Podcasting

Comprehensive coverage of the podcasting industry and its business ecosystem.

Amaze Media Labs launches to create podcasts and events for brands

Posted on by Brad Hill

Three executives have teamed up to launch an agency which will create branded podcasts and branded events, sometimes in combination. Called Amaze Media Labs, the company’s purpose is to connect brands to their audiences “in authentic and meaningful ways.” There will be a specialty on virtual events at first, with the company looking forward to a resumption of in-person gatherings. The founding team comes from big business, not from podcast production or publishing. Continue Reading →

NPR subscribes to Nielsen’s Podcast Buying Power service

Posted on by Brad Hill

Nielsen is justifiably bragging today that is has signed NPR, one of the world’s most powerful podcast publishers, to Nielsen Podcast Buying Power, an insight service which matches genres to consumer purchase behavior patterns. The service is founded on the big Nielsen Scarborough database of consumer survey information. Continue Reading →

Triton Digital enters deal with Sounder, bringing dynamic ad insertion to Sounder’s podcast platform

Posted on by Brad Hill

Podcast management and monetization platform Sounder is announcing today an alliance  with Triton Digital to bring dynamically inserted ads to Sounder-hosted podcasts. The integration reportedly makes it easy for podcasters to bring revenue to their entire catalogs via audience-targeted ads. Continue Reading →

Quake Media launches news-oriented subscription podcast service

Posted on by Brad Hill

Though some observers would wish that subscription-based exclusive podcast services would cease and vanish, neither is happening. The latest? Quake Media which announces its launch, funded by Wndrco and “a few other” undisclosed individuals. The roll-out content is verticalized as a news & politics destination, with six podcasts hosted by recognized news anchors. Five bucks a month to listen. Click through for details. Continue Reading →

More is better, plus key knowledge points from Podsights Conversion Benchmarks report

Posted on by Brad Hill

Podcast attribution company Podsights has released a Conversion Benchmarks report (download HERE) that shines lights onto key factors in a successful podcast advertising campaign. In addition, a hefty appendix section illuminates parts of the anatomy of the podcast ad business. Click through for tons of detail, graphics, and a download link. Continue Reading →

“Hello friends, we have a situation.” Covid reaches Rogan staff.

Posted on by Brad Hill

In an Instagram video, Joe Rogan — the world’s most successful podcaster, by consensus and most measurement — announced that a member of his production staff has tested positive for Covid. Production of The Joe Rogan Experience is halted indefinitely. Rogan speculates “deep into next week” before the show resumes. Continue Reading →

SiriusXM closes Stitcher: 150M addressable audience, new lines of reporting, Pandora gets more podcasts

Posted on by Brad Hill

SiriusXM has closed its acquisition of Stitcher, three months after the July announcement that the satellite giant would buy the pioneering podcast company. Stitcher joins Pandora as a wholly-owned Sirius company. SiriusXM also has an exclusive ad sales partnership with Soundcloud. Today’s announcement puts the combined audience at 150-million listeners, and calls that reach “the largest addressable audience in North America across all categories of digital audio – music, sports, talk, and podcasts.” Continue Reading →

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Steve Goldstein: Music Finally Meets Podcasts

Posted on by Steve Goldstein

by Steve Goldstein
In this guest column, Steve Goldstein discusses spotify’s new feature which allows music into podcasts, via the Anchor service. He recognizes the important (while noting some clunkiness in the end product), and also notes that broadcast radio has spent years decreasing the role of “the passionate musicologist DJ’s of FM radios early days.” Continue Reading →

Curiouscast, Corus Entertainment’s pod network, announces fall slate

Posted on by Brad Hill

Curiouscast, the podcast network owned and operated by Canada’s Corus Entertainment, has released its fall schedule of new and returning shows. The lineup features three investigative podcasts including the award-winning Crime Beat (Season 3), and new shows 13 Hours: Inside the Nova Scotia Massacre and Whatever Happened To. Four shows are featured in today’s announcement. Continue Reading →

Wondery pulls “Business Wars” into Wondery Plus subscription service

Posted on by Brad Hill

One of Wondery’s best known shows, Business Wars, is preparing a new season that will be distributed exclusively by Wondery Plus, the company’s ad-free subscription service. Some podcasts presented in Wondery Plus also are distributed via RSS normally, with ads in the programs. In this case, the new season of Business Wars is called and “Wondery + Exclusive.”  Continue Reading →

Spoken Word Audio Report 2020: Share jumps; 43% listen daily

Posted on by Brad Hill

The Spoken Word Audio Report 2020, produced by Edison Research and NPR, is out. One broad and important finding: 75% of the U.S. population (18+) listens to spoken word audio monthly. Daily, it is 43%. AM/FM is paying the price for increased listening to other platforms of spoken word audio; the trend is clear from 2014 to 2020. Click through for much more, and graphics, and a link to the download. Continue Reading →