➽From podnews.net, your complete daily briefing for podcasting and on-demand. Subscribe to get the full newsletter free
Friday, January 30, 2026
Spotify says that sports podcast consumption goes wild on the run up to the Super Bowl - +172% above average last year on the lead-up to the game - but in fact the days following the game saw a +358% surge. You’d expect this to also be the case for other podcast platforms. Spotify’s Bryan Berner tells us that “Sports fandom doesn’t start at kickoff or end at the final whistle anymore — it lives in the conversations that happen before and after the game. The level of engagement we see creates a powerful environment for brands to show up in ways that feel timely, relevant, and aligned with fan passion.” The Super Bowl is on Feb 8.
- By the way - Spotify coyly called it “The Big Game” in their email to us; here’s why. We’re calling the Super Bowl in our coverage (because 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c)(3)(B)), but for your podcast, you may wish to check whether you, too, have to call it “The Big Game”.
Apple released their financial results - posting an all-time quarterly record. Apple Services (which includes the revenue from Apple Podcasts) reached a record of $30bn, up +14% year-on-year. The company acquired an audio AI startup called Q.ai for $2bn, for reasons that weren’t disclosed.
✔There's More: HERE
First look: Podcast Movement Evolutions at SXSW has unveiled the first wave of speakers, including the acclaimed storyteller MrBallen. There will be live programming through the weekend, as well as a morning keynote from YouTube.
Opting in for Spotify Video? You’ll harm the measurability of your podcast, warns Podscribe in an email to subscribers today. This harms your measurement whether your listeners choose video or audio, since even if your listeners choose an audio version of a show that’s available in video, they still get served the audio track of the video direct from Spotify - with no measurement from Podscribe or similar. Podscribe describes a part-workaround.
UK podcast production company Goalhanger has formed a strategic partnership with The Chernin Group to accelerate the company’s US expansion. TCG is Goalhanger’s first external investor (the company has been entirely bootstrapped until now, though co-founder Gary Lineker is a multi-millionaire). TCG has also invested in Audiochuck, Barstool Sports, and Substack.
Thursday, January 29, 2026
First look: Podcast Movement Evolutions at SXSW has unveiled the first wave of speakers, including the acclaimed storyteller MrBallen. There will be live programming through the weekend, as well as a morning keynote from YouTube.
Opting in for Spotify Video? You’ll harm the measurability of your podcast, warns Podscribe in an email to subscribers today. This harms your measurement whether your listeners choose video or audio, since even if your listeners choose an audio version of a show that’s available in video, they still get served the audio track of the video direct from Spotify - with no measurement from Podscribe or similar. Podscribe describes a part-workaround.
- Spotify breaking open RSS in this way also extends to some podcast rankers like the Triton Digital ranker, which is based on logfile analysis. This led to Australian publisher Shameless Media coming out of the Australian ranker, as we reported last week. Analytics tools like OP3, which is based on server redirects, also cannot measure any plays on Spotify if that episode opted into video. It also means that you can’t serve dynamic ads on these shows as well, which means you may significantly lower your revenue. A Sounds Profitable piece from April 2025 highlights the issues - and bluntly tells the podcast industry not to take part.
UK podcast production company Goalhanger has formed a strategic partnership with The Chernin Group to accelerate the company’s US expansion. TCG is Goalhanger’s first external investor (the company has been entirely bootstrapped until now, though co-founder Gary Lineker is a multi-millionaire). TCG has also invested in Audiochuck, Barstool Sports, and Substack.
There's More: HERE
Wondercraft launched a new AI Video Studio, that can - among other things - make videos from your podcasts, with animations and images. The tool allows you to select what kind of outcome you want (a business video, a social promo, etc), and give it your podcast’s audio (or a prompt about what audio you want). You can even set an avatar of your hosts.
How do most podcast agencies show their clients that their work was a success? By talking about downloads, according to a new report, State of Podcast Agencies 2026, by CoHost and Quill. The data also shows that most podcast agencies are small - with 76% operating with fewer than ten employees - and 92% use AI in some part of their workflow.
The Castro podcast app has launched listening stats. Castro’s Dustin Black says: “You can see how much you listened in any given day, week, month, or year, and you can drill down and see the exact episodes you were listening to at an exact time. It’s really cool!”
Podscribe has added Watchlists, to offer email alerts when meaningful changes occur - with competing brands beginning to advertise on new shows, or new advertisers appearing on a competitive show.
In the US last month, YouTube’s share of all TV viewing dropped a little to 12.7%; and Netflix jumped up to third place with 9%, according to Nielsen’s latest data. The measure is of total minutes consumed.
Wednesday, January 28, 2026
How do most podcast agencies show their clients that their work was a success? By talking about downloads, according to a new report, State of Podcast Agencies 2026, by CoHost and Quill. The data also shows that most podcast agencies are small - with 76% operating with fewer than ten employees - and 92% use AI in some part of their workflow.
The Castro podcast app has launched listening stats. Castro’s Dustin Black says: “You can see how much you listened in any given day, week, month, or year, and you can drill down and see the exact episodes you were listening to at an exact time. It’s really cool!”
