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Friday, Feb 6, 2026
The Washington Post cut more than a third of its employees, including more than 300 of its 800 newsroom staff. We gather that their audio department has been “all but eliminated”. The flagship podcast Post Reports ▸ is cancelled - and did not publish yesterday; the show reached almost half a million people a month, according to Podscribe. The host of the show, Martine Powers, is one of those affected; there are reports that the company has laid-off all but two staffers in their audio team (here are some of those affected). That audio team won two Peabody Awards in 2024; but in December, the newspaper made AI-generated podcasts that were “riddled with errors”, but were reportedly launched even knowing that they were a bad experience. The newspaper, which broke the Watergate scandal, was purchased by Jeff Bezos in 2013.
A new weekly news podcast in the Netherlands is to be entirely written, researched and fact-checked by AI. High Profile, a podcast made by Airborne Network, is human-hosted (at least, for now), but the company says that the “engaging” show provides depth and context to news. Today’s episode tells the story of Ayatollah Khamenei and the tensions within and around Iran.
Are you in the podcasting or audio industry in the UK? AudioUK is helping the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, with a new project examining the size and scale of the UK’s podcasting and audio industry. There’s a short confidential survey for you to fill in by Tuesday.
Malcolm Gladwell is to release a new book exploring the gun epidemic in the US. The audiobook will feature original reporting and interviews, archival tape, and sound design.
PodcastOne has renewed a number of shows, and signed a new show, For Your Amusement. Combined, the shows represent 30mn downloads across the network.
✔There's More: HERE
In the UK, comedians Elis James and John Robins, alongside long-term producer Dave Masterman, have teamed up to launch a brand new production company: Significant Productions. The trio have made some of the UK’s most successful podcasts over the past twelve years.
First look: Analytics and management solution Podstock has announced agreements with a number of sports media brands including Goalhanger, Playmaker, and others - joining existing publishers including Locked On and Blue Wire.
Slate’s podcast portfolio is to be represented by Acast, the companies announced. The agreement brings more than 1.5mn weekly listens to Acast. Slate describes it as “a crucial step in scaling our podcast network while maintaining our unique editorial voice”.
Audioboom has snagged one of the biggest true crime shows. RedHanded joins the network from Wondery. The show took the Gold Listener’s Choice Award at the British Podcast Awards three years in a row, and achieves more than 30 million downloads a year.
Independent podcast production studio Gilded Audio has announced it is to close. Managing Director Whitney Donaldson sent a newsletter saying “making the decision was hard and multifaceted, but ultimately, it was the right one.”
News of something that could be pretty cool - a new podcast accelerator for first-time creators. The Pretty Cool Creator Collective, from production company Could Be Pretty Cool, is based in Atlanta GA in the US. It’s founded by Kacie Luaders, who was a 2019 graduate of Spotify’s Sound Up podcast accelerator.
UK comedy podcast awards The Golden Lobes are open for entries. In 2025, winners included both solo creators and global platforms; the awards now have a wider number of categories (including a 'Best International Show’ for shows made outside the UK), and the prize isn’t just a trophy, but £5000 worth of prizes.
Sony Playstation has been awarded a patent to use AI to present podcasts from game characters. Here’s the patent in full. The podcasts would be personalised, and not available via RSS.
YouTube has removed a number of “AI slop” channels from its platform. It’s removed sixteen channels, which had a total of 4.7 billion views.
When should you end a podcast? When is a podcast “done”? Nick Korte writes a personal blog about why he’s recently chosen to close the Nerd Journey Podcast.
New York Public Media, the owner of WNYC Studios, has a new CEO. Christy Tanner starts immediately as President and CEO; the former CEO, LaFontaine E. Oliver, becomes Executive Chair.
As podcasts get more visual, so do the offerings to advertisers. For The Love Of Rugby will see the show’s studio rebranded as the “Tesco Whoosh Studio”, after a supermarket rapid delivery service. It’s said to be equivalent to a naming rights model for sports stadiums.
One of Australia’s biggest shows, Better Than Yesterday with Osher Günsberg, has joined NOVA Podcasts. The show launched in 2013, and was with Acast.
Thursday, February 5, 2026
In the UK, comedians Elis James and John Robins, alongside long-term producer Dave Masterman, have teamed up to launch a brand new production company: Significant Productions. The trio have made some of the UK’s most successful podcasts over the past twelve years.
First look: Analytics and management solution Podstock has announced agreements with a number of sports media brands including Goalhanger, Playmaker, and others - joining existing publishers including Locked On and Blue Wire.
