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November 21, 2024:
November 19, 2024:
November 15, 2024:
    Acast has tweaked its free podcast hosting plan. It used to offer unlimited episodes; it now offers up to five; and there are adjustments to website and embed player customisation options. “We're making these changes to ensure we can continue providing reliable, high-quality hosting services for the long term,” said an Acast spokesperson. “Like many platforms, we've found that a balanced approach between free and premium features helps us invest in better infrastructure and support.”
November 14, 2024:
November 7, 2024:
November 6, 2024:
    Acast released its Q3/24 financial report. Sales grew by 12% year-on-year to US$45.6mn, including North America growing at 29%; Europe as a whole saw just a 3% growth, and comments from Ross Adams seem to suggest Acast UK is finding it especially tough. The company remains on track for “positive EBITDA” for the year, though made a loss of US $0.6mn in the quarter.
October 31, 2024:
October 30, 2024:
October 24, 2024:
    Earlier this week, we highlighted Nielsen’s recent release of UK podcast consumption data. Adam Bowie takes a look, concluding that the 42% weekly reach figure is significantly higher than all other surveys. Another data point not in the press release: 71% say they normally stream episodes directly, against 26% who say they download episodes.
October 23, 2024:
October 22, 2024:
    Research from Nielsen in the UK claims podcast listening is twice as popular as other data from RAJAR, UK regulator Ofcom, and Edison Research - suggesting 42% of people aged 18+ are listening to podcasts every week: and that podcast consumption in the country has “grown by 43%” over the last six months - growth which is not reflected in other data. Queries made by Podnews to Nielsen have only been answered by Acast, the company that commissioned the information for its sales team.
October 21, 2024:
October 11, 2024:
    Nicky Byrne HQ - yes, Westlife's Nicky Byrne - is new this week with Acast. Nicky kicks off his podcast with an open and honest conversation with his former Westlife bandmate, Brian McFadden and they discuss Brian's decision to leave the band.
October 10, 2024:
October 4, 2024:
    Boj & Kate Have A Lot On Their Plate is a brand new podcast from UK celebrity Kate Lawler and her husband, Boj - and combines food, family life and at times, full-on chaos. It launched yesterday, debuting high in Apple Podcasts; it's produced by Podmasters and is with Acast.
October 2, 2024:
    The Mind Full Podcast is back for a new season with Acast - a show from comedian, author, and broadcaster Dermot Whelan. In each episode, Dermot introduces a key topic, which is then explored in depth with a well-known personality sharing their unique perspective and experiences.
September 30, 2024:
September 27, 2024:
September 23, 2024:
September 12, 2024:
September 11, 2024:
    Podcast platform Podspace has hired three industry veterans in Sweden and Finland, eyeing expansion. An original co-founder of Acast and former Nordic CEO of Spotify, Öjje Holt, is Director of Growth; Johan Leijonhufvud is Senior Client Manager and Eeva Ronkainen is the company’s new Country Manager for Finland: both worked for Spotify.
September 10, 2024:
September 9, 2024:
    Longevity Junky is new today, launching with the Acast Accelerator Program. Longevity - reducing your biological age, extending lifespan and enhancing overall well-being - is more relevant than ever; and so is the need for more credible, science-backed information. It launches today, hosted by Dr. Buck Joffrey and Nikki Leigh.
September 6, 2024:
August 29, 2024:
    Edison Research published the top 25 podcasts in the UK for Q2/24. It was Goalhanger’s time to shine - The Rest is Politics remained at #4, with TRI Football and TRI History both gaining in the charts, and TRI Entertainment a new entry at #17. It’s also the first time that a BBC podcast has made it into the top 10 (in this General Election period, Newscast made it to #9). Acast and Megaphone both host 8 of the top 25; the BBC have five.
August 16, 2024:
August 8, 2024:
    Acast has just signed some of the biggest podcasts in Australia and the UK.
August 6, 2024:
August 5, 2024:
July 31, 2024:
    The Simpler Life? with James & William is new from Acast today, featuring Irish influencer James Kavanagh and his partner William Murray who have left the city lights of Dublin in search of a quieter place in the countryside - a house in Kilkenny, with space for growing vegetables and raise chickens.
July 26, 2024:
July 24, 2024:
July 22, 2024:
July 16, 2024:
July 10, 2024:
July 8, 2024:
July 3, 2024:
June 28, 2024:
June 20, 2024:
    Spend $1 on podcast advertising, and get back $4.90 in increased sales. So says media agency OMD and podcast company Acast, after a study in Sweden of more than $192mn of adspend. At 4.9%, podcast advertising gives the highest long-term return on ad spend (ROAS) of any media tested, including ads on social media and radio, according to the study with OMD's analytics division Annalect.
June 12, 2024:
June 10, 2024:
    Podtrac released its rankers for May. After being #1 global publisher in March, Acast is now absent from the global publisher list altogether; it’s fifth in the list of US publishers. Total RSS traffic was down 3% month-on-month, while YouTube views were up 11%.
June 6, 2024:
May 24, 2024:
    At The Podcast Show in a keynote session with Head of Audio at Higher Ground, Dan Fierman, Acast CEO Ross Adams announced the release of Roundabout season two. Roundabout, presented by Nissan, highlights stories of road trips and rest stops, the right turns and the wrong turns with the right people. The first episode is out now.
May 23, 2024:
May 16, 2024:
May 14, 2024:
    In the Podcast Advertising Playbook this week, Acast's Greg Glenday is interviewed about what a podcast is these days, and how best to make your ads compelling.
May 13, 2024:
    Allowing the BBC to add advertisements on its podcasts in the UK would be “disastrous” for the industry, says an open letter from twenty companies, including podcast production firms. BBC podcasts are commercial-free in the UK; elsewhere, they are sold by Acast.
May 8, 2024:
    Globally, iHeart is now listed in the global ranker, and, over 50% bigger than Acast, it debuts at #1. Acast was #1 global podcast publisher last time.
May 7, 2024:
April 26, 2024:
    The Podnews Weekly Review this week includes an interview with Ross Adams on Acast's tenth birthday; and a chat with Kathryn Musilek from Shark Party Media on podcast guesting.
April 25, 2024:
    Acast is celebrating its tenth birthday today, with a number of video messages from podcasters, and events across the world. We’ve a few of the videos on our website. The company was recently highlighted by Podtrac as the world’s largest podcast company.
April 23, 2024:
    Exhibit A is new this week from Abby Clancy, who's married to Peter Crouch, who both own Marvellous Media, a new podcast network, which is to launch up to ten new shows this year, which is working with Acast, who will be monetising both the audio and the video output across all platforms, where they can reach Abbey and Pete's 1.5mn followers.
April 22, 2024:
    Spotify is the largest global digital audio advertising company, with ad-supported revenue in Q4/23 of €501mn ($533mn), compared with SiriusXM $479mn; iHeart digital audio revenue $317mn; Cumulus digital revenue $221mn; Audacy digital revenue $69.1mn; Acast $45mn. All these other companies are IAB members.
April 19, 2024:
    Behold! A bus! In Dublin, Ireland! It’s for Unapologetic and it’s put there by Acast. (The ad, not the bus. The bus was probably there already.)
April 18, 2024:
April 12, 2024:
April 10, 2024:
    Steven Barlett has launched Flight Studio, a podcast media and technology company. Flight Studio will be led and co-founded by Georgie Holt, Acast’s former Regional Managing Director for the Americas, and former US Head of Sales and Brand Partnerships, Christiana Brenton (both pictured above). The company launches with a number of new video podcasts, which will be translated into multiple languages, and will also represent Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO; Flight Studio will have global production studios based in London, Manchester, New York, Boston and Los Angeles. Diary of a CEO is the #2 show in the UK; Barlett is also one of the investors in the UK version of Shark Tank, Dragon’s Den.
April 9, 2024:
    Podtrac released its rankers for March - including, for the first time, Acast. Acast is the #1 publisher globally, with 405mn downloads in March. It also came in at #3 publisher in the US. “In today’s newest ranker, we’re seen not just as a global leader, but also as a top contender in the highly valuable US market,” said Chief Business Officer at Acast, Greg Glenday.
March 27, 2024:
March 25, 2024:
    When the grounds of one of the Catholic Church's Magdalene Laundries in Ireland was sold to developers in 1993, unmarked graves containing 155 bodies were found. The discovery led to stories of abuse by those in the convent-run institutions, and a successful lobbying for a full investigation. The Magdalenes and I talks to women who were involved, and their fight for justice. It's new from Acast today.
March 21, 2024:
    The news has been heavily criticised by commercial competitors, who are solely reliant on ad revenue. News Media Association chief executive Owen Meredith said it would “wreak havoc on commercial players right across the media and advertising sector”, while Måns Ulvestam of Acast - which sells ads on BBC podcasts outside the UK - was quoted as saying the ads “will cannibalise every other podcast's revenue”.
March 12, 2024:
    The top shows in the UK for Q4/23 were announced by Edison Research. The data, from Edison Podcast Metrics UK, says that the BBC has no shows in the top 10; and there’s only one US show in the top 10, too. Acast hosts the most shows in the list.
March 5, 2024:
    Nordic Crimes is new today from Nils Bergman, the creator of Rättegångspodden, Sweden's largest commercial podcast - but this new series will be in English, looking at crimes across the five Nordic countries. From Acast, the first season will look at Finland's criminal history from the 1970s to the present day.
February 27, 2024:
February 26, 2024:
    Half-Arsed History has joined Acast, boasting six million listens. WME brokered the deal; it comes after Spotify included the show in its 2023 RADAR program. The show takes listeners on a journey through the ages, blending humour, insight and unforgettable tales from the past.
February 15, 2024:
February 14, 2024:
February 13, 2024:
    Acast is in “profit” for the first time, according to its Q4/23 financial results; the company made “positive adjusted EBITDA” of US $1.5mn in the quarter; though it posted an operational loss of $7.3mn. Sales grew by 18% last year.
February 12, 2024:
February 8, 2024:
February 2, 2024:
February 1, 2024:
January 31, 2024:
    Exclusive: Acast is blocking YouTube from ingesting Acast podcasts via YouTube’s RSS tool. An email from Acast’s support team seen by Podnews points out that YouTube requires all submitted podcasts to be ad-free; that creators will be unable to make money from listens on YouTube; and cites concerns that YouTube will divert listeners away from podcast platforms. “Acast has exclusive monetization rights to podcasts hosted with them,” it adds.
January 30, 2024:
January 25, 2024:
January 2, 2024:
December 29, 2023:
    In the Podnews Weekly Review this week, hear from 21 people across podcasting about their highlights of 2023, and predictions for 2024. More consolidation for podcast publishers, diversity in monetisation techniques, big-name retirements as podcasting reaches 20, and the benefit of multi-platform podcasting, it’s all in this episode: speakers include Acast’s Ross Adams, Vox Media’s Nayeema Raza, Skye Pillsbury from The Squeeze, Ausha’s Jennifer Han, and many more. Listen here.
December 27, 2023:
December 19, 2023:
December 15, 2023:
December 14, 2023:
    Stew Cornelius has joined Acast as an Account Director based in NYC. Stew has a broad background in media and has held roles at Turner Broadcasting, Hulu, and Twitter. Andrew Mongarella is a new Account Director with Acast in NYC. Andrew has spent the bulk of his career in digital audio sales with roles at SiriusXM and SoundCloud.
December 13, 2023:
December 11, 2023:
December 6, 2023:
    It’s been a year since Acast launched the company’s self-serve ad platform. Milly Botes, Sr. Director of Product, looks back at the last year in a blog post; 40% of advertisers have booked repeat campaigns, 15% of revenue come from host-read sponsorships, and it was the first form of advertising for 40% of podcasters on the platform.
November 29, 2023:
    Podnews has published Apple's top shows for 14 different countries, and analysed the results. From the 140 awarded shows, "true crime" and "culture" were the most popular categories. Megaphone hosts the most popular shows, with 15; Simplecast and Acast both host 13. The Huberman Lab was the only show to have made it to three country lists. You can also compare the lists from 2022.
November 27, 2023:
    Acast is adding dynamic ads targeted to listeners on Google Podcasts which closes next year, pointing them to this blog post helping them with other podcast apps to change to.
November 22, 2023:
November 16, 2023:
    Unapologetic with Andrew Fitzsimons & Erica-Cody is new this week from the Irish stars, working with the Acast Creator Network. Andrew Fitzsimons is usually found in the salons and beauty rooms of the Kardashians, Jennifer Lopez and the Jenners; and he'll be face-timing the latest gossip across the Atlantic to Erica-Cody each week.
