José Andrés Media signs with Lemonada Media

• Exclusive Lemonada Media has signed a distribution and monetisation partnership with José Andrés Media, the multimedia platform led by the world-renowned chef. Two shows join the chart-topping Lemonada Media lineup today.

• Podtrac has released its ranker for US podcasts, publishers and sales networks for June. There are no changes in the top 5 podcasts or the top 5 publishers (iHeartPodcasts are still #1 for podcasts); month on month, total downloads were flat for the top 20 publishers, and down 3% year-on-year. For sales networks, Acast (#2) closed the gap on Wondery (#1). The ranker measures participating publishers only.

• The BBC has reached agreement with Amazon to carry its podcasts on Amazon Music in the UK. The agreement was made two years and ten months after Amazon Music’s podcast service launched.

• iHeartPodcasts has reached a multi-year deal with Bradley Cooper’s Lea Pictures. Expect several new co-produced shows.

• Riverside is releasing more visible upload monitoring to its remote recording service.

• Further reading:

  • Branded podcasts have been a thing for a while - so much so, there are now emerging trends for branded podcasts to keep your eye on, says CoHost
  • Dynamic ad insertion company AdsWizz writes about, um, the power of dynamic ad insertion
  • The CEO of DAX in North America, Les Hollander, posts about navigating the perils and pitfalls of brand safety, and how DAX ensures that ads “are running in a safe place”.

The Tech Stuff - with RSS․com

• This weekend saw the 20th anniversary of the first podcast; but also the second anniversary of the first 'boostagram’, a message-with-money-attached sent by a listener to a podcast creator. Over the last 30 days, at least $10,167 has been sent to podcast creators this way.

• What bitrate and loudness are most podcasts running at? The Podcast de facto Standard website is analysing them. A surprising amount of 192kbps (and even 320kbps) podcasts.

• Podcast hosting company RSS.com has rolled out per-podcast and per-episode support for the podcast:location tag, which contains the place that the episode is about. It’s also added support for podcast:season, podcast:episode and podcast:license. (They sponsor this section; our Editor is an advisor).

• Want a test podcast with an episode that has a geolocation tag? PodClock, our podcast app testing feed now has one, as episode 13. Lucky for some.

• Careful about emojis in podcast titles: they might be making some car stereo systems crash. 🫤

Podcast News - with the Radioinfo Asia Podcast Awards

Is RSS the future for podcasting? Or has it had its day? In Voiceworks: Sound Business this week, Jim Salveson is joined for a debate with Pod Pod’s Adam Shepherd and Podnews’s James Cridland, both of whom have views. It’s just a shame that Adam’s views are wrong. ;)

The Athletic Football Show has a narrative podcast series in it today, called The Playcallers. The series that gets inside the dynamics of the N.F.L.’s youngest coaching family: the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay tree.

From the wines and spirits division of Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, engageMH: The Power of Mixing Podcast promises us fascinating stories and heritage of Moët Hennessy brands, gain insights from industry leaders, and you’ll learn how to craft delicious cocktails like a pro.

New show The Messi Effect is everything about legendary soccer player Lionel Messi, except the soccer. It’s a glamorous exploration of the magnetic allure and larger-than-life impact that Messi’s presence brings to the city of Miami and Major League Soccer: the glitz, glamour, and cultural phenomenon surrounding the iconic Argentinean maestro’s arrival in Miami to play for Inter Miami: the larger-than-life parties, star-studded events, and the fashion-forward lifestyle. It’s from The Shark Deck.

In 1989 Bob Bierenbaum moved to Las Vegas. Every single Jewish woman over 30 thought he was the perfect man: a Jewish plastic surgeon who spoke several languages and flew his own private plane. But when a group of his ex-girlfriends discover that his wife, Gail Katz, went missing and is presumed dead, they go from dating him to investigating him. The Girlfriends is a compelling true crime series produced by iHeartPodcasts and Novel in collaboration with domestic and sexual violence prevention charity NO MORE, and launches today.

Audio drama BOOM returns for a new season today. Produced by Stak, it’s set at the turn of the millennium in the offices of Enron, with dial-up modems, big hair, soaring stock prices (or not) - and an email from the future. We’re promised a timeless, mystifying story of greed and the human condition.