RAIN Notes: Thursday, January 6
Jottings of Note, smart speaker edition
— Big Distro (Audacy / Samsung)
— Not Entirely On Air (On Air Fest)
— Broadening (Higher Ground)
News
Downloads up, audience mixed (Podtrac) and RAIN Remix of December Top Publishers ranker
In the December Top Podcast Publishers list from Podtrac, U.S. Unique Monthly Audience increased for 4 of the Top 20 publishers in December over November. Total Global Downloads for the Top 20 were up 9% month-over-month and up 19% year-over-year. Click through for the entire list, plus RAIN’s remix which sorts top publishers by average audience size and downloads per show. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: Tuesday, January 4
Jottings of Note, smart speaker edition
— Ad Infotainment (Acast)
— Oopsamatic (The Verge)
— PRX Raids BSO (PRX)
RAIN’s top five posts (plus one) of 2021
RAIN’s most-read articles of 2021. Some news items have import that goes beyond the moment — so it is that two of our top five were posted in 2020. On another note, hurrah to RAIN’s stellar lineup of guest columnists. Two of them landed in the 2021 top five. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: Monday, December 27
Jottings of Note, smart speaker edition
— Waning? (Alexa)
— Meanwhile… (Google)
— Unifying the Brand (Nesting the Mini)
RAIN Notes: Thursday, December 23
Jottings of Note
— Stability (Triton Digital)
— Who Bought Whom (Sounds Profitable)
— Not So Fast (Dave Hanley)
AccuRadio intros “World’s largest playlist of holiday songs.” It is big.
Venerable streaming music service AccuRadio sent around a notice that it has curated what the company describes as the world’s largest playlist of holiday songs. We won’t argue — this juggernaut of holiday cheer contains 17,000 tracks, and would require over five weeks of uninterrupted streaming to hear them all. Click through for details and links. Continue Reading
Canadian digital audio listening surpasses radio for first time; divergence will increase (eMarketer)
Canadian listeners chose digital audio sources slightly more than radio in 2021, for the first time. This according to eMarketer. “The switch is related to a reduction in commuting,” the company notes, “which has had a direct impact on terrestrial radio consumption.” eMarketer is predicting a widening of the gap in 2022. Continue Reading
Surge in Latino podcast listening the #1 “Top Finding” in 2021 from Edison Research
In an online presentation today, Edison Research released its Top Ten Findings of 2021, an interesting selection of key metrics from the company’s many consumer survey studies such as The Infinite Dial, Share of Ear, Podcast Consumer Tracker, and The Black Podcast Listener Report. Click through for details and infographics. Continue Reading
Podcast advertisers in November: Familiar brands plus the Pentagon
In Magellan AI’s just-released ranking of podcast ad spending, we see the continuation of a sameness trend. Eight of the top 15 companies have ranked in the list for eight straight months. And in November there are no new brands that haven’t appeared once in the past eight months of RAIN comparisons. Click through for links and RAIN’s 8-month chart. Continue Reading
Spotify acquires Whooshkaa; will integrate tech into Megaphone
Spotify has acquired Australian podtech company Whooshkaa. The company says it will integrate Whooshkaa’s platform technology into Spotify subsidiary Megaphone. One important piece of that technology is an easy way for radio broadcasters to turn their content into on-demand podcasting. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: Wednesday, December 15
Jottings of Note
— Slurp (Will Page)
— Education (teenVOGUE)
— Normal Antics (Rooster Teeth)