“Why would I go back to a visual medium?” the 58-year-old Jon Stewart wonders aloud after being startled by his image in the dressing room mirror. “I could have done a podcast.” Turns out, it will be one. Click for a video and details. Continue Reading
In an example of podcasting’s growing allure across media categories, the film and television documentary studio XTR has opened a podcast division, and is announcing its first production. The new division is called Radio XTR — an interesting call-back to broadcast for a new media outfit. Continue Reading
Marbyl, a nascent podcast discovery solution created by audio startup Tree Goat Media, seeks to solve a particular problem: Topics people want are buried inside of long listening experiences. The AI-powered app promises to surface and socialize topics within podcast conversations, broadening audiences and facilitating surprising new discoveries. Click through for much more about how it works, illustrations, and how the founders plan to monetize. Continue Reading
Jottings of Note
— DIY (Steven Bartlett)
— Ranker (Triton Digital)
— Tackling a Podcast (Jay Cutler)
If reaching for the screen is too much for advertisers to ask of streaming audio listeners, voice-response ad technology is available. If saying “yes” or “no” is a bridge too far, how about ads which respond to a nod or headshake? That’s the premise of Head Nod Detection, a new piece of ad tech from podcast analytics company Backtracks. Continue Reading
CNN has released info about its new podcast season, which includes five new CNN Originals. Chief political correspondent Dana Bash and chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward helm new shows. Click for details. Continue Reading
Toronto-based Frequency Podcast Network, owned by Rogers Radio, has released a slate of new and returning 2021 podcasts for fall release. The schedule includes nine shows. Frequency was created by Rogers in mid-2018, with a single show: The Big Story, a daily show breaking down a single news story. Click through for show descriptions. Continue Reading
Bringing an end to a testing period begun in April, Spotify now allows any U.S. podcaster to offer a subscription feed to listeners. It’s the latest benchmark in a growing trend of pay-to-listen in podcasting, where consumers can buy into a monthly fee for membership benefits that include ad-free listening, bonus exclusive episodes, and other attractions. Click for details. Continue Reading
We learned in March that Scott Ackerman would step down from his eight-year CEO role at TuneIn. Today we know who is succeeding him — it is Andreea Gleeson. She, like Ackerman before her, is elevated from within the company where she leaves behind her role as Chief Revenue Officer. Click for details. Continue Reading
Three of Spotify’s top five podcasts of the summer are exclusives to the platform. The other two are also top entries in Apple’s chart and Edison Research’s consumer survey. Continue Reading
Tokyo-based Qrates, a vinyl record service company, is announcing a partnership with digital distributor Symphonic Distribution. Qrates services the creation, distribution, financing, and consumer discovery of vinyl — a small but persistently growing segment of the recorded music industry. Continue Reading
Jottings of Note
— Messy Leaks (Spotify)
— Brotherhood (Instreamatic)
— Chasing the Moon (Podchaser)