November 14, 2023:
    Acast has signed with Proximic by Comscore, allowing cookie-free targeting across more than 100,000 podcasts. As the third-party cookie goes away, this tool allows the company to target using what's described as "privacy-friendly contextual signals".
November 9, 2023:
November 8, 2023:
October 31, 2023:
October 26, 2023:
October 24, 2023:
    Below, in our People News section, a senior executive from Libsyn's Julep has joined Acast.
October 18, 2023:
October 17, 2023:
October 16, 2023:
    The Times writes How to make big money from podcasts. We learn that Persephonica's Political Currency is recorded at Acast's offices in London; we also discover that Steve Coogan's CH Podcasts business, which makes an Audible-exclusive show, paid £1mn in dividends last year.
October 12, 2023:
October 11, 2023:
    Jen & Lottie do... Parenting, hosted by Irish duo Jennifer Zamparelli and Lottie Ryan, has signed with Acast. A new season starts today - Jennifer Dollard, Acast Creator Network Director, Ireland said: “We’re huge fans of Jen & Lottie, and not only are we now hosting the show, but we will work with them closely on advertising, sponsorship, growth, promotion and revenue. These things make Acast the best place for podcasters in Ireland.”
October 5, 2023:
October 4, 2023:
    TED has launched TED中文 worldwide: a Chinese version of the TED podcast. The company is working with Acast to host and monetise the show, which includes Mandarin Chinese speakers as well as thirty iconic TED talks dubbed into Chinese by professional voice talent.
September 29, 2023:
September 22, 2023:
September 19, 2023:
    First look: Acast has announced a partnership with Slip.Stream, offering all Acast podcasters access to more than 70,000 royalty-free music tracks for use in their content creation. Acast creators get free access for six months and a discount thereafter.
September 15, 2023:
September 13, 2023:
September 11, 2023:
    Acast announced a strategic partnership with German podcast producer Zebralution. Acast will host and distribute the company's shows, and programmatic advertising is now available through the Acast Marketplace.
September 8, 2023:
    The Podnews Weekly Review this week interviews the new Chief Business Officer of Acast, Greg Glenday; and the chart-topping music artist Ainsley Costello - who tells us how she's using, and earning from, podcasting. James is in an airport lounge. Sam isn't.
September 7, 2023:
    "Podcasts don't need ads", said Luminary in a criticised, and since-deleted, tweet when it launched. Today, Luminary has partnered with Acast to make six of its exclusive shows available wherever you get your podcasts - monetised by ads. The company will also use Acast+ Access to give access to its paid subscription content in any app: the company also uses Apple Podcasts's paid subscriptions.
September 6, 2023:
September 5, 2023:
September 4, 2023:
September 1, 2023:
August 30, 2023:
    Your Mama’s Kitchen is now available wherever you get your podcasts. The new podcast from Higher Ground, which launched earlier this month on Audible, is now available everywhere with a partnership with Acast. The show is hosted by Michele Norris, and is a podcast about cuisine and culture, ingredients and identities, and the meals and memories that make us who we are.
August 29, 2023:
August 28, 2023:
    In The Times, an article about The Rest Is Politics cohost Rory Stewart suggests he earns around £70,000 (US$88,000) a month from the podcast. The podcast was with Acast until July.
August 18, 2023:
August 17, 2023:
    Acast has announced that from September 1, it will no longer accept new campaigns that use Spotify's Ad Analytics. "Acast remains focused on fostering an open and transparent environment, working together with partners who share the same vision for the podcast industry's future." Acast said it will offer attribution from independent analytics company Podscribe for free to all advertisers, as well as work with a set of local companies in each region.
August 15, 2023:
August 10, 2023:
August 9, 2023:
August 8, 2023:
    First look: Acast has unveiled a new product called AdCollab, enabling advertisers to work with multiple podcasters for their host-read ads (which Acast calls sponsorships). The tool streamlines the process of buying host-read ads for both advertisers and creators.
August 4, 2023:
    Acast announced its Q2/23 financial results. Net sales grew by 22%, led by North American sales which were up 31% to SEK 110.7mn (US $84.5mn). Total listens increased by 4% to 1,294mn; the company's loss almost halved to SEK59.3mn ($5.57mn), and the company says it's on track to get to profit in 2024.
July 25, 2023:
July 18, 2023:
    Data: Podcast durations in France aren't changing, says new data shared by Acast (en Français). The data also shows that, for Acast France, Apple Podcasts has most downloads (38.9%), and drives the most amount of downloads per listener.
July 14, 2023:
July 13, 2023:
July 12, 2023:
    In Canada, Myles Sexton - a TV personality, style expert, and advocate for gender identity, sexuality and mental health, has joined the Acast Creator Network with Our Private Bits, presented with their fiancé, Tyler Austin. They will both share candid reflections on the obstacles they’ve faced and the invaluable lessons they’ve learned along the way.
July 10, 2023:
July 4, 2023:
June 29, 2023:
    97% of listeners say their perception of a brand improves or remains positive when it is advertised in a podcast, according to a new Spanish listener survey by Acast. Acast saw 6mn monthly listens to hosted content in Spain in May.
June 28, 2023:
June 27, 2023:
June 23, 2023:
June 21, 2023:
    Acast launched Acast+ Access, which gives any company with an existing paid subscription offering the ability to add exclusive podcast benefits.
June 20, 2023:
    Programmatic ads are vital for podcasting, says Acast’s Christiana Brenton in an interview with Steven Goldstein this week. Only 13% of Acast's current audio ads are transacted programmatically, however; she forecasts that this will approach 50% in the next few years.
June 15, 2023:
May 25, 2023:
May 24, 2023:
    BBC Sounds has announced a set of new shows, and that the BBC is to work with Spotify's Megaphone to "recommend relevant content to audiences on other podcast platforms in the UK". The deal means that Spotify's Megaphone will programmatically schedule trailers, for UK listeners, on BBC shows carried on third-party platforms. The BBC has confirmed to Podnews that this does not affect the BBC's deal with Acast for monetising their shows outside the UK.
May 23, 2023:
    Goalhanger Podcasts is to switch to Spotify's Megaphone and the Spotify Audience Network. The company is currently with Acast, and produces some of the largest shows in the UK including The Rest Is Politics. The companies will jointly announce their new relationship at The Podcast Show in London tomorrow.
May 18, 2023:
May 17, 2023:
    Ahead of The Podcast Show in London next week, The Guardian, The FT, The Economist, News UK and Tortoise have joined Acast's launch of Publishers in Podcasting, a consortium "dedicated to advancing the podcasting industry, promoting trusted audio journalism and encouraging healthy debate." The announcement also talks about developing standards.
May 16, 2023:
    The Made by Google podcast returned yesterday (switching hosts from Podigee to Acast). The announcement tells us to "subscribe on Google Podcasts (of course), Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts". The newest podcast platform made by Google is, of course, YouTube, but this podcast from Google hasn't been uploaded there.
May 15, 2023:
    The Podcast Show takes place next week in London, and the show has announced a number of new speakers. Included are Acast CEO Ross Adams; Will Pearson from iHeartPodcasts - focusing on ‘Debunking The Biggest Myths in Podcasting’ - and Ashley Flowers of true crime sensation Crime Junkie. Our Editor will be there, too. You can use PODNEWS for a discount code.
May 11, 2023:
    A correction to our coverage of Acast's Q1 financials yesterday: the announcement of a 15% staff reduction last year was, we're told, based on staffing levels in Q2, excluding Podchaser. By Q1/23, Acast staffing had reduced by 83 people, a 19% reduction. We're grateful for the correction.
May 10, 2023:
May 5, 2023:
    The Podnews Weekly Review this week talks to Nick Hilton about host-read ads - and what are Acast doing joining the Podcast Standards Project? We speak to Chris Quamme Rhoden. Also, all the good news you need for your weekend.
May 1, 2023:
    SoundOut, a sonic brand tracking company, has published The SoundOut Index 2023, containing a look at company sonic brands in the US. Hot Pockets has the most recognisable sonic logo; Netflix is at 12; YouTube at 64; Audible at 104; and Acast's "North Star" sonic brand is at #111.
April 27, 2023:
April 26, 2023:
April 25, 2023:
April 21, 2023:
April 14, 2023:
April 10, 2023:
    In the Netherlands, all thirteen Dutch regional public broadcasters have agreed to remove personally-targeted, cookie-based advertising from their websites and apps, in favour of contextual advertising. The companies join national broadcaster NPO, who did similar in 2020 - with a result of increased revenue. Contextual advertising is increasingly used in podcasting by companies like Acast and Soundstack.
April 7, 2023:
    The Podnews Weekly Review this week has interviews with Acast's Lizzy Pollott and the Birmingham Podcast Festival's Nina Robinson, as well as a look into the week's podcast news.
April 6, 2023:
April 5, 2023:
March 31, 2023:
    Acast has made five people redundant from one of its tech teams. Stacey Goers was one of those affected. "It is always very sad to have to say goodbye to talented colleagues and we wish them the best of luck," a spokesperson told us.
March 30, 2023:
March 29, 2023:
March 28, 2023:
March 22, 2023:
March 17, 2023:
    In the UK, it's Red Nose Day, helping raise money to make positive change in the UK and around the world. Acast has produced a podcast mashup series, merging some of the company's biggest UK podcasts together to help encourage donations.
March 15, 2023:
March 14, 2023:
March 10, 2023:
March 7, 2023:
    What is programmatic advertising? If you're secretly not entirely sure - relax, 61% of marketers in the US don't know either, says Acast. In a blog post, the company highlights a best-practice document it gives media buyers to help, and explains why bundling streaming and podcast ads together doesn't work too well.
March 6, 2023:
March 2, 2023:
February 21, 2023:
February 16, 2023:
February 13, 2023:
February 9, 2023:
    Canada's Jessi Cruickshank is launching her debut podcast today called Phone a Friend. The first show today features Dan Levy as guest - an on-air reunion for the former co-hosts of MTV's The Hills: The After Show. It's being distributed everywhere by Acast.
February 7, 2023:
January 31, 2023:
January 27, 2023:
January 26, 2023:
January 20, 2023:
January 13, 2023:
January 10, 2023:
    Later today, Apple Podcasts will announce the launch of Delegated Delivery (beta), allowing creators to publish Apple Podcasts Subscriptions content directly from their participating hosting provider dashboard. Blubrry, Libsyn, Triton Digital's Omny Studio and RSS·com are the first to offer the service: Acast, ART19, Buzzsprout and other providers will follow. Creators can still upload subscriber audio directly to Apple Podcasts Connect.
January 4, 2023:
December 23, 2022:
    Podchaser has rolled out a new privacy policy. It's a complete rewrite of the former policy; notably, adding "we may also share your personal information with other companies within the Acast group".
December 15, 2022:
December 14, 2022:
December 12, 2022:
    The winners of the Asian Podcast Awards were announced. Almost all are in English; and they are: Best podcast: 1920, within the YES 933 Radio Drama feed (Mediacorp, in Chinese / Omny Studio) … Best podcast host: Adulting with former children (Zodapop, SYRUP Media / Anchor) … Best narrative storytelling or fiction podcast: Creepy Twisted Asians (ZAG / Castos) … Best science, tech or business podcast: Inside China: Coronavirus Podcast, within the Inside China feed (South China Morning Post / Acast) … Best comedy, entertainment or lifestyle podcast: A Brief Case: true crime in Asia (Indie / Podbean) … Best arts, society or culture podcast: Miss Conduct (IVM Podcasts / Omny Studio)
December 9, 2022:
December 8, 2022:
December 7, 2022:
    RadioPublic Pro is to discontinue. For $12/month, the product offered enhanced podcast websites, an enhanced embedded player, and a tipping service. The free service RadioPublic Basic will continue; the company has been owned by Acast since Feb 2021.
December 6, 2022:
December 2, 2022:
November 30, 2022:
November 29, 2022:
    The Samsung Free podcast app will "soon be updated", according to a communication from Acast to its podcasters, to remove the cause of a significant increase in downloads from automatic plays. (See yesterday's Tech Stuff for more). In the meantime, Acast has demonetised listens coming from the Dalvik useragent "to protect our advertisers"; and notes that "under IAB guidelines, these listens are considered valid". (Also considered valid downloads: those podcast plays bought in games apps)
November 24, 2022:
November 18, 2022:
    Jacob Kensley joined Amazon Music last month as a Podcast Partner Specialist, and is the first dedicated hiring for podcast partnerships at Amazon Music in the EU. He joins from Acast and Apple.
November 15, 2022:
November 14, 2022:
November 11, 2022:

