Comprehensive coverage of the podcasting industry and its business ecosystem.
Castbox has secured a Series B funding round of $13.5 million for its podcast app, bringing the total raised to $29.5 million. SIG China led the round, with existing investors IDG Capital, Qiming Venture Partners and GSR Ventures also participating. Continue Reading
Panoply has hired a new vice president of sales. Ken Lagana joins the podcast company from a position as senior vice president of global sales and marketing at CBS Digital Media. In addition, Panoply recently announced a partnership with the publisher Macmillan. Continue Reading
Midroll Media’s podcast networks have shared their new show lineups. Earwolf, Stitcher, and Stitcher Premium are each expanding their programming. Continue Reading
We know from The Smart Audio Report conducted by Edison Research and NPR, that smart speakers have a special (and perhaps unpredicted) appeal to kids, and therefore to parents who are bringing Alexa devices into their homes. research summary. iHeartRadio is leaping into that space with an announcement today that it will be the default provider of live music content for the newly launched Echo Dot Kids Edition, and the FreeTime Unlimited skill in Alexa. Continue Reading
Podtrac has released its ranker of the top 20 podcasts for March 2018. Most of the entries are consistent with the list from February, with just a few shifts in the order. Podtrac’s March 2018 publisher ranking was released last week. Continue Reading
The 2017 Peabody Awards winners for radio/podcast have been chosen. Serial Productions maintains its success rate, securing a win for its new podcast S-Town. Uncivil: The Raid by Gimlet Media also took a win for its depiction of an event during the Civil War. Continue Reading
Veteran digital audio executive Billy Freund has joined PodcastOne as Co-COO, according to a news release sent by the L.A.-based podcast company. Freund steps into COO responsibilities alongside Greg Batusic, who operates in New York. Freund will work in the Beverly Hills headquarters. Continue Reading
Picking up from yesterday’s Part 1 of the conversation between Pacific Media’s Steve Pratt and Google’s Podcasts Product Manager Zack Reneau-Wedeen, today’s installment in the five-part series has Reneau-Wedeen evangelizing audio and planning its rise in Google information ecosystem. “There’s no good reason why audio isn’t a first-class citizen,” he said. Continue Reading
One of the most successful audio titles, Freakonomics Radio, is moving to Stitcher this summer, according to an announcement sent out this morning by Midroll Media, which controls Stitcher. Both Midroll and Stitcher are owned by E.W. Scripps. There’s an interesting strategy for show archives. Continue Reading
Google intends to double the podcast audience in a couple of years, and correct what it sees as an imbalance in Android’s share of delivery compared to iPhones. Some of Google’s podcast discovery and listening strategy is already implemented, and it shines a meaningful light on Google’s potential power to come from way behind Apple’s 13-year advantage in delivering podcasts to its iTunes and Podcasts app audiences. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: In the UK, Bauer’s new national radio station. In the U.S., statistics and trends from Podcast Consumer 2018. Continue Reading
Podcasts are taking the world by storm. The Weather Channel has announced that it is debuting its first podcast next week. The program, Weather Geeks, is hosted by former American Meteorological Society president Dr. Marshall Shepherd. Continue Reading