“Live, local, and powered by AI.” Here, guest columnist James Cridland broaches the tricky subject of artificial intelligence applied to radio — RadioGPT from Futuri Media. James expected to hate it, and surprisingly liked it. There are caveats, though; “smoke and mirrors.” Click through to read. Continue Reading
iHeart Media and the National Basketball Association have revealed a slate of team-specific shows released to what is being called the iHeart/NBA Podcast Network. The lineup includes original podcasts from six NBA teams – the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs. Click through for show details and listen links. Continue Reading
Edison Research has released the 2022 version of its Black Podcast Listener Report. Edison’s partners in this deep dive are SXM Media and Mindshare. The survey queried 2,500 American adults 18 years and older, and the deeply detailed report is 59 pages of results and charts. Clik through for key points and download link. Continue Reading
Details are scant, but it is confirmed that Pacific Content — a leading producer of branded podcasts — is undergoing a layoff sweep, as reported in Broadcast Dialogue. The extent of the cuts is not publicly known, but reporting indicates that parent company Rogers Sports and Media has confirmed the action. Continue Reading
Jottings of Note
— Sonic Adventuring (Studio Resonate)
— New Native (True Native Media)
— Automated Efficiency (Frequency / Sounds Profitable)
More notes from AIS2023, Veritonic’s Audio Intelligence Summit in New York, featuring Charles Cadbury, Scott Marino, Samantha Sweig, James Clarke, Thad Smith, and Danielle Linden. Continue Reading
A packed column this week from James. The CBC will stop broadcasting, in a projected move to all-digital. But the move doesn’t appear to be imminent, and James notes that in Britain the BBC laid out the same intent — they are planting flags in the future. Beyond that coverage, James gives us notes about Australia’s ABC network falling off the internet, interesting facts about the U.S. radio industry, and links to his personal blog.
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Edison Research has released its Top Podcast Networks for combined Q3-Q4, 2022. The list ranks podcast networks based on total audience reach from Edison Podcast Metrics, and reflects an expanded sample which now includes weekly podcast listeners age 13-17. Click through for the visual. Continue Reading
iHeartPodcasts announced today that its acquired show, Stuff You Should Know, hosted by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant, has been downloaded three billion times. “Chuck and I started this series with a passion for curiosity and had no expectation of ever being a leading podcast,” said Josh Clark. That’s the kind of rags-to-riches business story that launches thousands of newer shows. Continue Reading
Podtrac’s Top Podcast Publishers monthly ranker for January tells a growth story. We learn that the U.S. monthly audience increased for 15 of the top 20 publishers. Also, average monthly audience was up month-over-month and 16% over January 2022. Click through for the results and the RAIN remix, which re-sorts the top publishers by average listeners and downloads per show. Continue Reading
Google has withdrawn a key podcast listening product, signaling a trim of its podcast initiative. At the same time, Google appears to be rallying a counter initiative to the high-buzz ascendance of AI tool ChatGPT (owned by OpenAi). Recent Backstepping… Continue Reading
This guest column from Mark Mulligan breaks down what mid-level success looks like from a musician’s viewpoint. “Streaming was built for yesterday’s music business,” Mark Mulligan asserts in this guest column. He breaks down what success looks like to midlevel artists, then doubles it … and it’s still not enough. Mulligan suggests two possible innovations in the existing royalty system.
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