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Friday, Oct 30
Is PodcastOne close to being acquired? The company says it has had “multiple” people interested in buying the company; and has formed a special committee, and retained a financial advisor, to examine them. This is after one of its shareholders sent PodcastOne a letter telling them to retain an investment bank or strategic advisor, saying that its shares were undervalued. The company’s shares are up around 50% on the news, and are currently around $2.59; in May they were trading at over $5, though.
SiriusXM reported its Q3/26 financial results. Podcast ad revenue at the company grew 20% year-on-year; though the company doesn’t qualify how much that is. Video and “social podcast advertising” more than doubled. The company says it has had some “supply constraints” within podcasting.
On Air Fest has unveiled the first set of speakers for its tenth anniversary edition. It’s in Brooklyn, Feb 23-25.
iHeart-owned Inside Audio Marketing reports iHeart-owned Triton Digital has completed its first “fully automated advertising buy”, using artificial intelligence agents to handle everything from identifying available inventory and negotiating terms to booking the campaign in an ad server.
Worth noting: the latest version of the Safari browser, built-in to Apple’s iPhone and Mac, blocks “resolution infrastructure” - third-parties that combine your data from different websites to help track you. The IAB is upset, suggesting that the protections “go beyond applicable legal requirements”. It means that websites and services that have first-party data on their users are likely to benefit.
✅There's More: HERE
Goalhanger’s The Rest Is Politics US has announced a live stream covering the Nov 4 mid-term elections. Expect it from midnight Eastern. The show also did a live show in November 2024.
Podcast hosting company RSS.com has launched a learning center with a set of courses to cover podcasters of every stage. They’re all free, wherever you’re hosted.
Another interesting podcast app - Static Radio (on iPhone and on Android), which gives eight radio stations made up of independent podcasts (direct from the RSS feed, of course). Everyone hears the shows together at the same time - and it has a “bulletin” to allow creators to promote their own thing. Co-founder Brendan tells us: “A show feels like it has a room full of people in it, not just you and your headphones, and you might stumble onto a show you’d never think to search for.”
That long-running case from the National Association of the Deaf against SiriusXM for not having transcripts in the app? The two parties appear to have settled the case. Transcripts are now available in most popular podcast apps - including SiriusXM’s.
A brand new podcast app for iOS promises to help you discover new shows you’ll like. Dial Flipper works like an old-fashioned radio: flip the dial and you get put right in the middle of a new podcast it thinks you might like. (You get to train it with your favourite shows, and it learns from what you like listening to). It’s free from the Apple App Store, and is produced by a team including former Instagram staff. (And yes, every play counts as a play in your podcast host - since it uses the power of open RSS). English-language only for now. Nous supposons qu’ils en sont vraiment désolés.
Acast released its Q3/26 financial results. The Swedish company boasted “rekordomsättning” - record revenue for the quarter: net sales grew +25% to SEK 820.3mn (around US $80m) with the US market growing +54%. It also posted nearly $5mn in profit. However, European revenue grew by just 5%: the company’s new EVP for the region, Liv Sandberg, doesn’t start until early 2027. Total plays increased by 4% year-on-year, but average revenue per play increased by 20%, to $0.07. There’s more detail here.
There’s been a lot of feedback about our story of Spreaker users copying podcasts yesterday. One reader says: “What a relief to see the article … I’ve been dealing with this repeatedly. We make kids audio, and the ads that they run on our stolen IP are for products for use by adults.” … another tells us that Spreaker aren’t the only podcast host making it easy to copy podcast content … and another calls for the industry to work together to establish standards to avoid this happening in future. Spreaker has said, and done, nothing since giving us a statement.
Got Podcorn in your podcast? If you’re still using the analytics prefix then your show will stop working on November 1, when Podcorn closes. You need to remove it.
MeidasTouch Network has launched a 24/7 news channel, working with Swerve TV. The television channel was launched yesterday on Amazon Prime Video and Fire TV.
Podcast hosting company Podbean has launched an MCP server, allowing integration with AI tools. It’s available for those on Unlimited Audio plans or higher … meanwhile Headliner added clip scoring to its tool, so you know how well the clips are likely to perform.
