Ben Shapiro loses podcast sponsors after live event, bringing a new spin to “brand safety”

Political podcaster Ben Shapiro, recently noted in RAIN News for his wide syndicated extension into broadcast radio, has lost two sponsors after a live podcast performance at a Right To Life rally. The fallout shines a new light on brand safety — a constant concern in advertising that messaging does not appear connected to controversial content. Continue Reading

AudioBoom 2018 financials: revenue & CPM leap upward above bottom-line loss

UK-based podcast company AudioBoom, which is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange, released its full-year 2018 financials. In a story familiar to leading streaming music services, the bottom line is in the red even as revenue jumped upward, and the earning per thousand listens (CPM) likewise spiked. It is a growth picture after a rough road in 2018. Continue Reading

James Cridland’s International Radio Trends: Fortunately goes exclusive to the BBC Sounds app; and adblocking comes to the radio

by James Cridland

James Cridland’s International Radio Trends is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: James takes a deep dive on the BBC and Fortunately. Other updates on audio come from France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and more. Continue Reading

Anchor Sponsorships have “effectively doubled” the pool of podcasts with advertising, company says

Anchor introduced its Anchor Sponsorships monetization platform in November, and is promoting a strong uptake among its users. According to a new blog post, Anchor says participation in the sponsorships program has “effectively doubled the total number of podcasts on the market that are running ads.” Continue Reading