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Tuesday, April 28, 2026
The Black Effect Podcast Festival took place over the weekend in Atlanta GA, USA. The event featured live podcast recordings, panel discussions spanning the business of podcasting, a pitch your podcast booth, the Black Marketplace and more. The day contained a number of similar themes, says a piece in the Saporta Report - be yourself, stay consistent, create with purpose, and explore the growing ways that artificial intelligence can support that work.
Amazon’s Wondery has acquired the rights for The Oprah Podcast. No terms were shared; the deal also includes the rights for the full archive of The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Winfrey’s Book Club, among other things.
Red Seat Ventures has announced a multiyear partnership with live comedy podcast Kill Tony. Expect the opportunity to get ad-free versions using Supercast; and the show will be in video on Tubi, FOX One, as well as YouTube.
Do advertisers spend enough time on the creative of their ad? Boring ads cost much more to achieve the same result as interesting ones, says the research - the duller the ad, the greater the cost. That’s part of the Cumulus Media and Westwood One Creative Best Practices Handbook, which has been published today - giving a number of clear rules on how to make ads work better.
Nielsen is to use Triton Digital’s Podcast Metrics Demos+ data for Nielsen’s cross-media planning tool, Nielsen Media Impact. The company integrated data from Edison Research in August.
✅There's More: HERE
How can you get your podcast promoted by Spotify? Today, Podnews speaks with Lizzy Hale, Spotify’s Head of Podcast Editorial. The company has dozens of people based all over the world, watching for shows to highlight, and guiding Spotify’s recommendation systems to reflect cultural moments. In an interview, Lizzy tells us how they aim to “give more creators a real shot at being discovered”.
SiriusXM and iHeartMedia are in talks to merge, reports Variety. The news was initially the subject of a set of reports by Bloomberg ($).
233 million people live in Nigeria - so podcasting could be massive in the country. As Tony Onwuchekwa writes for Podnews today for another of our market focus articles, 88% of Nigerian podcasts are in English; but almost a third have either podfaded or are on pause. The Nigerian Podcast Index has more data on shows produced in, or for, Nigeria; and highlights where the industry is strongest.
Monday, April 27, 2026
How can you get your podcast promoted by Spotify? Today, Podnews speaks with Lizzy Hale, Spotify’s Head of Podcast Editorial. The company has dozens of people based all over the world, watching for shows to highlight, and guiding Spotify’s recommendation systems to reflect cultural moments. In an interview, Lizzy tells us how they aim to “give more creators a real shot at being discovered”.
SiriusXM and iHeartMedia are in talks to merge, reports Variety. The news was initially the subject of a set of reports by Bloomberg ($).
- From a podcast point of view, merging the two would mean one network with 3,422 shows; representing around 207 million downloads+views a month. Spotify would remain bigger, suggests the Podscribe ranker - but that’s only until SiriusXM starts representing YouTube’s audio advertising later this year. Both iHeart and SiriusXM have, of course, significant radio businesses. RadioInsight suggests a merged company will be a juggernaut.
- SiriusXM obfuscates its podcast revenue by including Pandora in its data, but earned $2.1bn revenue from that business unit in 2025 (25% of overall revenue). iHeart earned $563mn from podcasting in 2025 (14.5% of overall revenue).
- The deal would force the hand of the UK’s Global (the owner of DAX and Captivate). In 2020, the FCC allowed iHeartMedia to be 100% foreign-owned; and through its investment arm, Global owns 32% of iHeartMedia. On Mar 5 this year, the FCC allowed an application from iHeartMedia that Bahamas-based Global Media & Entertainment Investments Ltd’s shares could be transferred to the UK-based Global Media Investments Limited.
233 million people live in Nigeria - so podcasting could be massive in the country. As Tony Onwuchekwa writes for Podnews today for another of our market focus articles, 88% of Nigerian podcasts are in English; but almost a third have either podfaded or are on pause. The Nigerian Podcast Index has more data on shows produced in, or for, Nigeria; and highlights where the industry is strongest.
✅There's More: HERE
Spanish-language podcast app iVoox has unveiled its first ever TV ad, which will run on Mediaset TV channels across Spain. We’ve added English-language captions to the ad, which you can see here. We don’t remember covering a TV ad for a podcast app ever - (though TuneIn and Audible have done a few). Very welcome.
Can’t be bothered to record a short promo for your podcast? Why not use an AI avatar to do it for you? That’s what Cleveland.com decided to do - with possibly predictably negative comments, suggests sports website Awful Announcing.