The last word in podcasting news: announcing the Podnews Weekly Review, with James Cridland and Sam Sethi. This week: a look at the financial reports from big podcast companies, and an interview with Vizzy co-founder Nic Ivanov. %%promo-end%%

November 9, 2022:
    Acast released its financial report for Q3/22. Revenue was SEK 321m ($29.8m), up 21% y-on-y, or 1.9% q-on-q. It claimed 1.3bn listens, with average revenue of SEK 0.24 per listen ($22 per thousand listens). It made a loss in the quarter of SEK65m ($6m), though improved its profit margin.
November 4, 2022:
November 2, 2022:
November 1, 2022:
October 27, 2022:
October 25, 2022:
October 24, 2022:
October 20, 2022:
    Good news, everypony! My Little Pony: The Podcast is finally here - narrated by Popstar Princess Popp Petals and her trusty producer Jazz Hooves. Hoof to heart, Acast are doing their part with Hasbro - friendship is magic, after all - and a new adventure waits for us every week until mid November. Be a true, true friend to the little ones in your life and get playing it right across Equestria. etc.
October 19, 2022:
    Podtrac has launched a new Podcast Sales Network Ranking. The initial ranking, for September, places Wondery at #1, with a US monthly audience of 25 million. Others in the ranking include Podcast One, and new to Podtrac's measurement, Acast and Libsyn's AdvertiseCast - we understand more sales networks are lined-up to be included.
October 13, 2022:
October 12, 2022:

**ged Married Annoyed](<cite>https://podnews.net/podcast/i6ve)'s</cite> Acast+ premium membership gets a highlighted billboard on the A186 in Benwell Grove.