Podscribe has added Watchlists, to offer email alerts when meaningful changes occur - with competing brands beginning to advertise on new shows, or new advertisers appearing on a competitive show.
In the US last month, YouTube’s share of all TV viewing dropped a little to 12.7%; and Netflix jumped up to third place with 9%, according to Nielsen’s latest data. The measure is of total minutes consumed.
✔There's More: HERE
The Podcast Show London 2026 has announced its Advisory Board, including Steve Ackerman, Ruth Fitzsimons, Arif Noorani, Vicky Etchells, and our Editor, James Cridland. The event, which takes place in late May, also outlined its submission process for speakers and sessions.First Release discount passes close on Jan 30 - so if you want to save up to £100 (US$135) on tickets then you’ll want to book now. (Podnews subscribers save even more).
Podcast app Truefans has closed a funding round, valuing the company at £10 million (US $13.5mn). The total amount raised was not disclosed. The funding will accelerate product development, including a new hosting service, updated mobile apps, and, says founder Sam Sethi, “new Voice AI agents called Kevin and Kelly”. Sethi is also the co-host of the Podnews Weekly Review.
Audacy has removed a number of third-party podcasts from its radio and podcast app (including the Podnews Weekly Review, which was here). An Audacy spokesperson told Podnews: “We’ve removed a number of lower-engagement third-party podcasts from the app which accounted for a very small percentage of overall listening. The Audacy App remains the home for a robust slate of podcasts, including all Audacy originals and time-shifted shows, all podcasts from our premium podcast network and Audacy Creator Lab, key affiliate partners, and other industry-leading titles.” The company, which exited a bankruptcy process last year, added all its podcasts and radio stations to the iHeart app, by its main competitor iHeartMedia, in July.
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
The Podcast Show London 2026 has announced its Advisory Board, including Steve Ackerman, Ruth Fitzsimons, Arif Noorani, Vicky Etchells, and our Editor, James Cridland. The event, which takes place in late May, also outlined its submission process for speakers and sessions.First Release discount passes close on Jan 30 - so if you want to save up to £100 (US$135) on tickets then you’ll want to book now. (Podnews subscribers save even more).
Podcast app Truefans has closed a funding round, valuing the company at £10 million (US $13.5mn). The total amount raised was not disclosed. The funding will accelerate product development, including a new hosting service, updated mobile apps, and, says founder Sam Sethi, “new Voice AI agents called Kevin and Kelly”. Sethi is also the co-host of the Podnews Weekly Review.
Audacy has removed a number of third-party podcasts from its radio and podcast app (including the Podnews Weekly Review, which was here). An Audacy spokesperson told Podnews: “We’ve removed a number of lower-engagement third-party podcasts from the app which accounted for a very small percentage of overall listening. The Audacy App remains the home for a robust slate of podcasts, including all Audacy originals and time-shifted shows, all podcasts from our premium podcast network and Audacy Creator Lab, key affiliate partners, and other industry-leading titles.” The company, which exited a bankruptcy process last year, added all its podcasts and radio stations to the iHeart app, by its main competitor iHeartMedia, in July.
✔There's More: HERE
Edison Podcast Metrics released the top 50 Podcasts in the US for Q4/25. No change in the top five, but new entries from, among others, The Diary of a CEO, Dumb Blonde, and Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce. Serial, which had been in the chart forever, has finally dropped out of the top 50, more than 11 years since its release.
Kia-ora, podcasters in New Zealand: Aotearoa’s podcasting community will be meeting once more at The NZ Podcasting Summit on Sat May 9 in Auckland, which has announced its first set of speakers. This time round, there’s a session about AI, and one about video. Tickets are available now.
Voting is open until Feb 5 for The Ambies, which is available to all TPA members. Cast your vote at The Ambies website.
The MediaLeader published “Predictions for audio in 2026 from industry experts”.
Netflix signed Last Podcast on the Left to its video podcast service, which remains US-only for now.
Monday, January 26, 2026
- The top 5 differs from Podtrac’s global multi-channel ranker announced last week; of course, it’s US-only rather than Podtrac’s global list. Podtrac placed The MeidasTouch podcast at #1; Edison places it at #18. The MeidasTouch’s numbers in Podtrac includes video clips.
Kia-ora, podcasters in New Zealand: Aotearoa’s podcasting community will be meeting once more at The NZ Podcasting Summit on Sat May 9 in Auckland, which has announced its first set of speakers. This time round, there’s a session about AI, and one about video. Tickets are available now.
Voting is open until Feb 5 for The Ambies, which is available to all TPA members. Cast your vote at The Ambies website.
- Also, watch for another email today - TPA is switching membership platform to a tool called Glue Up, and you’ll need to re-register.In an article that we can’t find online, The Washingtonian Magazine tried the Washington Post’s AI “podcast”, and calls it “ridiculous”, “stilted” and where “mistakes and mispronounciations were the norm”.
The MediaLeader published “Predictions for audio in 2026 from industry experts”.
Netflix signed Last Podcast on the Left to its video podcast service, which remains US-only for now.
✔There's More: HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.