It’s easier to get new shows into Apple Podcasts; but that also means it’s easier to push spam into it - Apple Podcasts (and, therefore, many other apps that rely on the Apple Podcasts directory) is being flooded by spam, like the Temu codes we link to today (via John Spurlock). These shows are hosted on Spotify for Podcasters, Acast, RSS.com, and Ausha.
PAVE Studios has launched a history brand. Rewind will focus “on the stories that history forgot to finish” - it builds on the company’s true crime strand, Crime House. The first show, Hidden History, premieres on May 11.
RESONATE Podcast Festival has announced its first-ever Africa edition. The event will be held in February 2027 in Cape Town, South Africa. Tickets go on sale in early July.
Triton Digital’s US Podcast Ranker for March was released. The ranker is calculated using logfile analysis of participating publishers; Stuff You Should Know is a new #1, beating Pod Save America. The Dan Bongino Show is at #3.
More Americans than ever are listening to podcasts, according to new research from S&P Global. Usage by the population is up by 10% year-on-year, according to the data - attributed to the rising popularity of video.
The Tribeca Festival has selected a sci-fi podcast, The Dolos Project, for its audio line-up. Podnews has first sight of the new video trailer, which begins in the aftermath of Earth’s nuclear annihilation. From a remote space station, co-pilots David and Sarah, alongside their AI companion SAI, may be the last remnants of humanity. The show is from Marcus and Megan Bagala, who have worked for top shows for DC (DC High Volume: Batman), Marvel, Star Trek: Khan, Gimlet, Spotify, and Wondery.
The most streamed podcast of all time on Spotify over the last 20 years? It’s probably not a surprise to learn that it’s The Joe Rogan Experience. But what might be a surprise is that German-language podcast Gemischtes Hack is at #2; and The Daily is at #6. The company released its full “most streamed of all time” lists. Taylor Swift is #1 music artist; but doesn’t have the #1 streamed album (she’s there at #8).
Podtrac’s global multi-channel podcast ranker was released for March. The biggest mover is The Adam Mockler Show from MeidasTouch Network. The global ranker measures audio podcasts, video podcasts and podcast clips on Insta, TikTok and YouTube.
Crooked Media has launched SANEtv, a FAST television channel available on Amazon Prime Video. The channel features a number of Crooked Media’s popular shows.
Libsyn has signed five new exclusive podcast partnerships for hosting and monetisation: Locked In with Ian Bick, Unlearned Wisdom with Johnny Chang, Restricted Handling, Was I In a Cult?, and The Joe Vulpis Podcast.
The New Heights podcast is to do a live show in LA, in the opening week of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Fountain, the podcast app and hosting company, announced that its hosting will support Apple Podcasts HLS video.
Edison Podcast Metrics released 2025's top US kids podcasts. Lemonada Media has three shows in the top ten.
First look: SiriusXM has been announced as the exclusive advertising representative of YouTube audio advertising in the US. This is a significant addition to SiriusXM Media’s portfolio, which will now be able to reach 255mn monthly listeners - almost 90% of all US adults 13+.
Sounds Profitable released new research on “Audio Primes” - the people who listen to at least 75% of their content as audio. That’s 22% of podcast consumers; and they’re younger and more educated. While they choose audio for podcasts, Audio Primes also - surprisingly - consume more video as well. The full report, sponsored by RSS.com, is available as a free download.
Bumper has launched The Bumper Score, a new tool “built to close the trust gap between podcast listenership and advertiser confidence”. The company suggests that the next $1 billion in podcasting starts with better data; the tool uses verified metrics to give a simple score for strong verified reach. It will be free to all podcasters; you can join the waitlist now.
Podcast app and hosting service Fountain is hosting a night of live music at famous East-End music pub The Old Blue Last in London on April 30. The event starts with a panel session discussing open music hosted on RSS, and how artists get paid; and then, an eclectic line-up of rising UK artists, all streaming live on Fountain.
The US business of podcast network Studio71 has been acquired by Fixated, a creator representation and monetisation company. No terms were given. The combined company now represent a global network of 1,000+ creators.
The Wall Street Journal publishes a paywalled article highlighting how video podcasts are making audio podcasts worse to listen to. Overly visual shows, where podcasters are referring to things on screen you can’t see, or where “coming up” clips rely on a visual graphic saying “coming up” invisible in the audio version, are highlighted in the piece. The piece starts by quoting one podcast listener who says she is “annoyed” by this sort of thing, credited as “Jordan Blair, a 35 year-old from Idaho”. We always wondered why Buzzcast wasn’t in video.
