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MAR 28, 2025

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After criticism from the UK podcast industry, the BBC has said it won’t press ahead with ads in podcasts in the UK, saying that it has “decided to rule out placing adverts around BBC licence-fee funded programmes on third-party podcast platforms in the UK.” The announcement is expected to be confirmed in the BBC Annual Plan next week. Independent podcasters had called the idea “disastrous”.
- The BBC will still take some advertising in UK podcasts though; Podnews reported last week on a new BBC podcast which will contain ads inside the UK, but is not produced by the public service. The BBC is funded by advertising outside the UK.
Exclusive: Frequency Ads has launched a new Premium Publisher Network for host-read ads. Partnering with DAX US, the service aims to make host-read ads as easy to buy as programmatic ads.
Popular podcast app Pocket Casts is rolling out “smart folders” next week, which automatically groups shows together. You’ll see them in beta versions of the app now.
- “Popular podcast app”? Find out quite how popular Pocket Casts is - next week, in the Podnews Report Card; Apr 2 9.00am on the Keynote Stage at Evolutions.

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Image: James Cridland

5 MIN

MAR 27, 2025

Spotify Partner Program expands into Europe

Spotify’s monetisation model for creators, the Spotify Partner Program is to expand to a further nine new countries, eight in Europe. From Apr 29, eligible audio and video creators in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and New Zealand can enroll.
- This means more money for existing partners, too: we’re told that eligible creators earn based on how much Spotify Premium members stream their video content in the markets where the Spotify Partner Program is available; so a US creator will now earn from viewers in these additional countries too. By country population, this grows the total potential audience by 43% (but not all content is equally popular in different countries).
YouTube’s Head of Podcasts, Kai Chuck has left the company after a reorganisation. A YouTube spokesperson told TubeFilter: “To better serve podcasters on YouTube, we’re bringing the Podcast Partnerships team together with the News and Civics Partnerships teams. We’re grateful to Kai Chuk for all his contributions over the years.” The News and Civics Partnerships teams are led by Tim Katz, who wrote a blog post about YouTube Podcasts last month.
Steven Bartlett’s Flight Studio, which launched last April, is readying a video podcast hosting company, called Flightcast. The developer, who goes under the name Rox Codes, is looking for beta testers on LinkedIn. Notably, it claims to offer direct video upload to Spotify, which is something, as far as we’re aware, unavailable in any other third-party host.

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Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, The $100 MBA, Cloud10, Sounds Profitable, The Podglomerate, SALT, Podscribe, Cohost, Simplecast, Resound, audioBoom, Steve Lack: Audio, Audiohook, RedCircle, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, Disctopia, Podpage websites, Libsyn, Acast, Knucklehead Media Group, We Edit Podcasts, Evergreen Podcasts

Silver supporters: Audacia Audio, Bumper, Goalhanger, PodLabs - Podcast Experimentatio, Magellan AI, Ausha, Huberman Lab, Ask Ralph Christian Finance, SoundStack, Podium , PlayPodcast, Tink Media, Deepcast Creator, Jonekiri, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Gilded Audio, Compliance Podcast Network, POW PR, Gumball, Frequency, Storyboard, Truefans, The Podcast Haven, Voxtopica, The Roost, Red Seat Ventures, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Heartcast Media50, Castos, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Rhapsody Voices, Jam Street Media, Rephonic, Optimal Living Daily, Headliner, Oxford Road, Podcast Taxi, Double Elvis Productions, Diversion Podcasts, Blubrry, Wondery, matchmaker.fm, Transistor, Lemonada Media, Ossa Collective, Zvook, Podcast Partnership, Hear.Here.Singapore, Content10x, StreamGuys, Ad Results Media, Cleanfeed, She Podcasts, School of Podcasting, Lower Street, Sonix, Adopter Media, Podigy, Podcast Movement, Revolver Podcasts, Signal Hill Insights, Edison Research