Thursday, Oct 29
Goalhanger’s The Rest Is Politics US has announced a live stream covering the Nov 4 mid-term elections. Expect it from midnight Eastern. The show also did a live show in November 2024.
Podcast hosting company RSS.com has launched a learning center with a set of courses to cover podcasters of every stage. They’re all free, wherever you’re hosted.
Another interesting podcast app - Static Radio (on iPhone and on Android), which gives eight radio stations made up of independent podcasts (direct from the RSS feed, of course). Everyone hears the shows together at the same time - and it has a “bulletin” to allow creators to promote their own thing. Co-founder Brendan tells us: “A show feels like it has a room full of people in it, not just you and your headphones, and you might stumble onto a show you’d never think to search for.”
That long-running case from the National Association of the Deaf against SiriusXM for not having transcripts in the app? The two parties appear to have settled the case. Transcripts are now available in most popular podcast apps - including SiriusXM’s.
✅There's More: HERE
Wednesday, Oct 28
Acast released its Q3/26 financial results. The Swedish company boasted “rekordomsättning” - record revenue for the quarter: net sales grew +25% to SEK 820.3mn (around US $80m) with the US market growing +54%. It also posted nearly $5mn in profit. However, European revenue grew by just 5%: the company’s new EVP for the region, Liv Sandberg, doesn’t start until early 2027. Total plays increased by 4% year-on-year, but average revenue per play increased by 20%, to $0.07. There’s more detail here.
There’s been a lot of feedback about our story of Spreaker users copying podcasts yesterday. One reader says: “What a relief to see the article … I’ve been dealing with this repeatedly. We make kids audio, and the ads that they run on our stolen IP are for products for use by adults.” … another tells us that Spreaker aren’t the only podcast host making it easy to copy podcast content … and another calls for the industry to work together to establish standards to avoid this happening in future. Spreaker has said, and done, nothing since giving us a statement.
Got Podcorn in your podcast? If you’re still using the analytics prefix then your show will stop working on November 1, when Podcorn closes. You need to remove it.
- There are 13,362 shows with the Podcorn URL still in them. From your friends at Podnews, here they all are, sorted by podcast host, to help you.
MeidasTouch Network has launched a 24/7 news channel, working with Swerve TV. The television channel was launched yesterday on Amazon Prime Video and Fire TV.
Podcast hosting company Podbean has launched an MCP server, allowing integration with AI tools. It’s available for those on Unlimited Audio plans or higher … meanwhile Headliner added clip scoring to its tool, so you know how well the clips are likely to perform.
✅There's More: HERE
Exclusive: Podcast hosting company Spreaker is, we believe, enabling wholesale copyright theft for podcasts - letting people copy other, well-known shows, host copies of them, and sell ads in the stolen audio. We discovered how easy it is to copy someone else’s show on Spreaker; saw how few checks the company does to enable monetisation; and found that there are more than 1,700 shows duplicated on Spreaker at the moment, from publishers like PodcastOne, Vox Media, Goalhanger and SiriusXM. We have all the details in a special report.
Netflix has a new person who’ll be overseeing podcasts on the platform, reports Bloomberg: and, excellently, it’s someone who knows the industry inside-out. The appointment of Steve Wilson - a former Apple Podcasts, QCODE and Daylight Media executive - has been confirmed by Netflix.
Riverside unveiled a major update - adding “agents” to give creators a virtual production team. The four agents play the part of a producer, editor, clipper and marketer, all of whom are directed by the human creator throughout the podcast production process.
Instagram might be the next place to put your video podcast: it’s rolling out long-form horizontal videos. If you’re a select creator, and in the US, you’ll be able to add videos of up to 90 minutes. The test is called Features, and has already been quietly running in Brazil.
Run a membership program for your online publication? Supporting Cast has uncovered data showing that the churn rate halved for subscribers who enabled audio benefits in those programs. For these publishers, podcasts are one perk of the program - but, far from being lost in the mix, it’s a reason why subscribers stay subscribed.