- Meanwhile, Acast tells us that sports listening rises 44% during sporting events - and posts its Sports Podcast Game Plan.
Slate’s podcast portfolio is to be represented by Acast, the companies announced. The agreement brings more than 1.5mn weekly listens to Acast. Slate describes it as “a crucial step in scaling our podcast network while maintaining our unique editorial voice”.
Audioboom has snagged one of the biggest true crime shows. RedHanded joins the network from Wondery. The show took the Gold Listener’s Choice Award at the British Podcast Awards three years in a row, and achieves more than 30 million downloads a year.
- Also in an Audioboom upfronts day earlier today, it was announced that Adelicious will now operate under the Audioboom name - “completing the integration of Adelicious into the group and establishing Audioboom as the UK’s largest independent podcasting platform.”
Independent podcast production studio Gilded Audio has announced it is to close. Managing Director Whitney Donaldson sent a newsletter saying “making the decision was hard and multifaceted, but ultimately, it was the right one.”
News of something that could be pretty cool - a new podcast accelerator for first-time creators. The Pretty Cool Creator Collective, from production company Could Be Pretty Cool, is based in Atlanta GA in the US. It’s founded by Kacie Luaders, who was a 2019 graduate of Spotify’s Sound Up podcast accelerator.
✔There's More: HERE
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
UK comedy podcast awards The Golden Lobes are open for entries. In 2025, winners included both solo creators and global platforms; the awards now have a wider number of categories (including a 'Best International Show’ for shows made outside the UK), and the prize isn’t just a trophy, but £5000 worth of prizes.
Sony Playstation has been awarded a patent to use AI to present podcasts from game characters. Here’s the patent in full. The podcasts would be personalised, and not available via RSS.
YouTube has removed a number of “AI slop” channels from its platform. It’s removed sixteen channels, which had a total of 4.7 billion views.
When should you end a podcast? When is a podcast “done”? Nick Korte writes a personal blog about why he’s recently chosen to close the Nerd Journey Podcast.
New York Public Media, the owner of WNYC Studios, has a new CEO. Christy Tanner starts immediately as President and CEO; the former CEO, LaFontaine E. Oliver, becomes Executive Chair.
As podcasts get more visual, so do the offerings to advertisers. For The Love Of Rugby will see the show’s studio rebranded as the “Tesco Whoosh Studio”, after a supermarket rapid delivery service. It’s said to be equivalent to a naming rights model for sports stadiums.
One of Australia’s biggest shows, Better Than Yesterday with Osher Günsberg, has joined NOVA Podcasts. The show launched in 2013, and was with Acast.
✔There's More: HERE
A new voice enhancement tool, Voice Regen, has been launched - but this one is different. It’s from Waves Audio, an Emmy® and Technical Grammy® Award-winning audio technology company, rather than a random guy with an AI account. The tool provides content creators with instant, professional-quality voice cleanup. It removes background noise, room echo, and fixes uneven volume. Pricing starts for free, but $4.99 currently gets WAV export and 300 minutes a month. It also does video.
Audioboom has signed Crooked Media for hosting, global distribution and network advertising sales. Audioboom will also represent host read ads within Pod Save the UK.
In Australia, SXSW Sydney has been cancelled. It’s reported that the NSW government, which had part-funded the event in previous years, had pulled out (in spite of having signed a five year agreement). There were “two dedicated stages” for podcasts at the event last year.
Crime Junkie is the biggest podcast in the US for audio reach, according to Podscribe’s January 2026 Podcast Industry Rankings. Good news for Audioboom - their show Bulwark is at #10 for downloads and views, while Pod Save America, which they now represent, is #10 in audio reach.
Guests not being brilliant isn’t just something that affects smaller podcasts - Will Arnett says that one “very famous comedian” behaved so badly on the Smartless podcast, they cut him off after ten minutes. Another comedian recorded a whole show, but then decided that she didn’t want it to be released in case her quotes were taken out of context.
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
- If you’d like to know what it sounds like - you’ve probably already heard it. The Podnews Weekly Review from Dec 19 included lots of individual pieces of bad-quality audio, recorded all over the world on laptop microphones, via AirPods, the tiny microphone on your headphone lead, or who knows how - some seemingly in bathrooms or echoey offices, others in low-quality low-resolution files. Testing the tool, we pushed them all through Voice Regen; and the sound is consistent throughout.
Audioboom has signed Crooked Media for hosting, global distribution and network advertising sales. Audioboom will also represent host read ads within Pod Save the UK.
