James Cridland’s International Radio Trends: Behind the scenes at 5 Live

by James Cridland

In his latest piece, guest columnist James Cridland reports on a “visual radio” setup for Nicky Campbell … and changes his mind about it. Also: Radiodays North America, Towercast, a survey from RadioCentre Ireland, and the BBC turning off HLS radio streams. Continue Reading →

Spotify reportely to launch “Supremium” plan with higher monthly rate

Spotify will launch a third subscription tier to its legacy two-tier access, introducing a “Supremium” plan above its current subscription and free-listening options. This according the Ashley Carman’s reporting at Bloomberg — and CEO Daniel Ek promised it during the Q1 earnings call. We look at the rumored benefits, and compare to competitors. Featuring RAIN’s Spotify user growth chart. Continue Reading →

Steve Goldstein: Why Programmatic Ads Are Vital For Podcasting

by Steve Goldstein

In his latest guest column, Steve Goldstein makes this observation: “Podcast monetization and the concentration of dollars chasing a relatively small number of shows is a big problem for our industry.” In a powerful interview with Christiana Brenton, Acast’s U.S. Head of Sales and Brand Partnerships, these two experts discuss the revenue concentration in podcasting: According to Edison Research, advertisers can reach half of all weekly listeners with just 44 podcasts. Steve calls this “a frightening stat and a systemic problem.” Christiana Brenton calls this “an inflection point” for ensuring a sustainable long-term medium. A must-read. Continue Reading →

Gen Z: Voracious and experienced podcast listeners, friendly to ads. (Edison Research / SXM Media)

Edison Research interviews 1,003 Gen Z respondents (13-24) in the U.S. to field the Gen Z Podcast Report 2023. The effort is sponsored by SXM Media, and we covered the teaser report from SXM a couple of weeks ago (here). Now, Edison releases the full detail — 45 pages of Z-specific metrics around podcast listening, discovery, acceptance of advertising, and more. Continue Reading →