Comprehensive coverage of the podcasting industry and its business ecosystem.
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Analyzing Scripps’ move to cut radio and focus on podcasts. Other news from the the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and more. Continue Reading
The venerable E.W. Scripps Company, a multimedia national player in newspapers, radio, television, and digital media, has announced a tectonic and identity-changing restructure plan. As with many corporate reinventions, headcount will be reduced over 12-18 months, costs will be lowered, technology will be centralized, resources will be optimized across divisions. And radio will be ditched entirely. Continue Reading
Podtrac has published its podcast ranking charts for December 2017. Measured listening rose 93% year-on-year for the period, although December did see a slight drop of 7% in total global unique streams and downloads from November. Each of the publishers also posted dips in their audiences for December over November, a common trend in end-of-year listening. Continue Reading
Vox Media has a new marketing lead for podcasts. Zach Kahn announced his promotion on Twitter. Kahn has been with Vox in partnership and marketing positions since May 2016. Continue Reading
Midroll Brand Studio, a division of podcast content and advertising company Midroll Media, announced the start of four new shows, each with presenting sponsors. Three brand sponsors are mentioned in the announcement: ZipRecruiter, Squarespace, and Carbonite. Continue Reading
Acast has hired Chris Wistow as its new global head of audio product and partner sales. Wistow joins the podcasting company from AdsWizz, where he was the UK and Ireland Country Head. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: How the UK listens; a sad passing; radio with pictures — and much more from the US, Europe, Australia, and elsewhere. Continue Reading
Jake Shapiro, head of RadioPublic, the Boston-based podcast creation and distribution company, posted a note indicating that some upgrades have been introduced to the RadioPublic web player at radioplayer.com. A permanent player, easier sharing, and new scrubbing tools have modernized the experience. Continue Reading
Spotify has introduced a new multimedia format that blends video and audio components. The feature is called Spotlight, and it can unite photos, video, or text when listening to podcasts, audiobooks, or news. We located Spotlight in Spotify’s Android app. Continue Reading
Apple’s Siri voice assistant is getting a closer relationship with podcasts. When asking Siri for news, the platform can provide audio-based news updates from the Podcasts app. In the U.S., Siri defaults to audio updates from NPR, but a second voice command can change the default to The Washington Post, CNN, or Fox News. Continue Reading
Pandora is making plans to broaden its podcast offerings. CEO Roger Lynch spoke with Variety during CES and said his goal is to create “the equivalent of the podcast genome project.” Lynch said the company is working on a system that would allow listeners to browse and discover new shows on Pandora. The move isn’t unprecedented, but there are some questions. Continue Reading
Stitcher announced the debut of two new shows on its podcast network. The first is Unladylike and the second show is Who Is Franklin Jones? The Stitcher Premium subscription service is also getting three new programs. Continue Reading