Podcasting

Comprehensive coverage of the podcasting industry and its business ecosystem.

Nearly unchanging Podtrac top podcasts list illustrates why non-top podcasters want better discovery

Posted on by Brad Hill

Nothing succeeds like success, the saying goes, and podcasting is illustrating that maxim as much as any media category. Podtrac released its monthly Top Podcasts ranker (U.S. listening) for September. As with other recurring podcast rankers, this update shows stability in the 20-show cohort. Two shows which weren’t present in the previous month crept into the September list: How I Built This (#19) and TED Radio Hour (#20). In the top ten, only three shows shifted position, each by just one spot up or down. Click through for the whole list. Continue Reading →

AdLarge partners with boostr for digital audio order management and customer retention

Posted on by Brad Hill

AdLarge announces today that it has settled on boostr, the customer retention and order management platform for media companies. Boostr self-describes as “the only end-to-end revenue solution for ad sales organizations seeking to upgrade their systems and save money.” From AdLarge’s viewpoint, the point of the boostr alliance is to benefit advertisers. The company told RAIN News that it can now respond to RFP’s faster, create scale faster, and provide enhanced reporting. Continue Reading →

Jason Calacanis in Oxford Road podcast: “Skip the video.”

Posted on by Brad Hill

Podcast pioneer, A-list entrepreneur, and RAIN keynote speaker Jason Calacanis is guesting in the current episode of Oxford Road Presents The Divided States of Media. In it, he evangelizes audio and podcasting, while sketching a history of how his show (This Week in Startups) and the resources needed to produce it. It’s an interesting glimpse into one of the longest-running and successful audio/video podcast hybrids. Click through to hear the episode. Continue Reading →

PRX and Google select podcast winners for Google Podcasts creator program

Posted on by Brad Hill

In June, PRX and Google announced a new year of the accelerator, training, and funding program that was first formed in October, 2018. Today comes the announcement of winners. Twenty podcast teams from around the world, working in six languages across 11 countries, will benefit from training, mentoring, and funding up to $12,000 each. Click through for all the details. Continue Reading →

Monday.com and Better Help highlight Magellan AI podcast advertiser report

Posted on by Brad Hill

Podcast advertising intelligence company Magellan AI has released its monthly report — actually a dual report of top advertisers for August, and top “movers and shakers” for the month. Movers and shakers are 15 advertisers which increased their podcast ad-buying investment the most, month-over-month from July-August. The top advertisers are simply the biggest spenders. There is no duplication in the two lists. Click through for details and links. Continue Reading →

Steve Goldstein: The host-read ad dominates podcasting, but ad tech is rapidly changing that

Posted on by Steve Goldstein

by Steve Goldstein
In this guest column, Steve Goldstein interviews Bryan Barletta, author of the Sounds Profitable newsletter, which examines advertising technology. Click through for a discussion of data, privacy, geo-targeting, a forecast of podcast programmatic advertising … and much more. Continue Reading →

Bill Rosenblatt: Amazon Takes On Spotify In Podcasting

Posted on by Brad Hill

by Bill Rosenblatt
Guest columnist Bill Rosenblatt analyzes Amazon’s most significant entry to podcasting — a podcast listening service integrated with Amazon Music. Comparing Amazon to Spotify is instructive, and this piece also takes into account how Amazon’s lead in the smart speaker market plays into strategic decision around podcasting. One question for the near future, according to rosenblatt: How will audiobooks play in these global audio platforms? Continue Reading →