October 6, 2022:
    Acast held a "Capital Markets Day". The fast-growing company described itself as "the Wordpress of podcasting": it offers 5 ads in each show, though just sells 28% of them (p50); and about half their biggest shows aren't monetised at all (p14), so plenty of room to grow. The company is achieving $22 CPM.
October 3, 2022:
    In the UK, October's Pod Bible magazine was released inside some copies of The Sunday Times, and is available to read online. It features interviews with cover star Brett Goldstein from Films To Be Buried With and Jolyon Rubenstein from The New Conspiracist. There’s also Helen Bauer picking her top 5 shows, and regular columns from Acast, Audible, Stak and Apple Podcasts. We like page 27.
September 29, 2022:
September 28, 2022:
September 27, 2022:
September 20, 2022:
September 16, 2022:
September 14, 2022:
September 6, 2022:
September 1, 2022:
August 30, 2022:
August 18, 2022:
August 16, 2022:
August 9, 2022:
August 8, 2022:
August 3, 2022:
August 2, 2022:
    Acast has released the company's Q2/22 financial report. The Swedish company now hosts 66,000 podcasts (a record growth last quarter); the number of listens in the quarter increased 41% year-on-year. The company lost $11m in the quarter, though now expects to make EBITDA profit in 2024, earlier than previously expected. "The heavy investment phase is now over", says CEO Ross Adams, noting that there has been a cooling of the advertising market globally.
July 27, 2022:
    Acast has teamed up with Wondery to host, monetize and distribute three shows, translated into Italian for the first time: Business Wars, Dr. Death, and almost inevitably, Bunga, Bunga the story of the former Italian prime minister (and would-be presidential candidate), Silvio Berlusconi.
July 25, 2022:
July 22, 2022:
July 21, 2022:
July 19, 2022:
    Following the acquisition of Podchaser by Acast, Acast's Ross Adams and Podchaser's Bradley Davis will be on the Podland podcast this Thursday. Meanwhile, Mathew Passy wonders if the acquisition enables Acast to "spam more podcasters", Matt Cundill wonders whether to keep information on Podchaser, and Blubrry's Todd Cochrane says he'll pull all his shows because of Acast's "spamming and poaching". Acast tell us the acquisition is "completely unrelated to our email marketing strategy"; and we would also note that Acast doesn't appear to have sent a cold email marketing campaign, to anyone, since mid-June. Perhaps they've heard us.
July 18, 2022:
    Acast is to acquire Podchaser, the "world’s most comprehensive and authoritative podcast database" in a deal worth $34m. Podchaser, which is expected to make a profit next year, will continue to operate as a separate brand: it contains data of more than 4.5m million podcasts, including advertising information. The integration will bring additional data to Acast's advertisers.
July 15, 2022:
July 14, 2022:
July 12, 2022:
July 11, 2022:
    After Sounds Profitable's The Creators reported that only 29% of podcast creators are female, we're proud that The Podnews Ranker for June shows 41% of our mentions over the past 90 days were of women; up month-on-month from 35%. The data says Spotify, Acast and iHeart are the most-covered companies.
July 8, 2022:
July 6, 2022:
June 30, 2022:
June 28, 2022:
    3ShotsOfTequila has joined Acast: started in 2016, it was previously a Spotify Exclusive, and the show is now available "wherever you get your podcasts".
June 24, 2022:
June 23, 2022:
June 22, 2022:
June 21, 2022:
June 15, 2022:
    Transistor's Justin Jackson has reported Acast to Canadian law enforcement and to Acast's email service provider, after the company targeted Transistor customers. Acast's email provider says that Acast's use is against its terms of service, and Jackson - who has previously worked for an email company - considers the emails are illegal under Canadian law. The company has recently targeted customers from Podbean, Captivate, Blubrry and others, using competitor's logos, and sending multiple follow-up messages to each podcaster. A spokesperson for Acast tells Podnews that the emails are "part of our continuing marketing strategy, which we don't currently plan to change".
June 14, 2022:
June 10, 2022:
June 9, 2022:
June 8, 2022:
    In Podjobs today, Acast is hiring for a Managing Director for Acast UK and Ireland.
June 3, 2022:
May 31, 2022:
May 26, 2022:
    At The Podcast Show, podcast equipment manufacturer Focusrite teased an upcoming partnership with Acast. "The companies will collaborate on forthcoming projects designed to empower and better serve their mutual podcaster audiences". We're promised more details next month.
May 25, 2022:
    One of the biggest podcasts in the world, WTF with Marc Maron has signed with Acast. The thirteen-year-old show claims 55 million listens per year, primarily in North America, and is the 25th most popular show in the US according to Edison Podcast Metrics. It will also use Acast+, the company's paid subscriptions product. It was with SXM Media, and hosted by Omny Studio.
May 19, 2022:
May 16, 2022:
May 12, 2022:
    In the UK, The Modern Mann has switched from Acast to Auddy. "We’re a monthly magazine show: we don’t really fit into cookie-cutter business plans," says Olly Mann who fronts the show. The podcast has been running since 2015, with incredible true stories and the latest emerging trends.
May 11, 2022:
May 10, 2022:
    An audiobook startup launched last year by three founders of Acast, Sesamy is to move into podcasts; allowing listeners to buy individual podcasts without a monthly subscription.
May 6, 2022:
May 5, 2022:
May 2, 2022:
    Acast was the #2 company mentioned in Podnews coverage according to our latest ranker - a distant second from Spotify, which got the most mentions in our coverage over the last 90 days - helped by sponsorship of a feature last month. The ranker, which covers the people and companies we've mentioned most in the past three months, still has a UFC commentator at #1. Podnews achieved a 36% female gender split for people mentions in the past 90 days, remaining consistent with the previous period.
April 29, 2022:
    From Acast: Kasich & Klepper features two rather different people - John Kasich, former Governor of Ohio and 2016 Republican presidential candidate; and Jordan Klepper, a liberal comedian best known for his viral videos interviewing MAGA supporters for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. In this weekly talk show podcast, the pair will come together to scream their differing political opinions at each other for an hour… just kidding. They’ll dive into conversations about parenting, leadership, pop culture, mental health, and more — all with a good sense of humor and a whole lot of jokes at each other’s expense.
April 28, 2022:
    From Acast: Alexis Fernandez asks - Do You F*****g Mind? All things self growth, self love, relationship and learning to give less of a f**k will be discussed here, with some neuroscience thrown in for good measure - learn mindset hacks to live the most badass life.
April 27, 2022:
    From Acast: Ever felt like you should be better at feminism? The Guilty Feminist features comedian Deborah Frances-White and her guests for this comedy podcast, recorded in front of a live audience. Each week they discuss our noble goals as 21st century feminists and the hypocrisies and insecurities that undermine them.
April 26, 2022:
    From Acast: The Doctor’s Kitchen Podcast is the show about food, medicine, lifestyle and how to improve your health today. Join Dr Rupy and his expert guests as they explore the multiple ways in which diet and lifestyle can help you achieve your healthiest and most fulfilling life.
April 25, 2022:
    From Acast: Think you might be in a cult? Want to know the signs? Join Sarah Edmondson and Anthony “Nippy” Ames to talk about things that are... A Little Bit Culty. Or in their case: a whole bunch of culty.
April 22, 2022:
    From Acast: Matthew Diemer, the host of The Decrypt Daily: Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News Podcast will know what bc1qnhgh6zzynpm33u8pgea8y4cs6rfc3mgw44yc3z is - it's our Bitcoin address, of course. Send us five! Matthew takes you through breaking news and crypto market updates every day on this show.
April 21, 2022:
    From Acast: Anna Faris Is Unqualified promises "relationship advice from completely unqualified Hollywood types". David Duchovny was a recent guest, talking about the movie they recently finished together, being intimidated by raw talent, his love of music, the challenges of writing, dealbreakers, what defines a good kiss, words to live by and much more.
April 20, 2022:
April 19, 2022:
    From Acast: The last episode of Unraveled drops tomorrow, after five seasons; it's an investigation into the most elusive criminal to ever strike - the “one and done killer.” These mysterious offenders commit one brutal murder and disappear back into society, which makes them nearly impossible to catch. But could that be changing?
April 18, 2022:
    From Acast: Naked Beauty has recently been featured on the Today show and Daytime; it talks about beauty trends, selfcare journeys, skincare, wellness tips and the products we love, hosted by Brooke DeVard Ozaydinli.
April 15, 2022:
    Expect more marketing email from Acast, but with changes for compliance. The company has responded to our Tuesday story about their 'spam' marketing emails. We're told: "Recent campaigns we sent out erroneously featured incomplete contact information as well as outdated language from past email templates. Some emails mention email marketing providers (like BEE and Mailup Inc.) that Acast is no longer working with. Our staff have identified the source of the issue in our email templates, and have updated any remaining live campaigns so that they feature accurate, up-to-date information on (a) Acast’s physical address and (b) the providers we work with. We regret the errors and regret that our email communications were disbursed before we made the fixes. We will continue to go through checks with our legal team to ensure our external marketing communications are compliant and accurate."
April 14, 2022:
April 13, 2022:
April 12, 2022:
April 11, 2022:
April 8, 2022:
April 7, 2022:
April 6, 2022:
    Acast published its annual report. The company saw net ad sales grow by 73%; while it says that operations in the UK and Sweden became profitable, the company overall lost SEK 300m (US $31m), almost double the loss of last year.
April 5, 2022:
April 4, 2022:
April 1, 2022:
March 18, 2022:
March 17, 2022:
    The Podcast Show - the new international festival for podcasting in London this May - has announced its first 100 speakers, including The Receipts, Jonathan Wall (BBC Sounds), Miranda Sawyer (The Observer), Jane Garvey & Fi Glover (Fortunately with Fi & Jane), Nihal Arthanayake (BBC Radio 5 Live), Glenn Miller (CAA), Marvyn Harrison (BELOVD Agency), Jen Sargent (Wondery), Fearne Cotton, Ross Adams (Acast), Julia White (Twitter), Alice Levine, Edith Bowman and Munroe Bergdorf ... and they're just getting going! Get ready for another 250 names being announced in the coming weeks. You can book your day pass from £55 - use promo code PODNEWS for 20% off a limited number of passes. Podnews is a media partner (and we'll be there).
March 14, 2022:
    Another of the BBC's biggest podcasts is to end. The 21-year-old film review from Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode will have its last show on BBC Radio 5 Live on Apr 1, but "will be back", according to the show, which was very clear to point out that it was ending "on 5 Live". Footballer Peter Crouch is taking his 5 Live show to Acast.
March 11, 2022:
March 9, 2022:
March 8, 2022:
    The Real Estate Rebel with Scott McGillivray is back for a third season, this time working with Acast. It will cover topics like how to invest in a hot real estate market, how social media is changing the real estate landscape, and lessons Scott has learned from being a landlord for over 20 years. - read more
March 7, 2022:
    In our sample, we observed Buzzsprout losing 27 podcasts last week, and Libsyn losing 14. The podcast hosts gaining the most were, as they always are, Anchor and Megaphone; though Simplecast and Acast also saw a good number of migrations.
March 4, 2022:
    Acast is to hold a number of events for International Womens Day. It is also to close its podcast app, claiming that the app does not "support the company's vision of a completely open podcast ecosystem". The company also admits that few people used it, saying: "the shutdown of the app will not have any noticeable effect on Acast's revenue or the number of listens." They'll continue operating the RadioPublic app, however, which - on iOS - last got an update in September 2019.
March 3, 2022:
March 2, 2022:
    Unusually, That Peter Crouch Podcast, a show grown by the BBC, has signed with the Acast Creator Network. Producer George Cottam will leave the BBC to continue producing the show; Chris Stark will continue to host. Normally shows built with BBC money remain the property of the BBC. It's the UK's largest sports show, claiming 60 million listens since its 2018 launch.
February 28, 2022:
February 25, 2022:
February 23, 2022:
February 21, 2022:
February 18, 2022:
February 17, 2022:
    Breakit, a Swedish news website, has published an article (translated) which alleges that downloads are being bought on Spotify. The journalists tried to buy 130,000 listens to their podcast: but, both Spotify and Acast spotted the bots and invalidated the traffic. However, they succeeded in paying for 50,000 plays from 8,000 listeners for a fake music track.
February 15, 2022:
    Delegate day passes have just gone on sale for The Podcast Show 2022, coming to London in May. May 25-26 promises an international festival with a number of inspirational speakers including Jen Sargent, CEO of Wondery, Miranda Sawyer, audio critic from The Observer, Ross Adams, CEO of Acast, and Steph Simon, Head of Community & Creators at Clubhouse. Additionally, right through the week of May 23-29, you'll be able to watch your favourite shows live on stage in a number of different venues. You can get your day passes today - use promo code PODNEWS for 20% off a limited number of day passes. Podnews is a media partner (and we'll be there).
February 14, 2022:
February 11, 2022:
    Tiffany Ashitey has been promoted to US Director of the Acast Creator Network; and still at Acast, Tim Ruggeri has been promoted to US Director of Development and Studios.
February 7, 2022:
January 28, 2022:
    Sh**ged Married Annoyed has renewed with Acast with a multi-year extension. The show boasts 150 episodes, a record-breaking live arena tour (selling out London’s O2 Arena and Wembley SSE Arena in London alone), a Sunday Times No. 1 best-selling book and an upcoming BBC TV show. - read more
January 27, 2022:
    After a successful trial, Acast has released its subscription product, Acast+, to all its podcasters. It allows podcasters to charge for shows, which will be made available "across most podcast listening apps". They've worked with 25 podcasters across eight countries on the tool, which saw "tens of thousands" of new subscribers, and one show converted 7% of their audience to paying subscribers.
January 26, 2022:
January 24, 2022:
January 20, 2022:
January 13, 2022:
January 12, 2022:
January 11, 2022:
    Nick Harnett is Acast's new PR and Marketing Manager for UK and Ireland.
January 7, 2022:
January 6, 2022:
December 24, 2021:
    Now, Where Were We? is a new podcast from a veteran British comedy writer, Barry Cryer, with his son Bob Cryer. With guests, and recorded at a local pub, it's a podcast with Cryer's stories after more than sixty years in the entertainment business. The show launches today on Acast. - read more
December 17, 2021:
December 16, 2021:
December 14, 2021:
December 9, 2021:
December 8, 2021:
    Reclaimed & Rewritten, a six-part serial podcast unearthing the mysteries and the stories behind the devastating Tulsa Massacre, is out on December 7th, produced by gal-dem and part of the Acast Creator Network. It's the second show on Acast from gal-dem, a media publication run by women and non-binary people of colour. - read more
December 3, 2021:
December 2, 2021:
December 1, 2021:
November 29, 2021:
    Podcast apps may be buying ads for your podcast in Google Search without you knowing. Acast, The Podcast App and Amazon Music are all advertising against our own podcast title, and that of many other podcast titles, too. On an iPhone in the UK, an ad for Amazon Music appeared as the #1 search result for Podnews, seeming to suggest that access to our podcast costs £7.99/month, which is misleading (it's free on any platform). The Acast ad leads to a web player, but no method of subscribing; The Podcast App's ad led us to a web player with promotion for their own podcast app.
November 26, 2021:
November 25, 2021:

