The latest from our daily newsletter at podnews.net with Red
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YouTube has announced that it's launched a podcast chart.
We link to the top 100 today.
It's weekly, it's updated every Wednesday,
and unlike other podcast charts, the YouTube chart is ranked by
Watchtime.
YouTube, quote, generally defines a podcast as a playlist
designated as a podcast by the creator in the upload process.
Podcast company Bumper has discovered that the available data
goes back to March the 18th, 2025.
Joe Rogan has been number one every week.
It's a US chart only.
The company is expanding podcast charts to additional regions in
the future.
YouTube has also quietly updated the YouTube podcast's homepage
in the US to be editorially curated.
It highlights podcasts as square podcast artwork and editorially
curates them into different rails like award-winning or music-minded
or in conversation with.
Viewers in other countries get the older algorithmic page that
contains video thumbnails, including many things that aren't
really podcasts.
We've got two screenshots for you to compare today, and that
change appears to be only in place in the US.
One of the concerns for our industry, highlighted in the pod
news report card this year,
was the YouTube podcast's homepage with comments that the
company needs to invest in editorial curation to be taken more
seriously.
So that's something we've achieved.
Spotify said it would communicate more about its plans for its
YouTube-like play counts later today.
We don't know what the company will say, though.
Some users are seeing play counts in the app already.
Apple Podcasts is speaking in a podcast conference for the first
time ever at The Podcast Show 2025.
Inside, Apple Podcasts explores some of its latest features,
plus how creators can grow their audience and build a business
on the platform.
We'll be doubtless a well-attended session.
The event has published its final program.
We'll link to that today.
Next year, the event will be on the 20th to the 21st of May, 2026,
in the same venue.
Fresh Air, a UK-based podcast agency for brands, is becoming
part of the Inflective Group.
The company will continue to operate independently.
A number of podcast hosting companies have been certified for
version 2.2 of the IAB Podcast Measurement Guidelines.
AdsWiz, PRX, and Simplecast all recertified yesterday.
Sweetfish Media has released research on video podcasts.
The B2B video podcast company says that only 17% of current
podcasts record video.
Only one branded podcast in the top 150 shows has more than half
a million subscribers.
BBC Sounds, the BBC's proprietary radio and podcast app,
reported an increase of plays of on-demand audio in quarter one,
up from 253 million to 261 million.
The BBC also reports 225 million podcast downloads in the
quarter, up from 214 million last quarter.
The BBC was due to close BBC Sounds to global users this quarter,
but then postponed the plan.
And in the Pod News Weekly review this week, we chat with Acast
about the company's new talent-voiced ads,
and with Buzzsprout about their new tools to help you keep
podcasting.
And this podcast is sponsored by Red Circle.
Brands like Fiji Water, Mood, and Wonderful Pistachios.
Yes, the pistachios.
Trust them with podcast ads.
Good taste is contagious, they say.
You can get your free campaign plan with a link you'll find in
the show notes.
And that's the latest from our newsletter.
To read all the stories and subscribe for free, we're at podnews.net.
Thank you.