Comprehensive coverage of the podcasting industry and its business ecosystem.
Radiotopia announced that its Ear Hustle podcast has been downloaded 1.5 million times. The show came to life as the winner of the network’s Podquest contest last year. Ear Hustle is the work of Earlonne Woods and Antwan Williams, both incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison, and Nigel Poor, a Bay Area artist and professor. Continue Reading
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) today released a second version of its Podcast Ad Metrics Guidelines (released in September of last year). Public comments are invited. Continue Reading
In a sign of podcasting’s evolution from cottage industry to a maturing advertising category, Nielsen has announced an agreement with Slate-owned Panoply’s Megaphone hosting platform. The venture hopes to meet advertiser demand for audience targeting of podcast commercials and sponsorship messages. Continue Reading
Podtrac’s podcast publisher rankings don’t usually show much variance from month to month, but June 2017 marked the arrival of two new companies. ESPN debuted at No. 5 on the list with an audience of 3.5 million uniques in the U.S. Wondery also marked its debit, with an audience of 2.6 million U.S. uniques propelling it No. 7 on the chart. Continue Reading
The recent Infinite Dial Australia report from Edison Research shared some data points about the position of podcasts in that nation. The audio format was known to 72% of respondents, while 29% of Australians have listened to a podcast. We compare key metrics with the U.S. version of The Infinite Dial, released in March. Continue Reading
Audio app Anchor announced that it now offers distribution to podcast platforms. The burgeoning audio program lets people record short clips onto their phone. Those clips were confined only to the Anchor app, but now users can choose to publish their audio recordings to Apple Podcasts and Google Play Music. Continue Reading
ESPN’s 30 for 30 podcast series (announced in RAIN News in March) launched yesterday, and the company released a sponsor lineup that includes four national brands. The announcement is significant as the podcast economy is at an inflection point, attempting to evolve beyond its reliance on DRM (direct response marketing) advertisers, and draw money from the big marketing budgets of national branding campaigns. Continue Reading
ABC Radio announced a new podcast called Motivated. The program, hosted by ABC News Correspondent Mara Schiavocampo, will address health, wellness, nutrition and spirituality. New episodes will air weekly on Mondays. Continue Reading
Public Radio International announced a partnership with Slate Magazine to expand the podcast development and digital distribution for Studio 360. The show is a Peabody Award-winning program about creativity, pop culture, and the arts. Studio 360 launched in 2000 and is hosted by novelist and journalist Kurt Andersen. The show had previously been a production between PRI and WNYC. Continue Reading
Tidal is joining the bandwagon of streaming music sites to expand into podcast hosting. Tidal On Air is its new podcast hub, which has already signed on five shows centered on music. Their first episodes will be available exclusively to Tidal subscribers. Continue Reading
The Smart Audio Report from NPR and Edison Research, which had its world release at yesterday’s RAIN Podcast Business Summit, revealed that the voice-activated devices (e.g. Amazon Echo/Dot and Google Home) encourage audio listening, music service subscription, and have become extremely valued additions to their owners’ lifestyles in sometimes surprising ways. Continue Reading
Podcast company Midroll Media announced three new additions to its team. “As we grow Midroll’s role as the leader in all parts of the podcast ecosystem — including content creation, monetization and distribution — we continue to build out a world-class leadership team,” Midroll CEO Erik Diehn said. Continue Reading