Happy Thanksgiving! We're thankful to our supporters and our more than 500 new subscribers so far this month, including people from Podimo, Novel, Samsung, Wondery, Acast, Veritone, Spotify, Squarespace and the BBC.

November 24, 2021:
November 23, 2021:
    The Campfire Studios crime podcast Abuse of Power has been acquired by Audible. The podcast was with Acast. A new season, exclusive to Audible, will premiere on Nov 25.
November 22, 2021:
November 19, 2021:
November 18, 2021:
    Toronto's Random Order Podcast has signed with Acast. The comedy show from Jae and Trey Richards, who each appear to own an expanse of facial hair, will also celebrate its 100th episode in the next few weeks. The duo have achieved 100m views on YouTube, too. - read more
November 17, 2021:
November 16, 2021:
    The Creator Economy Podcast is brand new, hosted by Jack Conte, the CEO of Patreon. He interviews Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit. The show's hosted by Acast, though Patreon also hosts podcasts itself.
November 12, 2021:
    Herzliche Glückwünsche to André Schatz and Mario Bruhn, who have been hired as Key Account Managers for Acast in Munich and Hamburg.
November 10, 2021:
November 9, 2021:
    The pre-installed podcast player Samsung Free, on all Samsung Galaxy smartphones, is to be launched in Europe. Acast is a launch partner.
November 4, 2021:
November 1, 2021:
    Podnews's news ranker for October shows Spotify overtaking Apple Podcasts, with Acast reaching #3, in terms of total mentions in our newsletter. Adam Curry is the second most-talked-about person in our ranker, which also includes overall gender balance data.
October 28, 2021:
October 26, 2021:
October 25, 2021:
    It's Audio Fiction Week at Acast this week, with a number of initiatives and new episodes.
October 19, 2021:
    Spotify appears to have a new(?) in-app feature recommending guest appearances of, in this case, UK comedian James Acaster. It popped up on the screen of Podnews reader James Potter, who wonders if this is humanly curated, or if they have been working on credits data.
October 18, 2021:
October 15, 2021:
October 14, 2021:
October 13, 2021:
    Susie Warhurst has been appointed Head of International, Apple Podcasts. She was SVP of Content for Acast, and works out of London.
October 12, 2021:
October 8, 2021:
    The Sx with Emily podcast, which isn't missing an 'e' in its real name (but then it isn't an email newsletter sent to over 20,000 people with anti-spam filters) is one of the oldest podcasts in the world, launching in 2005. The podcast has joined Acast; it was previously with Libsyn.
October 6, 2021:
    RedHanded, the UK true crime podcast, has also been signed by Audioboom, and won the Listeners Choice prize at the 2021 British Podcast Awards. It was with Acast.
October 5, 2021:
October 1, 2021:
    In the latest edition of Podland, Ross Adams and Johan Billgren from Acast highlight why they see the future of podcasting as being open.
September 30, 2021:
September 29, 2021:
September 27, 2021:
September 21, 2021:
September 17, 2021:
September 16, 2021:
    Högt Spel det en dokumentärserie som avslöjar några av världens värsta bedragare och svindlare genom tiderna, från podcastbolaget Acast och produktionsbolaget Studio Olga. The podcast, in Swedish, launched yesterday.
September 15, 2021:
    Talk Money To Me is new from Australia's Equity Mates Media: an all-female-hosted podcast about money. It's with Acast. (Logowatch: this doesn't have an Acast logo on the thumbnail at all.)
September 14, 2021:
    Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey is a new podcast from TYT, as a result of their partnership with Acast. It launched on Monday, and comments on the top news stories about criminal justice, politics, social justice, policy and racism and welcomes a Conservative into 'The Bullpen' for a fiery debate.
September 13, 2021:
September 8, 2021:
September 7, 2021:
September 1, 2021:
August 18, 2021:
August 17, 2021:
August 10, 2021:
    Fearne Cotton's Happy Place, the most-listened-to wellness podcast in the UK, has signed with Acast. The deal will unlock fan-supported revenue with Acast+. It was with Libsyn.
August 4, 2021:
July 29, 2021:
July 28, 2021:
July 23, 2021:
July 21, 2021:
July 7, 2021:
July 5, 2021:
June 29, 2021:
June 25, 2021:
    Stacey Goers is to leave NPR to join Acast. She has worked within NPR for the last five years, and is currently the Senior Product Manager for NPR Podcasts. Her LinkedIn post suggests her team will be "focused on products for audience development".
June 24, 2021:
June 18, 2021:
    Yesterday, Acast became a listed company on the Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market, valuing the company at SEK 6.7bn (US$782m). Shares closed slightly down from the initial SEK 38 ($4.44), at SEK 37.7 ($4.40). It was a proud moment, writes co-founder Johan Billgren.
June 17, 2021:
June 16, 2021:
    New EU copyright rules went into law on June 7 that affect podcast hosting companies. Article 17 of the Copyright Directive changes the way that safe harbour rules work. Here is one article explaining what the new rules mean. In an email to their customers, Acast say the new law "shifts responsibility for any copyright infringement by any podcast shared via the Acast platform and platform services ... directly onto (Acast) under certain conditions."
June 11, 2021:
June 10, 2021:
June 7, 2021:
June 3, 2021:
May 27, 2021:
May 25, 2021:
May 21, 2021:
    People we like: Fanny Klefelt, Creative Manager at Acast in Stockholm, Sweden. In this paywalled article, she lists five websites for "information and inspiration", and Podnews is in her list, alongside The Economist. Tack så mycket, Fanny! Skål!
May 19, 2021:
    Queerstories, an award-winning podcast celebrating the culture and creativity of the LGBTQI+ community, is back for season 3 and is now published on Acast. (It was on Omny Studio).
May 12, 2021:
May 11, 2021:
April 30, 2021:
April 27, 2021:
March 30, 2021:
March 29, 2021:
March 25, 2021:
    Tortoise Media, the "slow media news platform" in the UK, has signed with Acast for podcast distribution and monetisation. They were using Transistor.
March 19, 2021:
    "One big change we expect is that, due to an increased awareness of user privacy and new data laws — alongside Google retracting third-party cookies — the industry will no longer target ads based on user data. Instead, advertisers will serve messages to listeners based on context — something we’re pioneering at Acast with tools like AI-powered keyword ad-targeting." - the UK's PressGazette interviews Acast CEO Ross Adams.
March 18, 2021:
March 12, 2021:
March 8, 2021:
March 5, 2021:

