Predictions (human)
It’s that time of year. The latest slate of podcast predictions comes from Fatima Zaidi’s hosting and metrics company CoHost. We see 30 pithy predictions from prominent podcast personages including Zaidi herself. Sharon Taylor (Triton Digital), Tom Webster (Sounds Profitable), Kerri Hoffman (PRX), Steve Pratt (The Creativity Business), Jeff Umbro (The Podglomerate), Jonas Woost (Bumper), Ainsley Rossitto (Paramount) are just a few — we cite these at risk of minimizing the scope of industry celebrities who participated in this exercise. Helpfully, Zaidi summarizes all the predictions in a TLDR list atop the complete submissions. It’s a must-visit, and is all HERE. Meanwhile…
Predictions (AI)
An AI system scored high in a prediction showdown against human professionals, we learn. Predicted topics ranged from gossipy celebrity news to British politicians. The startup, called ManticAI, was founded by a former Google researcher, and recently ranked in the top 10 of an international forecasting competition. While the bot did not take home the Metaculus Cup (more on that in a sec), it did place in the eighth spot of a challenge to rank the likelihood of 60 events. Some humans beat ManticAI for the top seven spots. Metaculus Cup, which sounds like a super hero, is the name of a San Francisco company which predicts futures for investment funds and other corporations.
Renewal
Digital ad exchange DAX and tech/entertainment platform LiveOne have renewed their existing agreement whereby DAX sells audio advertising in LiveOne’s multi-platform listening empire that includes PodcastOne, LiveXLive, and Slacker Radio. The two sides are happy, with DAX President Brian Conlon enthusing: “I’m thrilled to continue our longstanding exclusive partnership with LiveOne, a pioneer in the personalized streaming music space.” Bradley Konkol is Head of Product and Engineering at LiveOne, and observes: “DAX US has been instrumental in helping us maximize advertising opportunities while delivering exceptional value to our music-loving audience.” Konkol also projects that LiveOne will enjoy a 30% YoY increase in programmatic audio ad revenue in 2026.
December 23, 2025
