In today’s guest column, James Cridland discusses difficulties with the BBC, and a strike among BBC Local Radio journalists. Then, coverage of the imminent disappearance of AM radio reception in U.S. cars — “Broadcasters relying on AM for their flagship services need to have an urgent plan to fix it.” Finally, James’s list of links. Continue Reading
LinkedIn, the leading social network for professionals, has launched the LinkedIn Podcast Academy. The structure of this initiative is simple — LinkedIn selected 19 business and startup podcasts created by LinkedIn members, and publicized those creator profiles. The program provides coaching, exclusive programming and LinkedIn co-branding. Aspiring podcasters can fill out a form. Continue Reading
Acast completed an interesting survey of podcasters and listeners to gauge sentiment regarding using ChatGPT in podcasting. The survey is a broad gauge of feeling about using AI in a podcast — podcasters and listeners are clearly of different sentiments, but there is a clear takeaway. Continue Reading
The annual iHeartPodcast Awards ceremony took place yesterday in a livestream online ceremony. Winners were selected in 28 categories, plus a grand prize Podcast of the Year winner — Las Culturistas produced by Big Money Players and iHeartPodcasts Network. We trolled the complete competition results to discover which producers earned the most nominations. Continue Reading
Edison Research has launched an informative series of blog posts in which top podcasts in different topical categories are identified, according to reach. This project skims the top layer of Edison Podcast Metrics, a subscription product. “The Monday after the Academy Awards seems like the perfect time to look at podcasts in some entertainment genres,” Edison observes. Continue Reading
Adam Sachs, a pioneering podcast executive, has been promoted by SiriusXM to the role of Senior Vice President of Entertainment, Comedy and Podcasts Programming. was head of Team Coco, Conan O’Brien’s podcast company, and was CEO of Midroll Media (parent company of Stitcher) when it was acquired by SiriusXM in 2020. Continue Reading
In an announcement timed to coincide with last week’s Podcast Movement Evolutions conference, NPR has joined the Spotify Audience Network (SPAN), adding one of the world’s most listened-to catalogs to the streaming giant’s podcast monetization platform. It is the first time NPR has gone beyond its direct-sold advertising to work with a partner. Spotify will monetize unsold inventory, NPR told RAIN, and retain NPR’s trademark sponsorship sound. Click for more detail. Continue Reading
Podcast Movement Evolutions, the business-oriented variation of the creator-focused Podcast Movement conferences, was held at the Westgate Conference Center in Las Vegas this week. A somewhat more intimate experience than Podcast Movement, Evolutions offered several knowledge tracks featuring keynotes, interviews, and panel discussions along with numerous networking opportunities during three and a half days. There were announcements, too. Continue Reading
Welcome to RAIN News industry-leading coverage of The Infinite Dial 2023, the celebratory 25th anniversary of the longest-running and most authoritative survey of digital media consumer behavior in America. Since 1998, this survey of American listening, device usage, and social… Continue Reading
One striking aspect of iHeartMedia’s revenue reporting for Q4 and full-year 2022: Digital revenue leads revenue growth, and podcasting leads even more. The trend is true for Q4 and full-year 2022. Click for details. Continue Reading
“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
Today sees the launch of a new FOX News audio show for smart speakers: The True Crime Minute, which will be refreshed three times a week. A new longer-form True Crime title has been added to FOX’s True Crime catalog, which now contains nine shows. Continue Reading