Can we help you? We've asked all week for your help in sharing Podnews with others. Thanks to you, 165 more people are now getting Podnews, from companies like ABC Australia, Pushkin Industries, Magnificent Noise, Westwood One, Canadaland, the CBC, Acast, A Million Ads, Sony Music and Spotify. Today, we'd like to help you - grab our stuff for your site, intranet, podcast, Slack or Basecamp feed. Get in touch if we can help with something bespoke.

February 26, 2021:
February 19, 2021:
    First look: Acast has bought RadioPublic, acquiring tools and services for podcasters everywhere. The acquisition also sees RadioPublic co-founders Chris Quamme Rhoden (CTO) and Matt MacDonald (Chief Product Officer) join the Acast team. Jake Shapiro left in September to join Apple.
February 18, 2021:
    Pantsuit Politics has been highlighted by Apple for their Apple Podcasts spotlight. It's an Acast show.
February 16, 2021:
    Acast UK shared stats and data from their 2020. They now have more than 60m UK monthly listens, and saw a 184% growth in UK brands spending more than £100,000 ($178,000). CEO Ross Adams also reaffirmed the company's commitment to an open podcasting ecosystem.
February 10, 2021:
February 9, 2021:
February 4, 2021:
February 3, 2021:
January 21, 2021:
January 13, 2021:
January 12, 2021:
    By comparison, the ABC's Annual Report 2020 doesn't give a total download figure, but claims annual downloads of at least 211m across four different categories (p53), equating to 17m a month. Their Coronacast podcast alone did 7.7m downloads between March and May. However, for advertisers, this is pointless: the ABC does not carry advertising.
December 31, 2020:

the last big piece of M&A activity in podcasting? It was certainly the largest company still available: but there will be more acquisitions on the horizon. In particular, Amazon lacks the long tail that a consumer podcast host can give them - just as Acast bought Pippa, Spotify bought Anchor and SiriusXM bought Simplecast, Amazon could own a host of its own as a way to reach other platforms and to incubate new talent. Amazon also lacks any podcasting ad-tech companies; ART19, which hosts a number of the largest podcasts in the world, remains privately-owned. Let's watch this space.

December 2, 2020:
November 25, 2020:
November 20, 2020:
November 12, 2020:
    Australia's largest podcaster, the ABC, is to put 23 of its most popular podcasts onto Spotify in a six-month trial, after placing Coronacast on the platform earlier this year. The ABC's Cath Dwyer told Podnews: "It's a big opportunity for the ABC, and we're really excited to reach audiences that might not find us on other platforms." On Spotify, some shows will carry advertising, like YouTube and other platforms; revenues will help fund content making, and shows continue to be ad-free in the ABC's own apps. In total, the broadcaster, which is government funded, has more than 175 shows.
November 10, 2020:
    First look: Acast and Patreon have just announced a collaboration, enabling creators to publish subscriber-only content across different podcast platforms, allow creators to simply and securely distribute their free and paywalled content, and make it easier for fans to financially support Patreon creators. It works on almost all podcast players (excepting Spotify).
November 5, 2020:
October 29, 2020:
October 23, 2020:
October 20, 2020:
October 7, 2020:
    Meanwhile, podcasting will kill radio, claims Acast UK's Susie Warhurst, speaking at a UK webinar. That was denied by Phil Riley, a veteran broadcast executive, pointing at revenues for podcasting currently being less than 10% that of radio. He accused podcasting of being "a little too big for its boots".
September 22, 2020:
    Acast has launched in Canada, with Canadian MD Heather Gordon, formerly of CBC/Radio-Canada; it launches working with Corus, CBC, eOne, and others; and has already had more than eleven million downloads. The company is now operating on the ground in ten countries around the world.
September 10, 2020:
September 8, 2020:
September 4, 2020:
September 3, 2020:
    Podcast host Omny Studio published a privacy policy for listeners in May, joining Acast, Buzzsprout and Captivate, we discover. No other podcast host has clear privacy policies to explain to listeners what happens to their identifying data when they listen. (Here's ours). Writing personally, our Editor called for these in December 2019: if privacy is as important to some podcast hosts as they claim, we look forward to seeing their privacy policy for listeners, too.
September 1, 2020:
August 31, 2020:
August 28, 2020:
    Acast has launched a feature allowing listeners to rate podcasts in the Acast app. Since launching this month, people have left more than 45,000 in-app ratings for 9,000 different shows. (We list how to add your podcast to the Acast app and many others).
August 12, 2020:

Thank you to Build A Cast, our latest supporter. Build A Cast contains all the resources, tutorials, gear and guides you need to build, grow and monetise your podcast. They've helped us improve our caching strategy to make our site even faster. Be like them

