Podcast network Wondery is launching its first original scripted series called Secrets, Crimes & Audiotape. The narrative audio series will share both drama and comedy stories centering crime, love, mystery and conspiracy. Continue Reading
ESPN announced a new addition to its programming with a multimedia documentary called Pin Kings. The story will be told across television, print, and digital outlets in addition to the 16 episodes of podcasting. The audio segment is ESPN’s first foray into episodic podcasting where a long-form story is told over a single season. It is a production style popularized by ‘Serial’. Continue Reading
ESPN Audio and FiveThirtyEight are planning a new podcast project, and are hiring staff for it. The show is based on the sports documentary series 30 For 30, and will be spearheaded by Jody Avirgan. Continue Reading
Audible has added a new subscription option called Channels that focuses on short-form audio content. The subscription includes original shows from Audible alongside and news and shows from publishers such as The Wall Street Journal, The Onion, and Scientific American. Continue Reading
Podtrac has released its monthly ranking of the podcast publishers using its measurement tools, with some notable changes appearing in the June list. Podtrac has added 500 publishers to its measurement platform since it started releasing rankings in April. Continue Reading
Radiotopia has selected the finalists for its Podquest competition. The contest collected ideas for new podcasts from 1,537 producers, and a group of Radiotopia and PRX staff narrowed that field to ten semifinalists. From there, four finalists have been chosen. Continue Reading
A new report added to the volume of data around podcast listening and advertising. Audio on-demand network Wondery commissioned a study from comScore that found one in three podcast listeners expect to increase their podcast consumption in the next six months. Respondents also reported feeling more connected, intelligent, and energized after listening to a podcast. Continue Reading
Bridge Ratings released new data from its research about how long people stay tuned in to podcasts. The average time spent listening across all participants was 33 minutes. An average of 26% of the respondents stopped listening to a show within the first 30 minutes, and 19% stopped at between 30 and 45 minutes. Continue Reading
BuzzFeed Audio has partnered with audio messaging platform Rolltape to create new engagement tools for its Another Round podcast series. RAIN News spoke with Jessica Taylor, co-founder and CEO of Rolltape, about her company and the BuzzFeed partnership. A few key words kept popping up in the conversation: relationships, story, and community. Continue Reading
Pandora has partnered with the This American Life podcast. The audio program, produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago and hosted by nerd hero Ira Glass, now has its own channel on Pandora where listeners can tune in to hear compelling or unusual stories about whatever that week’s theme is. New episodes will air on Mondays. Continue Reading
Jacobs Media has released the results of TechSurvey 12, its annual survey of P1 radio listeners in the U.S. and Canada. The expressed preferences in media usage showed little variation this year from the TechSurvey 11, but the latest results did see some changes in attitudes about digital services, car listening, and podcasts. Continue Reading
Google Play Music has officially launched a section for podcasts. The service first teased the new feature back in October, but then went silent until an email leaked late last week. But the company has been busy in that time, signing on some of the big players from the podcast world. Continue Reading