A weekly column from the preeminent Radio Futurologist. THIS WEEK: Lots of change in the UK! Bauer has enacted many of its strastegic plans. James invoked his positivity mode. Continue Reading
by Jeff Umbro
In this week’s column, Podglomerate CEO Jeff Umbro dives deep into the audiobook industry — related to podcasting as another on-demand spoken-word audio category, and quite different at the same time. Featuring an interview with Molly Barton, Founder and CEO of Serial Box. Continue Reading
The New York Times has acquired Serial Productions, home to legendary podcast Serial. Both organizations have attained critical, audience, and monetary success with sparse portfolios. the Times promises to grow the Serial Productions catalog, which currently contains two active podcasts according to Podtrac. Click through for more analysis and acquisition details. Continue Reading
In a dramatic adjustment to COVID-era realities, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has planned a different sort of Podcast Upfront than in past years. First, it will be online-only. Second, it will transpire over three days rather than one day. Third, there will be more than 20 presenters, instead of 8-10 as in the past. Click through for dates, list of presenters, and other details. Continue Reading
Tenderfoot TV, which produces for television, film, and podcasting, is partnering with iHeartMedia in an agreement that will create nine original shows for the iHeartRadio Original Podcasts division. The upcoming podcast slate will focus on limited series as well as several weekly shows, a new strategy for Tenderfoot TV, who has garnered over 500 million downloads for its true crime hits since the company’s launch in 2016. Some of the collaborative shows will be completely new; the two companies will also co-produce new seasons of existing shows. Continue Reading
In its latest app update, Pandora now offers offline listening to podcasts — in other words, downloading them. We had read that the feature was exclusive to subscribers, of which there are two tiers: Plus, and semi-interactive streaming service, and Premium, a fully interactive audio listening and collection service. We thought this limitation was unusual, and reached out to Pandora for confirmation, which we received. Click through for a perspective.
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Podtrac has released the June edition of the measurement company’s Top Podcast Publishers ranker. Many publications make noise about NPR reclaiming the #1 spot from iHeartRadio (and we hereby note it dutifully), but these two podcast powerhouses are separated by a small fraction of the key metric, US Unique Monthly Audience, and they flip back and forth. Click through for the chart, and RAIN’s remix based on per-show averages. Continue Reading
Triton Digital released its latest 4-week Podcast Report for LATAM. The company notes that 12 new shows entered the top-100 ranker. This report covers the period from April 13 through May 10. In the LATAM effort, unlike the U.S. Podcast Report, top networks are not included. The top show owns a gigantic lead over the other 99. Continue Reading
The British public broadcaster has rebranded its production division, formerly BBC Radio & Music Production, which relaunched today as BBC Audio. This is part of a widespread de-platforming of radio and broader reconceptualization as audio. Four people staff the new unit, headed by Clare McGinn, previously Head of Production for BBC Radio 4 in Bristol. McGinn is a career BBC’er. Continue Reading
LAist Studios sent us a note announcing a new slate of podcasts. One standout: Servant of Pod with Nick Quah. Quah founded, writes, and edits the well-read Hot Pod. It’s a weekly deep dive into the evolving world of podcasts, launching June 17. Continue Reading
The 2019 Peabody Awards winners are announced (oddly not referenced as 2020 winners), and they include four podcasts in the News, Radio/Podcasts category. One of them is “Threshold,” produced by Montana Public Radio. Continue Reading
Podtrac’s “Podcast Audience Category Ranking” report for May is finalized for subscribers, and the company offers a public peak. This month it is the News category which is spotlighted: The fragmented release (five out of 30 shows in a single… Continue Reading