August 10, 2020:
    Guy Scott-Wilson from Acast writes an opinion piece in AdNews about how podcasting is changing news. He claims it's "the new home of investigative journalism".
August 6, 2020:
    Memory Lane with Kerry Godliman interviews a different guest every week, like Romesh Ranganathan, Jo Brand and James Acaster, talking about their five favourite photographs. If you use the Entale app, you get to see the photographs as well.
July 29, 2020:
July 27, 2020:
July 22, 2020:
July 21, 2020:
July 16, 2020:
July 3, 2020:
    Acast is fundraising for the UK charity Comic Relief. GuestFest will offer the chance to record an episode with your favourite podcast. There's a bunch of different shows to take part in.
June 30, 2020:
June 24, 2020:
June 18, 2020:
    Analysis: The podcast market appears to be horizontally consolidating. SiriusXM already owns Pandora and ad-tech company AdsWizz: their acquisition of Simplecast adds a capable podcast host and analytics company, and means they have capabilities in all sectors of the business. They join EW Scripps, who own Omny Studio, Triton Digital, Midroll and Stitcher; Spotify, who own Anchor, Gimlet et al; and Acast, who acquired Pippa and set up their own content studio last year. It's not enough, it seems, to be a great hosting company or a content-creator: the podcast companies of the future appears to need a foot in all parts of the business.
June 11, 2020:
June 3, 2020:
    Acast have announced a Supporter feature for their podcasters in some countries. The product lets you receive one-off payments from your listeners: Acast charge 12%. The product works as a landing page on the Acast website, and uses a promo that you record. We found that UK podcast The Dream Factory is using it; Acast is using the donate button standard, which is supported by some podcast players.
June 1, 2020:
May 21, 2020:
May 14, 2020:
May 13, 2020:
May 12, 2020:
May 11, 2020:
May 5, 2020:
    Acast has expanded its podcast network - partnering with South Asia's JioSaavn, which has 104 million monthly active users. All of Acast's content will be appearing in full on JioSaavn in the next few months. (Podnews is also available there).
April 21, 2020:
April 20, 2020:
April 17, 2020:
    Acast has partnered with DIVE Studios, a K-pop podcast network. Korea is the biggest country in the world for podcast consumption, according to Reuters Institute data. DIVE Studios is based in Seoul and Los Angeles.
April 16, 2020:
    Podcastéo has looked at the French podcast industry. In the top 200, the most popular host is Acast (who bought the French company Pippa last year), ART 19 and Soundcloud; for smaller podcasts, the #1 host is Ausha, another French company. As is the case in many emerging markets, repurposed radio material leads the charts.
April 10, 2020:
April 7, 2020:
    Podcast company Acast have launched Staycast - a new campaign encouraging people everywhere to stay at home during the coronavirus pandemic, offering podcast-based inspiration and entertainment from a wide range of popular podcasters.
April 3, 2020:
April 2, 2020:
March 26, 2020:
March 25, 2020:
    The Art of Sleep, from cosmetic brand Rituals, has been released, exploring the world of sleep and everything that is connected to it. Interestingly, it's been released in five different languages: English, Dutch, French, German and Spanish, to make it accessible for the most important European markets. (Airborne Audio / Acast)
March 24, 2020:
    ABC Australia, the public service broadcaster, is now listing selected podcasts on Spotify. Their Coronacast podcast is now also on Spotify. (Our systems can't match them up, yet, since they use different publisher names - but we'll work on that). The BBC, however, is still witholding its Coronavirus Newscast podcast from Google Podcasts.
March 19, 2020:
March 18, 2020:
March 16, 2020:
    Let Creativity Flow examines how technology is affecting the evolution of music collaboration. It launched last week, and in part considers whether robots are taking over and if AI can really simulate or even replace human creativity. (Osiris Media / Acast)
March 11, 2020:
    Beyond the Pond, a podcast about the Vermont band Phish, interviews baseball pitcher Sean Doolittle in their new episode. He "discusses how listening to artists like Phish throughout last season helped him regain his composure and rebound triumphantly in the Fall Classic." (Acast)
March 10, 2020:
    Acast tells Podnews that there are now more than 650 podcast episodes hosted on its platform alone about Coronavirus. Those episodes have been downloaded more than 16 million times. We link to some new titles in our podcast news section below.
March 9, 2020:
    For International Womens Day yesterday, Acast published a video on IGTV, "celebrating female voices in podcasting and finding out how podcasting empowers their voice". ⁣
March 5, 2020:
    PM Mood is a new podcast hosted by Danielle Moodie-Mills, a TV political commentator. The podcast "will offer a weekly one-on-one sit down with leading activists, celebrities, academics, and artists who are successfully shifting cultural norms, and utilizing their platforms to maximize social impact." (Acast)
March 3, 2020:
    Cover story: At 101, is Ida Schuster the oldest podcaster in the world? The actor is hosting Old School, with her life story of growing up in a Jewish immigrant family in the Gorbals area of Glasgow, and a journey through her childhood, the war years, and her long career on stage and screen. (The Big Light / Acast)
February 27, 2020:
    Acast has launched in Mexico. Sergio Domínguez, former Corporate Sales Director for newspaper company Publimetro, has been hired as Acast Mexico’s Managing Director.
February 26, 2020:
February 24, 2020:
    Acast are opening two new podcast studios in Surry Hills, Sydney. The studios are free of charge for Acast publishers.
February 20, 2020:
February 19, 2020:
    Irish broadcaster RTÉ has launched The Nobody Zone, a true-crime story set on the streets of London. But In a first for the company, it will be available in five languages: English, Danish, Spanish, German and the Irish language. The Nobody Zone is a co-production with Third Ear Productions in Denmark, and is published on Acast.
February 12, 2020:
February 11, 2020:
    Acast have improved their embedded player, adding a subscribe button as well as more advanced customisation.
February 10, 2020:
February 3, 2020:
January 29, 2020:
    A podcast for Deadheads: 36 from the vault focuses on the 36 live show releases from the band in 2005: telling the stories behind the shows and the trends of the time. Hosted by music writers Steven Hyden and Rob Mitchum, it launched earlier this month. (Osiris Media / Acast)
January 28, 2020:
    The British Podcast Awards have announced that their awards will take place in a new, larger venue on May 16 - The Roundhouse in London, with space for 750 people. Overlooking the fifty judges will be last year's winner, George The Poet. They've released five new categories. Acast is the new title sponsor for the awards; and it's open now for entries.
January 27, 2020:
    Revisiting is back for a new season. "The only podcast you'll need for nostalgia", episode one looks at Ugg boots and Rachel from Friends, among other things, as Laura K and Laura G mine their old diaries for inspiration. (Stakhanov/Acast)
January 22, 2020:
January 20, 2020:
    Believe, a paranormal podcast from Australia, starts season six on Wednesday. It features "terrifying interviews with everyday Australians who have witnessed UFO’s, Bigfoot, Ghosts, Paranormal Experiences and everything in between." In our experience, it's probably just a possum. (Acast)
January 15, 2020:
January 13, 2020:

Thank you - we hit 11,500 subscribers over the weekend. Welcome to new readers at Spotify, YEA Networks, Muddy Knees Media, The Orchard, Castbox, Acast, and Ngā Taonga - New Zealand's audiovisual archive.

January 9, 2020:
January 1, 2020:
    Down released its first episode today. It's a 24-part science-fiction podcast, about an expedition into a newly-discovered Antarctic trench, dubbed The Bottomless Pit. (Definitely Human / Acast)
December 30, 2019:
    My mate bought a toaster looks through someone's Amazon purchase history to find out more about them. The co-hosts, Tom Price and Samantha Baines, are currently discovering more about their own buying habits. (Great Big Owl / Acast)
December 24, 2019:
December 17, 2019:
December 13, 2019:
December 10, 2019:
    "If privacy of listeners is important — as it should be — then why do very few podcast hosts have a clear, simple privacy policy for people who are listening to podcasts hosted on their platform?" - our Editor in an opinion piece yesterday. Congratulations to Buzzsprout, who have added a privacy policy for listeners to its website, joining Acast (and us).
December 6, 2019:
    Acast have opened new offices in Dublin, at least one room of which appears to have a tree inside it. Micheál Scully has been hired as Key Account Director: he joins from Google and DoneDeal. He'll work with Jennifer Dollard, who is Podcast Manager for Ireland.
December 4, 2019:
    In a memo obtained by Podnews, the Sony Music podcasting team has been announced. Emily Rasekh (Entercom, CBS Radio) is Senior Vice President of Business Development and Operations, Podcasting; reporting to her are Brittany Hall (Pandora, Megaphone), Vice President of Sales, Podcasting; Ryan Zack (Megaphone, Acast), Vice President of Revenue Operations, Podcasting; and Christy Mirabal (Stitcher, Panoply), Vice President of Marketing, Podcasting. Emily reports up to Dennis Kooker, President, Global Digital Business & U.S. Sales and Tom Mackay, President, Sony Music Film and TV A&R, who add: "Together this leadership team strongly positions us to super-serve the podcast community, help them reach larger audiences on more platforms and further grow our podcasting business opportunities around the world. With a rapidly expanding number of creative partnerships and with the strength of our best-in-class capabilities, we are confident they will keep enhancing Sony Music’s compelling value proposition in the podcasting industry. "
November 29, 2019:
    Max and Ivan: Fugitives is an on-the-run comedy thriller set across international border, with a large and well-known cast including Adam Buxton and Stephen Mangan. (Storyglass, Acast)
November 27, 2019:
    Let us make you an offer you can't refuse: the secrets of a real-life Mafia hitman, The Enforcer follows gangster Anthony Salvatore Luciano Raimondi, who served as a top enforcer to the Colombo family for more than three decades. (Podular / Carpe VM / 360 DMG / Acast)
November 26, 2019:
November 25, 2019:
    Gee thanks, just bought it focuses on the stuff you want to buy next. "All the life-changing under-the-radar products you didn’t think you needed — like hand warmers that double as phone chargers, foot hammocks, and full-face ice masks". We miss Sky Mall magazine. (Forever35/Caroline Moss/Acast)
November 21, 2019:
    Acast has launched its own podcast host, called Acast Open. The service offers three tiers, one of which is free; and adds automated episode transcription and an audiogram tool. If you're on Acast Open and you become large enough, you may be invited to be monetized by the company, too. The product replaces Pippa, which they purchased earlier in the year.
November 20, 2019:

Welcome to new subscribers in November from companies including Acast, Spotify, the South China Morning Post, Sony Music, Mamamia, Magellan, RedCircle, PRX, Luminary, Megaphone, ART19, Voxnest, the BBC, Entale, and iHeartMedia. If you find us useful, please tell your colleagues! (And, use your unique link at the bottom of our emails and we'll send you nice stuff.)

