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 From our free daily newsletter, the latest from podnews.net with

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 Lean and Loaf.

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 The MrBallen podcast, Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories, is

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 hosted and executive produced by me, MrBallen.

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 Podcast Movement Evolutions at South by Southwest has unveiled

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 the first wave of speakers, including the acclaimed storyteller,

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 MrBallen.

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 There'll be live programming throughout the weekend, as well as

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 a morning keynote from YouTube.

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 Opting in for Spotify video? Well, you'll harm the measurability

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 of your podcast, according to Podscribe in an email to

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 subscribers today.

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 It harms your measurement whether your listeners choose video or

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 audio, since even if your listeners choose an audio version of a

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 show that's available in video,

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 they still get served the audio track of the video, direct from

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 Spotify, with no measurement from Podscribe or similar.

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 Podscribe describes a part workaround.

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 Well, Spotify breaking open RSS in this way also extends to some

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 podcast rankers,

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 like the Triton Digital Ranker, which is based on log file

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 analysis.

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 This led to Australian publisher Shameless Media coming out of

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 the Australian ranker altogether, as we reported last week.

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 Analytics tools like OP3, which is based on server redirects,

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 can also not measure any plays on Spotify if that episode opted

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 into video.

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 It means that you can't serve dynamic ads on those shows as well,

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 which means you may significantly lower your revenue.

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 A Sounds Profitable piece from April 2025 highlights the issues

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 and bluntly tells the podcast industry not to take part.

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 UK podcast production company Goalhanger has formed a strategic

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 partnership with the Churning Group to accelerate the company's

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 US expansion.

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 TCG is Goalhanger's first external investor.

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 The company has been entirely bootstrapped until now, although

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 co-founder Gary Lineker is a multimillionaire.

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 TCG has also invested in AudioChuck, Barstool Sports and Substack.

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 Earlier this week, we reported on the Edison Podcast Metrics US

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 Top 50 for Quarter 4 2025,

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 but is there anything to learn from their show descriptions,

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 titles or artwork that have helped them succeed?

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 OSHA has taken a look at the anatomy of the most successful US

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 podcasts,

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 particularly show descriptions of around 500 characters for all

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 of them,

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 with the possible exception of Joe Rogan, who still hasn't quite

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 got the hang of those.

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 Fresh from closing a funding round, Truefans has launched its

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 new podcast hosting platform,

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 offering more accurate analytics and a new model for charging

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 podcast creators based on total plays.

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 You can host unlimited podcasts and customise your own portal

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 pages with blog posts, events and more.

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 Triton Digital released the Canada Podcast Ranker for December

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 2025.

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 CBC and Radio Canada is still number one.

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 Audioboom at number two and the BBC is at number three.

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 Front Burner remains the number one show.

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 The winners of the Political Podcast Awards were announced in

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 London.

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 The Persephonica show, Political Currency, hosted by former UK

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 Chancellor George Osborne

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 and former Shadow UK Chancellor Ed Balls, was crowned Podcast of

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 the Year.

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 Last year's winner, the rest is Politics, wasn't awarded at all

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 this time round.

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 Meanwhile, the British Podcast Awards have announced that

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 entries are open.

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 There are two new categories, Food and Drink and The Amplifier,

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 which recognises podcasts with exceptional reach, influence and

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 cultural impact,

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 open to 300,000 plus downloads per episode.

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 We'll not be entering that one then.

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 The first entry deadline is April the 30th.

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 And Air, the Association of Independence in Radio,

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 has announced the results of its 2026 Board of Directors

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 elections.

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 Among the podcast names you'll recognise are

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 Julie Shapiro, Twila Dang and Joni Deutsch.

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 Now, some people are so invisible,

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 even their hosts can't find them in Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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 And yet, most listeners discover new shows by typing just one

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 keyword.

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 OSHA's new Podcast Search Optimisation Tool helps turn invisible

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 podcasts into visible ones

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 and gets you in front of new listeners.

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 You can try it for free for seven days and get $20 off any plan

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 with the code

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 more visible on OSHA.co.

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 That's more visible, all one word, on OSHA, A-U-S-H-A dot C-O.

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 Because if people can't find you, they definitely can't binge

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 you.

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 And in podcast news, Real Game with Cheyenne Woods has just

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 launched.

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 Yes, she's the niece of Tiger Woods.

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 And her new podcast is a bold new sports and mental performance

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 series.

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 Season one features conversations with the likes of NFL Hall of

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 Famer Brian Erlacher,

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 LBGA Tour winner Sandra Gall,

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 and retired New York Yankees centrefielder Aaron Hicks.

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 And it's one of which I've probably pronounced incorrectly.

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 And did you know that today is National Puzzle Day in the US?

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 In celebration, New York Times bestselling author AJ Jacobs,

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 alongside Chief Puzzle Officer Greg Plisker,

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 are hosting a special live stream for Hello Puzzlers,

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 packed with brand new themed puzzles just for the event.

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 They're joined by guests too.

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 You can tune in today at 7pm Eastern on YouTube

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 or find Hello Puzzlers wherever you get your podcast.

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 And this podcast is sponsored by Lean and Loaf.

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 Never edit podcast video again.

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 Let Lean and Loaf do it.

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 Trusted by iHeart, Netflix, HBO,

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 and the top podcast personalities in the world.

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 See what Lean and Loaf can do for you.

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 There's a link you'll find in our show notes.

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 And that's the latest from our newsletter.

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 To read all the stories and subscribe for free,

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 we're at podnews.net.

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 Thank you.

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 Thank you.