Comprehensive coverage of the podcasting industry and its business ecosystem.
Acast is leaping into the podcast incubator realm with Acast Amplifier, a contest for UK would-be podcasters who haven’t yet started up. Money, free gear, creative support go to winners. An all-star panel of judges will make the decisions. Continue Reading
In Magellan AI’s latest monthly report of top podcast advertisers, tracking December spending amounts, we see many of the same brands that have populated the Top 15 Spenders list for nine months. Only one new entrant among repeaters. Click for details and the RAIN graphic
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ABC News is celebrating the 1,000th episode of its daily news podcast, Start Here, hosted by veteran audio journalist, Edward R. Murrow award-winner, and RAIN Summit keynoter Brad Mielke. We asked Brad about recording in the field; he told us all about soft tech. Click for details and a photo. Continue Reading
Podcast hosting and advertising company Acast has added a specialized division to increase audience growth in its Acast Creator Network. Acast is calling it a “growth division,” and has staffed it with employees in the UK, US, and home country Sweden. Continue Reading
by Steve Goldstein
Guest columnist Steve Goldstein follows up yesterday’s exploration of why so many branded podcasts fail. Today, a checklist to determine whether your company, or any company, should have a branded podcast. One of them: “Can you think of 10 episode topics?” Continue Reading
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), the major distribution hub for bublic television programming, is entering the podcast sphere with two podcasts derived from two TV shows derived from PBS Digital Studios — the online video production house within PBS. Continue Reading
by Steve Goldstein In his latest column, veteran podcast executive producer Steve Goldstein provides a tutorial on how to conceive and plan a branded podcast. And good news — this is just Part 1 of a two-parter. Part 2 tomorrow. Continue Reading
by Jeff Vidler
In his latest guest column, Jeff Vidler contemplates U.S. ad spend on podcasting has nearly doubled every two years since 2015. Listeners are receptive. The blend of advertisers is changing, and so are ad types. The highly successful host-read ad is difficult to scale. As podcasting steers toward programmatic, Jeff examines new formats and campaign types. Continue Reading
In a widely cited article, The Verge reported that Spotify shut down its in-house founding podcast studio, internally called Studio 4 and publicly named Spotify Studios. While there is no reported connection, we observe that ending Studio 4 comes less than a month folloing the opening of Pod City, Spotify’s plush and elaborate podcast production facility in downtown L.A. Continue Reading
PRX has evidently been busy making deals, and today released three of them. The public media organization is partnering with Magnificent Noise, WaitWhat, and Skeptoid Media to distribute selected podcasts, and provide sponsorship and promotional support. Click for details. Continue Reading
Audioboom released its 2021 annual finance report this morning, containing ready-made headlines for promoting the company’s recent success. Click through for lots of numbers and 2022 forecasts. Continue Reading
The Jordan Harbinger Show joined Podtrac’s monthly Top 20 Podcasts ranker for December. The other 19 shows all appeared in the previous month. RAIN’s 6-month comparison illustrates the nearly-unchanging stability of this list. Continue Reading