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Friday, Oct 9
Joe Rogan has renewed his agreement with Spotify. He last renewed in Feb 2024, and the show returned to open RSS and YouTube shortly after (and also, we’re told, started carrying midrolls at this time). The agreement is thought to be worth $250mn, a figure denied by Spotify last time round; but someone with knowledge of Rogan’s numbers and the ad revenue he attracts suggests that it’s a profitable deal for Spotify. Podscribe suggests recent shows have contained 15 ads (an 8% adload).
The winners of the International Women’s Podcast Awards were announced. Presented by Tink Media, Freedom Needs a Soundtrack won two awards.
Podtrac released its September rankings. Year-on-year, the #1 podcast network, iHeart Audience Network, has grown, from 20,861 shows to 32,741; yet its US audience has shrunk 17%, and its US downloads are down 20%. They’re not alone: none of the top 5 publishers and networks posted an increase.
Family Secrets with Dani Shapiro returned this week, with Lemonada Media. The show was with iHeart - the new season promises more secrets and stories than ever before.
✅There's More: HERE
Global ad spend is to grow by 11.9% this year, according to new data from WARC Media. Online audio should grow +9.9% to $16.6bn globally this year, and a further +7.5% next year. The market research company also says that Amazon, Alphabet and Meta will take a combined market share of 59.7% of all ad revenue (excluding China).
Spotify is to expand access to audiobooks to make then virtually global, covering more than 180 markets. Some additional countries will get twelve hours of audiobooks free; however across much of Africa and Asia, access will require a paid add-on. Users will “find books next to their music and podcasts”, reports TNW.
SiriusXM has signed Serialously and 10 to Life - two true crime shows from Annie Elise. They were with Audioboom.
Podscribe released a new ranker, with updates for “play” definitions for Spotify and YouTube. Engaged view numbers from YouTube require publishers to connect their analytics.
Stephen Robles has built a lot of helpful tools for MacOS. Transcriber is free, and produces editable, WebVTT files, using Apple Intelligence. He’s also built Leveler, which gives “smooth, consistent speech levels”, setting your audio at -16 LUFS, just how it should be. And Captioner burns in those fancy animated captions to your shareable video clip. Neat!
A new tool called Pod Is Life combines available podcast charts from Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Castbox and Pocket Casts to give one overall top chart, for a number of different countries including the US, Canada, the UK and Australia. While different charts measure different things, the resulting combined chart scores seem to be reflective of some of the biggest shows in each country.
The Podcast Taxonomy, a standard way to describe podcast job roles, has disappeared from the internet. It was launched in 2020 by Podchaser, and the specification is part of Podcasting 2.0's person feature. There’s been no communication from the original team.
Thursday, Oct 8
Global ad spend is to grow by 11.9% this year, according to new data from WARC Media. Online audio should grow +9.9% to $16.6bn globally this year, and a further +7.5% next year. The market research company also says that Amazon, Alphabet and Meta will take a combined market share of 59.7% of all ad revenue (excluding China).
Spotify is to expand access to audiobooks to make then virtually global, covering more than 180 markets. Some additional countries will get twelve hours of audiobooks free; however across much of Africa and Asia, access will require a paid add-on. Users will “find books next to their music and podcasts”, reports TNW.
SiriusXM has signed Serialously and 10 to Life - two true crime shows from Annie Elise. They were with Audioboom.
Podscribe released a new ranker, with updates for “play” definitions for Spotify and YouTube. Engaged view numbers from YouTube require publishers to connect their analytics.
Stephen Robles has built a lot of helpful tools for MacOS. Transcriber is free, and produces editable, WebVTT files, using Apple Intelligence. He’s also built Leveler, which gives “smooth, consistent speech levels”, setting your audio at -16 LUFS, just how it should be. And Captioner burns in those fancy animated captions to your shareable video clip. Neat!
A new tool called Pod Is Life combines available podcast charts from Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Castbox and Pocket Casts to give one overall top chart, for a number of different countries including the US, Canada, the UK and Australia. While different charts measure different things, the resulting combined chart scores seem to be reflective of some of the biggest shows in each country.
The Podcast Taxonomy, a standard way to describe podcast job roles, has disappeared from the internet. It was launched in 2020 by Podchaser, and the specification is part of Podcasting 2.0's person feature. There’s been no communication from the original team.
There's More: HERE
Apple Podcasts has published its 2026 edition of Creators We Love in Australia. The list is made to celebrate and spotlight the trailblazing Australian voices who bring Apple Podcasts to life. Apple Podcasts describe this year’s cohort as delivering “endless entertainment, mind-expanding education and deep community for their audiences”. Shows are the ABC’s All In The Mind, Mamamia’s Mamamia Out Loud, Dyl & Friends from Clubby Sports, Steph and Laura from Shameless, and the indie show Pop Culture Parenting.
Only 2% of time listening to audio in a car is to podcasts, according to Canadian research. Signal Hill Insights released Audio on the Move, research showing that streaming services are rapidly catching up to AM/FM listening. One in four minutes spent listening to audio is done in a car in Canada.