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Image: James Cridland

4 MIN

MAR 26, 2025

Japan: YouTube is #1 for podcasts

YouTube is the #1 podcast platform in Japan, according to a new report from Otonal and the Asahi Shimbun Company. A new high of 17.2% of Japanese adults aged 15-69 listen at least once a month; that figure rising to 34% for 15-19 year-olds.
- Audio in Japan has always seen lower consumption than in other countries. The 17.2% monthly listeners number compares with 55% in the US.
- Last week was the 100th anniversary of the birth of radio in Japan. Podnews’s Editor, James Cridland, will be on Tokyo radio station J-WAVE on Friday morning to talk about podcasting and radio’s future.
Megyn Kelly is to launch her own podcast network. The MK Media network has already signed a number of journalists.
Podcast hosting company RSS.com has added automatic Apple Podcasts submission. The feature from Apple, which was launched in Feb, was driven in part by comments in the Podnews Report Card, and makes it easier for new users to get into Apple Podcasts without registering as a user. (The new Report Card is published next week, in a keynote at Evolutions).
- The company is also showing off its reviews and metrics in a new page.

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Tomorrow is your last chance for Evolutions Sale! — The can't miss podcast industry event of the spring is NEXT WEEK in Chicago, and our last discount sale is going on now...but ends TOMORROW! Book your passes to help shape the future of the industry!
Listen to "Leaving The Island" from Audiation — This new 3-part series explores the first federally-funded resettlement of an entire community due to climate change. A model for the future, or a cautionary tale? Listen and decide for yourself.

Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, The $100 MBA, The Podglomerate, Cloud10, Sounds Profitable, Audiohook, RedCircle, Steve Lack: Audio, Podscribe, Resound, Cohost, SALT, Simplecast, audioBoom, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, Libsyn, Podpage websites, Knucklehead Media Group, Evergreen Podcasts, Disctopia, We Edit Podcasts, Acast

Silver supporters: Audacia Audio, Bumper, Goalhanger, PodLabs - Podcast Experimentatio, Magellan AI, PlayPodcast, Podium , Huberman Lab, Ask Ralph Christian Finance, Voxtopica, The Podcast Haven, Tink Media, Gumball, Ausha, Jonekiri, Compliance Podcast Network, Deepcast Creator, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Gilded Audio, SoundStack, POW PR, Truefans, Red Seat Ventures, Frequency, Storyboard, The Roost, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Wondery, Lemonada Media, Transistor, Blubrry, Diversion Podcasts, Podcast Taxi, Zvook, Oxford Road, Jam Street Media, matchmaker.fm, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Rhapsody Voices, Castos, Ossa Collective, Heartcast Media50, Optimal Living Daily, Double Elvis Productions, Headliner, Rephonic, Ad Results Media, Podcast Partnership, Content10x, Hear.Here.Singapore, StreamGuys, She Podcasts, Cleanfeed, Adopter Media, Podcast Movement, School of Podcasting, Revolver Podcasts, Sonix, Lower Street, Podigy, Edison Research, Signal Hill Insights

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Image: James Cridland

3 MIN

MAR 25, 2025

YouTube could let you swap ads in videos

YouTube could be switching on dynamic ad insertion, according to a report by Semafor. The report says YouTube “would allow host-read ads to be dynamically inserted and swapped out within individual YouTube videos”, as is already the case for audio podcasts using open RSS. YouTube hasn’t commented.
- Semafor suggest that Spotify offers this product. It doesn’t; videos on Spotify do not have dynamic ad insertion, and uploading a video episode replaces any audio episode.
427,000 podcasts from members of The Podcast Standards Project now use additional Podcasting 2.0 features, according to a new update. In a blog post, the group encourages co-operation between podcast hosting companies and podcast apps. The post is the first since August last year; it acknowledges the difficulty of making progress, and asks for “killer features” to help move the project forward.
Generative audio AI company ai|coustics has raised €5mn (US$5.4mn) in funding. The company is aiming to “bring its AI-powered studio-quality sound to every platform and device”.

