RAIN Notes: Thursday Feb. 4

Jottings of note:

AIMP webinar today
Today at 5:30 ET: A webinar from AIMP — “TikTok to Record Deal: The Transition From Viral Fame to Recording Artist.” Register HERE.

Amazon podcasts >> Canada
Amazon launches podcasts to Canadian users of Amazon Music. Amazon launched podcasts in the UlSl in September. Read the RAIN review HERE.

Bill Clinton, podcaster
Bill Clinton is started a podcast for iHeartRadio called Why Am I Telling You This? With Bill Clinton.  The ex-President will chat with celebrities from many fields. The first guest is Wynton Marsalis. LISTEN HERE.

Wednesday, February 4 Continue Reading

Thursday, March 4   Wondering about CPMs for programmatic podcast advertising? Triton Digital reports a range. Posted on March 4, 2021 by Brad Hill Two questions about digital audio programmatic advertising were addressed in Triton Digital’s presentation at the RAIN Podcast Business Summit… Continue Reading

Tom Hanks vaults TuneIn app to top10, with 28% increase in U.S. downloads

Has A-list actor Tom Hanks joined TuneIn’s corporate communications team? No, but he did shine love on the TuneIn app when Stephen Colbert asked Hanks to name his favorite app. “Camera,” Hanks said. Answer disqualified by Colbert because the camera is built in. It took Hanks one second to assert: “I’ll go to TuneIn Radio because I can listen to any radio station in the world.” TuneIn’s Apple app shot up instantly. Click through for the clip, and for TuneIn’s audience metrics. Continue Reading

Steve Goldstein: Previously Audio was on Nobody’s Radar – In 2020 it was on Everyone’s Radar

by Steve Goldstein
In this year-in-review guest column, Steve Goldstein ruminates on audio’s growth from outdated also-ran in the media universe, to an essential component of the media mix. And the audio story is more than just Spotify and SiriusXM. Continue Reading

Bill Rosenblatt: The Axis Collision of Amazon Possibly Acquiring Wondery

by Bill Rosenblatt
Guest columnist Bill Rosenblatt speculates a podcast world in which Amazon has acquired Wondery, fulfilling that rumor. A certain bifurcation would become evident in that scenario, pitching an Amazon/Spotify axis pushing for exclusivity of content, and an iHeartRadio/NPR axis pushing for ad revenue. A must-read column. Continue Reading

Podtrac Top Publishers ranking shows monthly drop, yearly gain

Podtrac released its monthly Top Podcast Publishers ranking for november. The company noted that global unique streams and downloads decreased for the Top 10 publishers by 10% from October and increased by 40% over November 2019. This makes sense, as the long Thanksgiving weekend might disrupt podcast listening routines, while the overall category growth over a year made November a growth story over that longer time frame. In the numbers: A large catalog disparity, in which iHeartRadio operates ten times as many podcasts as NPR does, illustrates different strategies of two powerhouse podcast networks. Continue Reading

Prisa renews with Triton Digital and expands relationship

We received word today that Prisa, the world’s largest spanish-speaking radio group, and a podcast producer, has re-upped with Triton Digital for a broad range of Triton services. They include delivery, monetization, and measurement of its digital audio assets including live radio, on-demand programming, and podcast audio. Prisa will continue to be measured in the Triton Digital Webcast Metrics Top 20 Ranker of streaming entities. Prisa will also put its podcasts in Omny Studio, a Triton Digital subsidiary. Continue Reading

iHeartMedia acquires Voxnest; focus on advertising technology

The consolidation trend which has defined and accelerated enterprise podcasting for the past four years has a new story to tell today. iHeartMedia has reached agreement to fully acquire Voxnest, parent company of the Spreaker hosting and technology platform. Technology is the main impetus for this alignment, from iHeart’s perspective. Voxnest self-describes as “an audio technology company, specializing in podcasting solutions.” Click through for details, perspective, and quotes. Continue Reading

Curiouscast, Corus Entertainment’s pod network, announces fall slate

Curiouscast, the podcast network owned and operated by Canada’s Corus Entertainment, has released its fall schedule of new and returning shows. The lineup features three investigative podcasts including the award-winning Crime Beat (Season 3), and new shows 13 Hours: Inside the Nova Scotia Massacre and Whatever Happened To. Four shows are featured in today’s announcement. Continue Reading

Spoken Word Audio Report 2020: Share jumps; 43% listen daily

The Spoken Word Audio Report 2020, produced by Edison Research and NPR, is out. One broad and important finding: 75% of the U.S. population (18+) listens to spoken word audio monthly. Daily, it is 43%. AM/FM is paying the price for increased listening to other platforms of spoken word audio; the trend is clear from 2014 to 2020. Click through for much more, and graphics, and a link to the download. Continue Reading