Ausha launched video distribution to Apple Podcasts. The podcast host also supports YouTube.
First look: Barometer announced a brand suitability solution for Amazon Ads DVA+. Advertisers can activate Barometer’s pre-bid brand suitability, to check that every podcast episode meets advertiser brand guidelines.Amazon Ads DVA+ is a new way to produce display, video and audio campaigns, all in one place.
WME launched its own “Creator Labs”, described as an in-house digital operations team that helps creators build and scale their businesses on YouTube and elsewhere. There are eleven people on the team.
Tomorrow, Oxford Road will run “The Deal Room” - a podcast upfront that isn’t afraid to actually sell, according to CEO Dan Granger.
Quill has made The Globe and Mail’s list of Canada’s Top Growing Companies for the fourth year in a row.
Next week in London, “an exclusive event for creators serious about turning a podcast into a business.” The invite-only event is from FiveTwoNine, a global creator community and platform.
Signings: Wave has signed weekly comedy podcast Bad Friends to its network … Podcast Nation has signed Gen Z creator Trinity Blair, and her podcast Trin Told Me.
The audio fiction podcast network Fable and Folly is to close at the end of this year. The network blames a change in podcast advertising for its closure. However, the network says: “The shows you love aren’t going away; they’re just heading to new homes. Through the end of the year, we’re helping our producers migrate their shows and connect with new hosting and advertising partners, so the series you follow can keep going strong.”
After we revealed that Apple Podcasts has dropped country-specific editorial in favour of an algorithmic selection, today we carry one example that shows the difference: it was National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada last week. Unlike in March 2025, when Apple Podcasts ran a “Made in Canada” initiative, last week only one indigenous-made podcast was promoted by Apple Podcasts in Canada: from the not-entirely-unknown CBC.
What would the happy couple like for a wedding present? How about a podcast? Will Coley produces podcasts that focus on a couple’s relationship and upcoming wedding; in this piece from The New York Times, he explains how he makes the shows.
Wednesday, Oct 7
- In June this year, Apple’s list in the UK was all video shows, and all by Acast: promotion for a favoured format and a favoured publisher. At a time where Apple Podcasts is dropping country-specific recommendations, in our opinion it’s a relief to see that Apple’s new list in Australia is not merely a thinly-disguised promotion for a podcast publisher and format, and instead appears a genuine list of creators. Only one show is in video!
- Selected creators get promotion within Apple Podcasts in Australia, and will be featured in Apple stores across the country. There is no promotion of these shows on paid-for media outside of Apple properties, however.
Only 2% of time listening to audio in a car is to podcasts, according to Canadian research. Signal Hill Insights released Audio on the Move, research showing that streaming services are rapidly catching up to AM/FM listening. One in four minutes spent listening to audio is done in a car in Canada.
- The research also shows that only a tiny minority like AI-generated content, like podcasts or music.
Ausha launched video distribution to Apple Podcasts. The podcast host also supports YouTube.
✅There's More: HERE
Tuesday, Oct 6
First look: Barometer announced a brand suitability solution for Amazon Ads DVA+. Advertisers can activate Barometer’s pre-bid brand suitability, to check that every podcast episode meets advertiser brand guidelines.Amazon Ads DVA+ is a new way to produce display, video and audio campaigns, all in one place.
- Advertisers typically require brand suitability data to avoid putting their ads next to content they don’t want to be associated with.
WME launched its own “Creator Labs”, described as an in-house digital operations team that helps creators build and scale their businesses on YouTube and elsewhere. There are eleven people on the team.
Tomorrow, Oxford Road will run “The Deal Room” - a podcast upfront that isn’t afraid to actually sell, according to CEO Dan Granger.
Quill has made The Globe and Mail’s list of Canada’s Top Growing Companies for the fourth year in a row.
Next week in London, “an exclusive event for creators serious about turning a podcast into a business.” The invite-only event is from FiveTwoNine, a global creator community and platform.
Signings: Wave has signed weekly comedy podcast Bad Friends to its network … Podcast Nation has signed Gen Z creator Trinity Blair, and her podcast Trin Told Me.
✅There's More: HERE
Monday, Oct 5
After we revealed that Apple Podcasts has dropped country-specific editorial in favour of an algorithmic selection, today we carry one example that shows the difference: it was National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada last week. Unlike in March 2025, when Apple Podcasts ran a “Made in Canada” initiative, last week only one indigenous-made podcast was promoted by Apple Podcasts in Canada: from the not-entirely-unknown CBC.
- Apple Podcasts might suggest that human curation remains at the heart of what they do - and that it’s good news for creators since they can reach wider audiences than before because they’re no longer locally-targeted. However, in our opinion, this is a loss to local producers: and belies a lack of understanding from Apple Podcasts about who pays for podcasting - since in many cases, sponsorship and branded content are sold on a country-by-country basis, where country-specific targeting is vital.
What would the happy couple like for a wedding present? How about a podcast? Will Coley produces podcasts that focus on a couple’s relationship and upcoming wedding; in this piece from The New York Times, he explains how he makes the shows.
✅There's More: HERE
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