Friday, April 24, 2026
Can’t be bothered to record a short promo for your podcast? Why not use an AI avatar to do it for you? That’s what Cleveland.com decided to do - with possibly predictably negative comments, suggests sports website Awful Announcing.
It’s easier to get new shows into Apple Podcasts; but that also means it’s easier to push spam into it - Apple Podcasts (and, therefore, many other apps that rely on the Apple Podcasts directory) is being flooded by spam, like the Temu codes we link to today (via John Spurlock). These shows are hosted on Spotify for Podcasters, Acast, RSS.com, and Ausha.
PAVE Studios has launched a history brand. Rewind will focus “on the stories that history forgot to finish” - it builds on the company’s true crime strand, Crime House. The first show, Hidden History, premieres on May 11.
RESONATE Podcast Festival has announced its first-ever Africa edition. The event will be held in February 2027 in Cape Town, South Africa. Tickets go on sale in early July.
Triton Digital’s US Podcast Ranker for March was released. The ranker is calculated using logfile analysis of participating publishers; Stuff You Should Know is a new #1, beating Pod Save America. The Dan Bongino Show is at #3.
More Americans than ever are listening to podcasts, according to new research from S&P Global. Usage by the population is up by 10% year-on-year, according to the data - attributed to the rising popularity of video.
✅There's More: HERE
Thursday, April 23, 2026
The most streamed podcast of all time on Spotify over the last 20 years? It’s probably not a surprise to learn that it’s The Joe Rogan Experience. But what might be a surprise is that German-language podcast Gemischtes Hack is at #2; and The Daily is at #6. The company released its full “most streamed of all time” lists. Taylor Swift is #1 music artist; but doesn’t have the #1 streamed album (she’s there at #8).
Podtrac’s global multi-channel podcast ranker was released for March. The biggest mover is The Adam Mockler Show from MeidasTouch Network. The global ranker measures audio podcasts, video podcasts and podcast clips on Insta, TikTok and YouTube.
Crooked Media has launched SANEtv, a FAST television channel available on Amazon Prime Video. The channel features a number of Crooked Media’s popular shows.
Libsyn has signed five new exclusive podcast partnerships for hosting and monetisation: Locked In with Ian Bick, Unlearned Wisdom with Johnny Chang, Restricted Handling, Was I In a Cult?, and The Joe Vulpis Podcast.
The New Heights podcast is to do a live show in LA, in the opening week of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Fountain, the podcast app and hosting company, announced that its hosting will support Apple Podcasts HLS video.
Edison Podcast Metrics released 2025's top US kids podcasts. Lemonada Media has three shows in the top ten.
✅There's More: HERE
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
First look: SiriusXM has been announced as the exclusive advertising representative of YouTube audio advertising in the US. This is a significant addition to SiriusXM Media’s portfolio, which will now be able to reach 255mn monthly listeners - almost 90% of all US adults 13+.
- SiriusXM also released data from Edison Research, showing that around 74% of US adults 13+ consume YouTube audio, or engage in listening-first behaviors on YouTube. The data also says that 45% consume YouTube content with static visuals; 48% listen while video is minimised or in the background.
Sounds Profitable released new research on “Audio Primes” - the people who listen to at least 75% of their content as audio. That’s 22% of podcast consumers; and they’re younger and more educated. While they choose audio for podcasts, Audio Primes also - surprisingly - consume more video as well. The full report, sponsored by RSS.com, is available as a free download.
Bumper has launched The Bumper Score, a new tool “built to close the trust gap between podcast listenership and advertiser confidence”. The company suggests that the next $1 billion in podcasting starts with better data; the tool uses verified metrics to give a simple score for strong verified reach. It will be free to all podcasters; you can join the waitlist now.
Podcast app and hosting service Fountain is hosting a night of live music at famous East-End music pub The Old Blue Last in London on April 30. The event starts with a panel session discussing open music hosted on RSS, and how artists get paid; and then, an eclectic line-up of rising UK artists, all streaming live on Fountain.
The US business of podcast network Studio71 has been acquired by Fixated, a creator representation and monetisation company. No terms were given. The combined company now represent a global network of 1,000+ creators.
The Wall Street Journal publishes a paywalled article highlighting how video podcasts are making audio podcasts worse to listen to. Overly visual shows, where podcasters are referring to things on screen you can’t see, or where “coming up” clips rely on a visual graphic saying “coming up” invisible in the audio version, are highlighted in the piece. The piece starts by quoting one podcast listener who says she is “annoyed” by this sort of thing, credited as “Jordan Blair, a 35 year-old from Idaho”. We always wondered why Buzzcast wasn’t in video.
✅There's More: HERE
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