed into the field for survey work on February 2 and 3. One fulcrum of opinion lies on the American-Canadian border. Click for findings. Continue Reading
Missed the webinar? Would rather read anyway? Here is the transcript of the inaugural RAIN Podcast Business Lunch, featuring Tom Webster. Continue Reading
James Cridland returns with the latest installment of his weekly column. In this edition, James laments two business moves that restrict access to audio. The BBC will “window” some of its podcasts into the BBC Sounds app — a maneuver which James calls “another disappointing move from a broadcaster that should be widening its potential audience, not limiting it.” Also, Bauer Media plans to remove its radio stations from TuneIn. Other media groups in Europe don’t escape James’s withering gaze. But later, the BBC is redeemed with an audio piece which is “sublimely excellent.” And much more in this generous column.
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