In Australia, SXSW Sydney has been cancelled. It’s reported that the NSW government, which had part-funded the event in previous years, had pulled out (in spite of having signed a five year agreement). There were “two dedicated stages” for podcasts at the event last year.
- SXSW in Austin TX continues, including this year’s Podcast Movement Evolutions.
- The Domefest podcast festival in Sydney takes place on Mar 29.
Crime Junkie is the biggest podcast in the US for audio reach, according to Podscribe’s January 2026 Podcast Industry Rankings. Good news for Audioboom - their show Bulwark is at #10 for downloads and views, while Pod Save America, which they now represent, is #10 in audio reach.
Guests not being brilliant isn’t just something that affects smaller podcasts - Will Arnett says that one “very famous comedian” behaved so badly on the Smartless podcast, they cut him off after ten minutes. Another comedian recorded a whole show, but then decided that she didn’t want it to be released in case her quotes were taken out of context.
✔There's More: HERE
Some true crime podcast episodes have hit a 34% ad load. One minute of ads for every two minutes of show.” A new website has appeared, criticising the increasing amount of advertising in podcasts. The numbers are compelling - and the site suggests that some genres have already reached breaking point in the number of ads they carry. While the website is advertising for an ad-skipping podcast app, it poses a number of valid questions about whether the level of advertising in some podcasts - particularly when heard in the US - is too great. (Time will tell whether anyone takes notice).
Semafor reports that podcast producer Kaleidoscope is staffing up, and has hired three new senior staff. The company has also reportedly bought Christy Mirabal’s podcast marketing agency The Listening Party: Mirabal (who is also Chair of The Podcast Academy) will become Kaleidoscope’s Head of Marketing. The company launched in Mar 2022, and raised a further $5mn last year.
CBC Podcasts has posted an open call for pitches.
In a video posted on the BBC website, Katty Kay speaks with PJ Vogt about what a podcast really is these days. (Side note: PJ Vogt looks nothing like we thought he did).
Wondering why Netflix is signing up all those “podcasts”? Because, says Luminate, Netflix has seen its dominance begin to slip. Last year, it slipped to a four year low in terms of total time spent watching US original content.
Spotify is to open a new office in Istanbul, Türkiye. The release makes no mention of podcasts.
Awards - Voxtopica launched The Timbre Awards, “recognizing excellence in public-interest audio. The inaugural awards honor podcasts that prioritize accuracy, public understanding, and audience trust and effectively set a higher standard for civic and mission-driven storytelling.” You can enter now; it’s $100 to enter early; US-only. … The Society of Editors in the UK have launched the News Podcast Awards 2026, “the first UK awards dedicated exclusively to recognising excellence in news podcast journalism”. They’re free to enter; there doesn’t appear to be any requirement that they’re from the UK. … Joe Rogan says that he didn’t win a Golden Globes award for his podcast because he didn’t want to spend $500 on the entry fee. “You can’t tell me I didn’t win. I’ve been number one for six years in a row,” said Rogan, who didn’t win.
Monday, February 2, 2026
Semafor reports that podcast producer Kaleidoscope is staffing up, and has hired three new senior staff. The company has also reportedly bought Christy Mirabal’s podcast marketing agency The Listening Party: Mirabal (who is also Chair of The Podcast Academy) will become Kaleidoscope’s Head of Marketing. The company launched in Mar 2022, and raised a further $5mn last year.
CBC Podcasts has posted an open call for pitches.
In a video posted on the BBC website, Katty Kay speaks with PJ Vogt about what a podcast really is these days. (Side note: PJ Vogt looks nothing like we thought he did).
Wondering why Netflix is signing up all those “podcasts”? Because, says Luminate, Netflix has seen its dominance begin to slip. Last year, it slipped to a four year low in terms of total time spent watching US original content.
Spotify is to open a new office in Istanbul, Türkiye. The release makes no mention of podcasts.
Awards - Voxtopica launched The Timbre Awards, “recognizing excellence in public-interest audio. The inaugural awards honor podcasts that prioritize accuracy, public understanding, and audience trust and effectively set a higher standard for civic and mission-driven storytelling.” You can enter now; it’s $100 to enter early; US-only. … The Society of Editors in the UK have launched the News Podcast Awards 2026, “the first UK awards dedicated exclusively to recognising excellence in news podcast journalism”. They’re free to enter; there doesn’t appear to be any requirement that they’re from the UK. … Joe Rogan says that he didn’t win a Golden Globes award for his podcast because he didn’t want to spend $500 on the entry fee. “You can’t tell me I didn’t win. I’ve been number one for six years in a row,” said Rogan, who didn’t win.
✔There's More: HERE
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