From the UK comes news of a new podcast network: Crowd Network, whose mandate is “gripping stories and unforgettable personalities.” The launch is funded by 500,000 GBP from Enigma Holdings. Podcast tech and sales company Acast is partnered into the… Continue Reading
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has revealed the host of this year’s Podcast Upfront. This year’s event is virtual, and will be hosted by actress and comedian Franchesca Ramsey. The event transpires over three days next week: September 9-11. Three co-hosts will join Ramsey in managing a sprawling presentation of podcast advertising opportunities. Click through for much more detail. Continue Reading
In a data-rich blog post informed by Magellan AI research, Westwood One has published a raft of research findings about podcast advertising. The headline is that podcast advertising is “pandemic proof,” based on the field’s resiliency from pandemic disruption. The study examines month-over-month and quarterly trendlines to track the stability of podcast advertising, a consistently low spot load (to use a radio term), and the continued emergence of brand advertising. Click through for numbers and graphics. Continue Reading
It’s all over the entertainment press, each piece of coverage inching closer to “confirmed” than the last. (See The Mirror HERE.)To us it is still a Rumor Fact(ory) item, but certainly plausible: Spotify offering (or preparing to offer) an exclusive podcast deal to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. The dollars might be relatively modest on Spotify’s balance sheet, though — The Mirror quotes unnamed sources who say that a seven-figure deal is in the works. Continue Reading
On the Mic, the industry podcast from ad representation company Ad Results Media (the full name is On the Mic with Ad Results Media) is producing a three-episode miniseries about women in podcasting. It starts with Episode 18 in the feed, which features an interview with LadyGang, which is one of the most popular podcasts for women, with 90 million downloads since it’s launch in 2015. Click through to hear the series trailer. Continue Reading
Pandora Stories is a music/spoken-word hybrid product which pairs songs with artist recollections. In most cases the artists talks for 30-60 seconds about the song’s history (that’s the story part), and then comes the song. Pandora has now produced 1,000 of these stories. To celebrate, the streaming service has created a “The Greatest Hits” compilation. Click through for details and audio. Continue Reading
In a zoom webinar yesterday, Edison Research Senior Vice President Tom Webster laid out some metrics about podcast listening before and during the covid-19 era. The session was part of a lunchtime series from Edison. Deploying recent research from the company’s Podcast Consumer Tracking Report and the ongoing Share of Ear consumer survey project, Webster described some changes in American podcast listening. The underlying premise why that the disruption of routines, especially the widespread loss of morning commuting in cars, has made significant changes in how much, and when, Americans listen to podcasts. Click through for more. Continue Reading
Episode 15 of Pod Drop, RAIN’s flash briefing of new podcasts, has dropped today. As always, the fun and highly-produced five-minute show previews three new podcasts. Hear show excerpts mixed with review descriptions, hosted by RAIN president Brad Hill. Continue Reading
American public media has formed a partnership with revolver podcasts, a Spanish-language specialty podcast Network. The partnership is a effort for APM to reach multicultural audio consumers. reVolver Podcasts specializes in the latino podcast market. Continue Reading
Back in April, Spotify blogged about musicians setting up virtual concerts as Covid-19 forced them offstage. If the company wasn’t putting two + two together at that time, it might be now. That is an easy conclusion to draw from hacker and reverse engineer Jane Manchung Wong, who uncovered non-public screens within the Spotify app indicating live virtual concert streaming in development. Continue Reading
In a burst of platform development, ad-tech company AdsWizz has introduced seven new targeting and advertising efficacy features. The company is positioning the new features as helpful to both publishers (the sell side) and advertisers (the buy side). Leading the… Continue Reading
by Jeff Umbro
In this week’s column, Podglomerate CEO Jeff Umbro provides news and commentary about Lemonada’s ad rep move, Joe Budden’s apparent separation from Spotify, Audible’s new plan, Joe Rogan and Apple … and an interview with Jessica Cordova Kramer. Continue Reading