This week James reports the BBC’s new station, called Election 2024. It’s a 24-hour news stream, and interestingly it is available only on the BBC Sounds app … and only in-UK listeners can hear it, and James is dubious. Also: American radio jingles, Australian radio mascots, and much more. Continue Reading
New podcast production skidded downward for the fifth consecutive month in June, with just under 6,000 new podcasts released. Over 13,000 newcomers were launched in May. Click for more details, and graphs.
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The New York Times is planning to use paywalls to limit free listening to its podcasts. This according to an exclusive report in The Wall Street Journal. It’s a nuanced hybrid plan that varies among the Times’ top podcasts. Continue Reading
Hark Audio, a podcast curation service which organizes highlight clips from a wide range of shows, is today launching The Conversation. It is an email-delivered collection of 3-5 minute clips from a diverse range of podcasts. We asked about permissions. Continue Reading
Signal Hill Insights released its 2024 Benchmark Report, documenting and measuring the effectiveness of branded podcasts. The company has for years been a leader in testing audio effectiveness in audio marketing. This latest report quantifies and evangelizes the power of brand-created podcasts. Click for detailed coverage.
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— Historical Reference (Fred Jacobs)
— AMPing Up The Executive Team (Amplitude Media)
Magellan AI’s accounting of podcast advertiser spending for May, for the top 15 spenders, shows the total spend down 14 percent from April. In a display of month-over-month consistency, 13 of the top 15 are repeats from the April reckoning. Click for RAIN’s graphic month-over-month comparison. Continue Reading
The iHeart Podcast Union has ratified its first union contract with iHeartMedia, the group announced this morning on X. The news comes with the first raft of employment agreements. Click for the details. Continue Reading
— The Final Nail (Google)
— Addition (Soundstack)
— Subscription Resistance (Jacobs Media)
Triton Digital’s monthly U.S. Podcast Ranker now measures newcomer iHeart Audience Network, expanding the ranker scale to 150 podcasts. Click for details. Continue Reading
Podcast network Acast, and communications agency OMD, have partnered to conduct what they characterize as “a comprehensive new study” to quantify the effectiveness of podcast advertising. Double-digit percentage gains are the outcome for podcast advertising compared to what the report calls “average media.” Continue Reading