An update to your iPhone, iOS 27.2, is now available for everyone. As part of the new software, Apple Podcasts has a change to the Up Next screen - now offering “New Episodes” and “Continue Playing” in separate sections. Here’s a look at the new screen. There are also updates for other Apple devices, too.
Sanderson Jones made a podcast. People liked his podcast, but he didn’t really make any money from it, so he stopped doing it. But, as you’ll hear in the latest episode of Hyperfixed, his podcast didn’t actually stop. Someone else hacked his podcast account, switched his podcast host, cloned his voice… and just carried on making shows for him. His voice - his podcast - but saying things he’d never say in real life.
Airwave has launched an in-house advertising sales operation. The company says it’s the next stage of Airwave’s growth, and creates a more direct connection among the network’s creators, advertising partners, and sales team. It now represents more than 120 million combined monthly views and downloads.
Edison Research at SSRS posted the top 50 podcasts in the US for Q3/26. Joe Rogan remains #1; the highest new entry is StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson. The research includes all podcasts in the US.
As newsletter companies Substack and beehiiv launch podcast membership tools, the podcast membership tool Supercast has launched a newsletter feature. It’s offered as part of the base Supercast toolset, and offers content gating, tiered subscription levels, and segment targeting.
In the UK, Global has expanded Plus with new podcast subscriptions. Shows are available ad-free on Global Player and YouTube. Subscriptions start from £2.99 a month (about US $3.99) for ad-free episodes, and from £4.99 (US $6.69) for ad-free episodes plus exclusive content.
Tuesday, Oct 27
- As we were working on this story, we were contacted by Lisa Lacy. Someone had copied her podcast, and five days later the copy was already charting. In her story for Podnews, she gives five steps to protecting your podcast; and she’s founded a service called PodProtect as a direct response to her experience.
Netflix has a new person who’ll be overseeing podcasts on the platform, reports Bloomberg: and, excellently, it’s someone who knows the industry inside-out. The appointment of Steve Wilson - a former Apple Podcasts, QCODE and Daylight Media executive - has been confirmed by Netflix.
Riverside unveiled a major update - adding “agents” to give creators a virtual production team. The four agents play the part of a producer, editor, clipper and marketer, all of whom are directed by the human creator throughout the podcast production process.
Instagram might be the next place to put your video podcast: it’s rolling out long-form horizontal videos. If you’re a select creator, and in the US, you’ll be able to add videos of up to 90 minutes. The test is called Features, and has already been quietly running in Brazil.
Run a membership program for your online publication? Supporting Cast has uncovered data showing that the churn rate halved for subscribers who enabled audio benefits in those programs. For these publishers, podcasts are one perk of the program - but, far from being lost in the mix, it’s a reason why subscribers stay subscribed.
An update to your iPhone, iOS 27.2, is now available for everyone. As part of the new software, Apple Podcasts has a change to the Up Next screen - now offering “New Episodes” and “Continue Playing” in separate sections. Here’s a look at the new screen. There are also updates for other Apple devices, too.
✅There's More: HERE
Monday, Oct 26
- As you’ll hear in the show, the scammer moved his podcast to RSS.com where it earned $1,293. After Hyperfix got involved, RSS paid that money direct to Sanderson - it was his show, after all - and helped transfer the podcast back to him. All’s well that ends well, we guess?
Airwave has launched an in-house advertising sales operation. The company says it’s the next stage of Airwave’s growth, and creates a more direct connection among the network’s creators, advertising partners, and sales team. It now represents more than 120 million combined monthly views and downloads.
Edison Research at SSRS posted the top 50 podcasts in the US for Q3/26. Joe Rogan remains #1; the highest new entry is StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson. The research includes all podcasts in the US.
As newsletter companies Substack and beehiiv launch podcast membership tools, the podcast membership tool Supercast has launched a newsletter feature. It’s offered as part of the base Supercast toolset, and offers content gating, tiered subscription levels, and segment targeting.
In the UK, Global has expanded Plus with new podcast subscriptions. Shows are available ad-free on Global Player and YouTube. Subscriptions start from £2.99 a month (about US $3.99) for ad-free episodes, and from £4.99 (US $6.69) for ad-free episodes plus exclusive content.
✅There's More: HERE
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