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Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, The $100 MBA, Sounds Profitable, The Podglomerate, Cloud10, Cohost, Steve Lack: Audio, audioBoom, SALT, Audiohook, RedCircle, Resound, Podscribe, Simplecast, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, Acast, Libsyn, Knucklehead Media Group, Disctopia, Evergreen Podcasts, We Edit Podcasts, Podpage websites

Silver supporters: Audacia Audio, Bumper, Goalhanger, PodLabs - Podcast Experimentatio, Magellan AI, Ask Ralph Christian Finance, POW PR, Gilded Audio, Voxtopica, Huberman Lab, Ausha, Tink Media, PlayPodcast, Truefans, Deepcast Creator, Jonekiri, Red Seat Ventures, Storyboard, Compliance Podcast Network, The Roost, Podium , Frequency, SoundStack, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, The Podcast Haven, Gumball, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Jam Street Media, Lemonada Media, Optimal Living Daily, Castos, Oxford Road, Transistor, Podcast Taxi, Rephonic, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Blubrry, Wondery, Ossa Collective, matchmaker.fm, Heartcast Media50, Headliner, Diversion Podcasts, Double Elvis Productions, Rhapsody Voices, Zvook, Hear.Here.Singapore, Content10x, Podcast Partnership, StreamGuys, Ad Results Media, Cleanfeed, She Podcasts, School of Podcasting, Podigy, Adopter Media, Podcast Movement, Sonix, Lower Street, Revolver Podcasts, Signal Hill Insights, Edison Research

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Image: Ashim D’Silva

3 MIN

MAR 24, 2025

Gen Z leans towards video

Exclusive: New data from The State of Video Podcasting 2025 by Coleman Insights and Amplifi Media, to be unveiled next week at Evolutions (Thu Apr 3, 9-9.30), confirms a major shift in podcast consumption: only 10% of Gen Z podcast consumers never consume video podcasts.
- It’s not all about video, though - the study also shows 41% of Gen Z podcast consumers only or mostly consume audio podcasts. The whole sample is slightly higher at 46%. The data is from a survey of 1,000 US podcast consumers, including 307 aged 15-29.
- “But, didn’t you highlight data in Podnews showing the opposite a few weeks ago?” Yes, we did. Conducted very differently, that one showed a high level of audio drama fans, which is a clue as to the difference in results: video podcasts of audio drama isn’t really a thing (well, it is, but it’s called Netflix). And... what is a podcast anyway?
Exclusive: What are the 100 best podcasts of all time? Left of Dial Media wants to find out, and launches the 2025 Essential Listening Poll today, with the aim of producing a definitive list from a diverse list of participants, including members of The Podcast Academy and others. You can find out how to get involved on their website.
Based in Vancouver and LA, the women-led boutique network Podcast Nation now represents over three dozen shows, the company says. Today, we’ve a look at the co-founders behind the network, the show that kicked off the company, how they grew, and how they’re considering YouTube in the future.

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Listen to "Leaving The Island" from Audiation — This new 3-part series explores the first federally-funded resettlement of an entire community due to climate change. A model for the future, or a cautionary tale? Listen and decide for yourself.

Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, The $100 MBA, The Podglomerate, Cloud10, Sounds Profitable, SALT, Cohost, Podscribe, Steve Lack: Audio, RedCircle, Resound, Audiohook, Simplecast, audioBoom, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, We Edit Podcasts, Podpage websites, Disctopia, Acast, Evergreen Podcasts, Libsyn, Knucklehead Media Group

Silver supporters: Audacia Audio, Bumper, Goalhanger, PodLabs - Podcast Experimentatio, Magellan AI, Tink Media, Podium , Deepcast Creator, Ausha, The Podcast Haven, Jonekiri, Gumball, Frequency, Gilded Audio, SoundStack, The Roost, Compliance Podcast Network, Truefans, Ask Ralph Christian Finance, Storyboard, Red Seat Ventures, PlayPodcast, POW PR, Voxtopica, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Huberman Lab, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Zvook, Lemonada Media, Blubrry, Optimal Living Daily, Headliner, Podcast Taxi, Heartcast Media50, Rhapsody Voices, Castos, Double Elvis Productions, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Rephonic, Transistor, matchmaker.fm, Oxford Road, Jam Street Media, Ossa Collective, Diversion Podcasts, Wondery, Hear.Here.Singapore, StreamGuys, Podcast Partnership, Ad Results Media, Content10x, Cleanfeed, She Podcasts, Podigy, Sonix, Podcast Movement, Revolver Podcasts, Adopter Media, Lower Street, School of Podcasting, Signal Hill Insights, Edison Research

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5 MIN

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