RAIN Notes: Wednesday, September 8
Jottings of Note
— Earplugs? (Edison Research)
— Transformational Fix (PRX)
— The Point (Fresh Air Production)
Podtrac Top Podcasts August: 2 newcomers; 18 standards
Podtrac released its Top 20 Podcasts ranker for August, measuring Podtrac measurement clients based on unique U.S. audience reach. As in most months, we see long-time stalwarts in the list. (In fact, the top five are identical as in the July list.) Two newcomers. Continue Reading
Slate partners with Pocket for “Stories Behind the Podcasts”
Slate has made an interesting partnership between its podcast division and Pocket, the Mozilla-built app which offers topical reading collections. Slate will put podcast-specific reading collections onto Pocket. The project is called “Stories Behind the Podcast.” We like how it crosses over media categories and broadens the podcast experience. Continue Reading
SiriusXM unleashes largest-ever media campaign, emphasizing out-of-car listening
SiriusXM is making noise about a new multimedia ad campaign featuring a large and glittering array of celebrities including Kevin hart, Dave Grohl, LL COOL J, Bebe Rexha, Kehlani, Jeff Lewis, Helio Castroneves. A few selected SiriusXM DJs are also featured. The thrust of the campaign is out-of-car listening. Click through for a video; it’s funny. Continue Reading
Acast launches Sweden’s first podcast competition
Swedish-founded global podcast company Acast has started Sweden’s first podcast competition. The winner will collect what the founders call “a high-quality podcast production and marketing package” worth 250,000 SEK (Swedish kronor, worth about $29,000 USD.) It’s open to podcasters based in Sweden. Continue Reading
Jon Meacham’s “It Was Said” franchise expands to sports (C13Originals production)
An award winning podcast franchise is expanding into sports with a show produced by Shining City Audio, a co-venture of Cadence13 and Jon Meacham. The new podcast extends a successful history franchise. There are several stakeholders; we untangle them. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s International Radio Trends: Behind the Chris Evans Radio 1 Breakfast Show
by James Cridland
James Cridland returns with a richly informative newsletter about radio around the world. In this edition: A nostalgic listen to a long-gone radio show, resulting in a bit of melancholy — but it was an alignment of stars, dependent on the era. Also: Howard Stern as an agent of derailment. And more, including podcast subscription stats. Continue Reading
Hot Pod acquired by The Verge — Nick Quah hands off authorship, joins Vulture
Weekly podcast business newsletter Hot Pod has been acquired by digital culture publication The Verge. No financials are disclosed in the announcement sent by parent company Vox Media. Hot Pod founder and chief writer Nick Quah shifts to other Vox Media publications, and one of The Verge’s senior writers takes control of Hot Pod. Continue Reading
Six new podcasts in CBC fall 2021 slate
CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster and #1 podcaster, today shared details about its original podcast slate for fall 2021. The upcoming season features six all-new original series across a range of genres, including a trilogy exploring strands of radical extremism in North America. Continue Reading
YouTube Music at 50M subscribers
The number includes current trials, but is still impressive: YouTube Music crossed the 50-million mark in subscribers. Lyer Cohen, head of YouTube Music, says “We’re in our own lane.” Much of the growth is international, especially Asia and South America. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: Wednesday, September 1
Jottings of Note
— What If…? (Chris Peterson)
— Commitment to Diversity (Audacy / Urban One)
— Best Case (The Progress Network)
SiriusXM launches SoundCloud Radio, celebrating a history of breaking hip-hop acts
SiriusXM is launching a pop-up station called SoundCloud Radio, with a focus on hip-hop music and artists. That emphasis is aligned with SoundCloud’s history as an influential showcase for new hip-hop artists. It has a one-month run, starting today. Continue Reading