James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Important tech questions about HTTPS websites. Following the iHeartMedia bankruptcy saga. Much more from the audio industry worldwide. Continue Reading
Podcast advertising agency giant Oxford Road has released its unique ranker: Top Performing International Podcasts, an evaluation and grading based on return on investment for advertisers. That crucial metric replaces the usual download-based ranking criterion of listenership. As such, the data outputs drill straight to what is most important to advertisers: ROI. Click for results. Continue Reading
Signal Hill Insights and Cumulus Media have released the Spring 2026 edition of Podcast Download Spring 2026 Report. It’s the sixteenth edition of the bi-annual dataset, produced by Signal Hill and Cumulus Media. It is free to download in exchange for name and contact info. Click for linkage. Continue Reading
A new ad tech platform called AudioGraph, developed by Triton Digital, has been launched by iHeartMedia. Its purpose is to bridge the gap between traditional radio and digital meda — which might be considered a key industry mission across audio… Continue Reading
That startling growth metric comes from Edison Research in its latest Weekly Insight feature, taken from Edison’s ongoing Share of Ear research project. It’s about weekly time spent listening to podcasts. Click for the graphic. Continue Reading
Self-serve digital advertising platforms emerging at a rate that seems to be reshaping the industry, and the accessibility of audio advertising. AI-powered Dutch tech company Azerion, which operates across 17 countries, has launched a self-service platform that aspires to bring omnichannel advertising to small and medium businesses. Continue Reading
Digital audio advertising company DAX has signed an exclusive deal with internet radio network idobi. The agreement puts idobi’s live audio streaming inventory into DAX’ U.S. digital audio marketplace. Continue Reading
Media giant Fox Corporation has acquired digital entertainment platform and streaming enabler Roku. The acquisition cost is reported to be $22 billion, or $126 per share. That valuation is a 34% premium over Roku’s closing stock price at deal time.… Continue Reading
Roger Nairn (Founder, Jar Podcast Solutions) and Tom Webster (Partner, Sounds Profitable) are collaborating on a new podcast research study — The Podcast Discovery Playbook (sponsored by Jar.) “A lot of podcast launch advice still sounds like it was written… Continue Reading
Audio juggernaut Spotify has introduced a new definition of a podcast “play,” assigning a time-based metric which will likely reduce total play counts in Spotify’s lens while delivering a more accurate report of consumption to prospective advertisers. Going forward, Spotify’s… Continue Reading
With a new launch for advertisers, UK-based Global has started a self-serve ad-booking platform for audio and outdoor advertising. The promise is a simple process for planning, creating, and booking a campaign on a single self-serve platform. Click for details. Continue Reading
Music AI is at the heart of a class-action lawsuit filed by musicians and producers against Google. It’s about using YouTube music videos for AI training, which ironically puts artists in competition with themselves. Continue Reading