Podcasting 21 - RAIN News

Podtrac: Podcast consumption down 10% in September, and RAIN Remix

Posted on October 11, 2023 by Brad Hill

In the Top Podcast Publishers ranking in September from Podtrac, we are told that podcast downloads and play decreased in September. Meanwhile iHeartPodcasts, Wondery, and NPR repeated month-over-month to take the top three spots based on the ranker’s native sorting. But things get shaken up in the RAIN Remix, which resorts the Podtrac data to show audience and downloads per active show. Click for details and graphics. Continue Reading →

“Laser-sharp targeting” from AI+analytics in Sonnant/Podder partnership

Posted on October 9, 2023 by Brad Hill

AI and machine learning company Sonant, and audio demographic analytics firm Podder, have partnered to create better audience insights for audio advertisers In a joint announcement, the two companies describe three main benefits. Continue Reading →

Podtrac top 20 shows: 5 non-repeats after two years

Posted on October 5, 2023 by Brad Hill

In the “Nothing succeeds like success” category, we observe that only five non-repeating shows are placed in Podtrac’s Top 20 Podcasts ranking list for September 2023, compared to the same ranker from September 2021. But that’s more than last month’s comparison. Click for the comparison graphic, and the original ranker. Continue Reading →

Italian podcast listeners: High recall of advertising (MDE/Ipsos)

Posted on October 4, 2023 by Brad Hill

Milan-based digital audio solutions company MDE worked with Ipsos to create a visual landscape to describe Italian podcast listeners. From it, we are interested to learn that podcasts are consumed monthly by 39% of Italians (nearly 12-million listeners), and that 78% recall the ads in podcasts. Click for the entire infographic. Continue Reading →

Rising podcast ad rates break 3-month trend in September (AdvertiseCast)

Posted on October 3, 2023 by Brad Hill

The average cost per thousand (CPM) for podcast ads rose upward in September, breaking a three-month downlward slippage. The nudge was in effect across all measures of audience size, and the average of them. This according to AdvertiseCast’s monthly tracker. Click for graph. Continue Reading →

AdLarge partners with Barometer for AI analysis of podcast content and brand suitability

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Brad Hill

AdLarge announces a new partnership with AI-powered brand suitability and contextual targeting company Barometer. The mission is to provide brand suitability and safety guidelines across the AdLarge Podcast portfolio. Barometer has built an AI engine to analyze podcast content and… Continue Reading →

Podchaser (Acast) launches AI Predictive Demographics, seeking to enhance audio targeting

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Brad Hill

Acast subsidiary and podcast discovery resource Podchaser has launched an AI-driven feature designed to enhance podcast audience targeting based on episode language. The distinguishing feature is the use of AI, as opposed to first-party demographic data, to analyze the language spoken within a podcast to predict the age and gender of its likely audience. Click for details. Continue Reading →

Google to end Google Podcasts; commits to YouTube Music for “increasing investment in the podcast experience”

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Brad Hill

“We want to make sure we get this right.” —Google YouTube team. Google will discontinue the Google Podcasts app, and move its central podcast offering to YouTube Music in 2024. In choosing YouTube Music as the home base for podcasting, YouTube is emulating Spotify’s hybrid music/talk content model. Continue Reading →

AM/FM promotion of podcasts? Cumulus study shows it works

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Brad Hill

Cumulus Media has published survey results showing that AM/FM promotes podcasts effectively. Three main takeaways are derived from nearly a dozen data-packed slides, documenting the results of the recently conducted Cumulus Podcast Network Promotion Study. Click for takeaways. Continue Reading →

Spotify launches AI podcast translations; potential for instant global reach

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Brad Hill

Spotify is piloting an AI tool which translates any podcast into alternate languages, called Voice Translation for Podcasts. The translation is one part. Perhaps more startling is the AI technology which also synthesizes a voice sounding identical to the original. Click for more. Continue Reading →

Edison Research releases Top 25 Podcasts in the UK

Posted on September 25, 2023 by Brad Hill

Edison Research released its survey-generated list of Top 25 Podcasts In The UK. As with the company’s other rankers, this one is calculated from conversations with podcast listeners, not by counting downloads. Americans will recognize the #1 show. We compare the UK top 25 with the U.S. top 25. Continue Reading →

Three brands dominate again in monthly podcast ad spend (Magellan AI, August ranker)

Posted on September 22, 2023 by Brad Hill

In Magellan AI’s reckoning of the top podcast advertisers (by spend) in August, we see a lot of repetition from the previous two months. Seven of the top 15 in the previous month of July landed on the July list again. Click for RAIN’s tracking. Continue Reading →