TPX offers programmatic podcast advertising via Triton Digital

Posted on by Brad Hill

Toronto-based TPX (more lengthily known as The Podcast Exchange) is announcing the availability of programmatic podcast advertising. The tech is powered by Triton Digital. While this initiative obviously targetsCanad, TPX’s home market, the PR carefully points out it is for “premium domestic and international podcast publishers.” TPX anticipastes questions about the initiative, and answers important ones in an unusually detailed press release. Continue Reading →

Jeff Umbro: Digging into the New SiriusXM

Posted on by Jeff Umbro

by Jeff Umbro

RAIN News welcomes Jeff Umbro in his first weekly appearance as guest columnist. In this edition, he offers in-depth analysis of siriusXM’s pending acquisition of Stitcher, and covers other podcasting news as well. Jeff is CEO of the Podglomerate podcast network. Click through for more details about Jeff, and of course to read the column. Continue Reading →

DAX scores exclusive sales for Wondery in Canada

Posted on by Brad Hill

Podcast content network Wondery has appointed DAX as its exclusive advertising partner in Canada, we are learning today. DAX will offer Canadian advertisers spot ads and host-read sponsorship messages. Wondery continues to be enterprisingly international. Although translation is probably not necessary for the Canadian market, wondery has been a pioneer in translating hit shows for non-English speaking audiences in other parts of the world. Continue Reading →

New York Magazine (Vox) hires editorial director for audio: Hanna Rosin

Posted on by Brad Hill

Another legacy media brand dives deeper into podcasting. New York Magazine (a Vox company) hired its first editorial director of audio, Hanna Rosin. A Stanford University alumna, D.C.-based Rosin comes to New York Magazine from The Atlantic and Slate, according to her LinkedIn page, but is probably better known to many as co-host of NPR’s Invisibilia.  Continue Reading →

Pandora enables podcast downloads — only for Plus and Premium users

Posted on by Brad Hill

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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SiriusXM reportedly will buy Stitcher from Scripps

Posted on by Brad Hill

After 48 hours of rumors, today we get … well, sort-of confirmation that SiriusXM will acquire Stitcher from E.W.Scripps. The confirmation part is from the Wall Street Journal. The sort-of part is the article’s first sentence: “Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is near a deal to buy E.W. Scripps Co.’s Stitcher.” There is no visible confirmation from Sirius, Stitcher, or Scripps. But, as of this morning, industry-wide assumption is that the deal is all but done … in a “poised to buy” sort of way. This acquisition adds a chapter in the corporate life of each company involved. Continue Reading →

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Michael Robertson: Is the Spotify Deal With Joe Rogan Illegal?

Posted on by Michael Robertson

by Michael Robertson

This guest contribution by iconic digital audio entrepreneur Michael Robertson digs into the U.S. copyright code and finds a statute which might relate to, and potentially invalidate, Spotify’s exclusive distribution deal with Joe Rogan. Continue Reading →

Podtrac Top Podcast Publishers (June), plus RAIN remix

Posted on by Brad Hill

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 →

Voxnest State of the Podcast Universe: Key trends for mid-2020

Posted on by Brad Hill

Voxnest released a mid-year interim report, part of its State of the Podcast Universe, which is an annual release at year-end. The report is divided into four main observational sections corresponding to podcast business trends: Business, Advertising, Listening, Content. We’ve raided the report for a few key points; click through for a link to the actual download. Continue Reading →