October 29, 2019:
    Acast is now IAB Certified, and are the first to claim certification for "client-confirmed ad play": a RAD-like service that measures playback, in the Acast player, of a specific portion of audio (and whether a listener has skipped through it). Ten podcast companies are now certified.
October 25, 2019:
October 24, 2019:
    Acast has announced Acast Live, a way to help Acast podcasters take their shows live on stage. "The first programme of live events is in partnership with DICE, launching an initial run of shows in late 2019 into 2020 taking place in high-profile venues across London."
October 17, 2019:
October 7, 2019:
September 27, 2019:
September 26, 2019:
September 24, 2019:
    Mija is a new audio fiction podcast available in three languages - a short audio drama on one Colombian-American family’s immigration to the US. It's the first multilingual podcast from Studio Ochenta. (Acast)
September 19, 2019:
September 10, 2019:
September 9, 2019:
    My Dad Wrote A... is back for season five. Their HBO Comedy Special is also available on on-demand platforms; and they will tour Australia and New Zealand in January; the US and Canada in March and April; and have European dates later in the year. (Acast)
September 5, 2019:
    Acast has sent an email to publishers warning them that from Oct 1 "many Acast podcasters will see a change in listener numbers - in most cases a decrease". The company is switching to measurement using IAB v2 guidelines.
September 2, 2019:
    Former Australian prime-minister Julia Gillard's podcast, A Podcast of One's Own, has announced a global partnership with Acast to help the podcast expand. It focuses on the topic of women in leadership. (Acast / Global Institute for Women’s Leadership / King's College London)
August 30, 2019:
    Also at the London Podcast Festival, Aclass: Women invites podcasters and podcast newbies to learn how to create, develop and grow their very own successful podcast. Brought to the festival by Acast, it's a free event, and includes free studio time. Here's more details, and how to apply.
August 28, 2019:
    Acast has raised EUR 25 million (US$27m) in a financing deal with the European Investment Bank. Acast, which hosts 7,000 shows, plans to expand R&D and continue expanding internationally.
August 21, 2019:
    Pod Bible describes itself as "is the podcast podcast where podcasters talk to podcasters about podcasts and podcasting." Based in the UK, it's run by Pod Bible, the UK's first ever magazine dedicated to podcasts. (Acast)
August 20, 2019:
    Reasons to be cheerful with Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd has recently released its 100th episode. The podcast talks to smart thinkers from across the world. Episode 100 was recorded in Abbey Road Studios in London. (Acast)
August 16, 2019:
August 14, 2019:
    The Financial Times has rebranded their culture podcast to Culture Call. A transatlantic-hosted podcast, it interviews people who they believe are shifting culture. (FT / Acast)
August 12, 2019:
    Tempest - moving stories about life, people, and cars - starts its second season today. The first episode is a gritty tale about a pool shark with a penchant for Jeeps and a very long night in a lonely mountain town. (Acast)
August 7, 2019:
    The Audiocraft Podcast is back for a new season, from the recent festival in Sydney NSW, Australia. Expect episodes from Ian Chillag (Everything is Alive), Adam Shand (The Trials of the Vampire), Lorena Allam (Guardian Australia) and Avery Trufelman (99% Invisible) Podnews was a media partner. (Acast)
August 6, 2019:
    All The Wiser "uses the power of personal stories to inspire you to live your life to the fullest", and donates $2,000 to a nominated charity on behalf of each guest. This week's guest will be author Nora McInerny, on what to do when someone you know is going through something really terrible. (Acast)
August 2, 2019:
July 31, 2019:

Thank you to Acast, the home to the world's best podcasts, for becoming our latest gold supporter and helping support Podnews. Be like Acast.

July 30, 2019:
    Do The Right Thing, a comedy panel show, returns for season 7. Guests will include Aisling Bea, Sarah Millican, Miles Jupp and Joe Lycett; they've just posted a best-of compilation of season 1-6. (comedy·co·uk / Acast)
July 25, 2019:
    Acast, Buzzsprout, Transistor, Podbean, Captivate and Megaphone are some of the publishers that have switched on the new Apple podcast categories for their users. (We've also shifted to using News > Daily News in our podcast as the primary category.)
July 23, 2019:
July 19, 2019:
July 18, 2019:
    Women Like Us is a new spoof women's podcast produced by comedy radio producer Ed Morrish. Co-host "Jennifer Hudson" (Katy Brand) says: "As a journalist, I want to engage with the things that matter to Women Like Us. Such as, how far can free speech go? Is it ever ok to briefly leave your son unattended in a National Trust property? And most importantly, where’s my money?" (Somethin'Else / Acast)
July 11, 2019:
    Meanwhile, Acast has launched in Germany. The Managing Director is Stefan Zilch, formerly with Spotify. "In Europe, we’ve already paid out over 50 million Euros to podcasters and publishers since Acast began."
July 9, 2019:
July 4, 2019:
June 26, 2019:
    Previously, on..., hosted by UK broadcaster Jamie East, helps you get up to date with TV shows. Choose a show and an episode, and learn what happens in it. Here, at random, is S1E3 of Stranger Things. (Acast)
June 24, 2019:
    Interesting snippet of news from the Acast/RNZ online survey of podcasting in New Zealand, released last week: 25% of podcast listeners do not use apps at all (presumably listening on web pages). Our editor recommended podcast websites should have "a bloody big play button" last year.
June 20, 2019:
    New Zealand: one in three people listen to podcasts every week, according to figures released by RNZ and Acast. The figures also claim that listening has doubled in the last ten months.
June 18, 2019:
June 10, 2019:

Thank you to almost 200 new subscribers so far this month, including folk from Spotify, Dave Ramsey, WhatPods, Emmis, ART19, Le Monde, Luminary, Acast, Megaphone, GFK, NPR and Poland's RMF. We'd appreciate your help in getting the word out - any chance of a Tweet or LinkedIn mention today about us?

June 4, 2019:
May 30, 2019:
May 29, 2019:
    They Walk Among Us is an award-winning weekly UK true crime podcast covering a broad range of cases from the sinister to the surreal; and also our latest personal sponsor. Yay! Thanks for your support! Be like them. (Acast)
May 24, 2019:
    Benched features “extraordinary stories from extraordinary humans" from the world of sport. The latest episode features the story of Winter Olympic athlete Kwame Acheampong on the stigma he faced as a black skier in an overwhelmingly white sport. (Message Heard / Acast)
May 23, 2019:
    Just in time for the European elections, the Acast app has been translated into an additional four languages. Cela fonctionne maintenant en français! Es funktioniert auch in Deutsche! ¡Y en español también! Och på svenska kan vi förolämpa redaktören och han kommer inte ens veta om det!
May 21, 2019:

Welcome to almost 400 new subscribers in May so far, including people from Himalaya, PodcastOne Australia, Media Monitors, Cadence13, Vox Media, ESPN, Luminary, Acast, NRK, NPR, Spotify, PRX, ARN and Radio-Canada. Please, tell your colleagues (and tell your HR people about our free jobs board).

May 17, 2019:
    Stitcher have announced two new senior hires: Sarah van Mosel (Market Enginuity, Acast, WNYC) has been hired as Chief Revenue Officer, and Daisy Rosario is Executive Producer.
May 16, 2019:
    No, Really, I'm Fine coincides with Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK, and is a brand new mental health podcast which sheds a light on peoples’ daily struggle with mental health and telling the world you’re not alone. (Reach plc / Acast)
May 6, 2019:
May 3, 2019:
    We reported on Acast Access yesterday - which offers secure premium podcasts that play in whatever app your listeners want. A number of folk have pointed us to Supporting Cast, which does much the same thing; it launched in February.
May 2, 2019:
April 26, 2019:
April 23, 2019:
    UK reality TV star Lydia Bright returns for season two of The Brights, widely touted as the first reality podcast. (Somethin'Else/Acast)
April 16, 2019:
    Network 10, an Australian television network owned by CBS, has released its first podcast. The Professor and The Hack is the first from the company's 10 Speaks division, and is a political podcast coinciding with the recently-announced Federal Election in the country. It isn't, yet, in Apple Podcasts, though.
April 9, 2019:
    How I Found My Voice explores how some of the world’s greatest artists and thinkers became such compelling - and unique - communicators. It was featured by both Apple and Spotify at launch. (Intelligence Squared / Acast)
April 4, 2019:
    Some BBC podcasts are back in Google Podcasts following a spat last week: a search for BBC Womans Hour, for example, finds the podcast within the app. However, a closer look reveals that the RSS feed, and others like it, is being re-published by the BBC's advertising partner Acast, and the BBC's block is still in place. It's not clear whether this is a deliberate move.
March 27, 2019:
March 25, 2019:

Welcome to over 300 new subscribers over the last two weeks, including from companies like ABC Australia, Scripps, Gimlet Media, Stitcher, NPR, SRF, Buzzsprout, Acast, Turner, Megaphone, iHeartMedia, Spotify, Deezer, Westwood One, Radioplayer Germany, Entercom, ACE Radio, and the BBC.

March 22, 2019:
    Acast has launched in France; Yann Thébault will run the French business (formerly, he was in charge of Spotify for continental Europe). Over 4m people in France listen to podcasts every month (roughly 8% of the country), says the country's Médiamétrie research.
March 18, 2019:
    Talking Politics, a UK political podcast hosted by David Runciman and sponsored by the London Review of Books, has passed the 5 million download milestone just ahead of its 150th instalment. (Acast)
February 27, 2019:
February 12, 2019:
    The prize for the shortest podcast name? brb... is hosted by Eleanor, who is off travelling. She has no real plans so is following listener suggestions as to where to go, eat, sleep and more: so far these have found her Singapore's best bakery, Palawan's best boat tour and more... (Acast)
February 7, 2019:
    Himalaya have invested $100m in a launch of a "creator-focused, innovative podcast platform, network and community". The platform includes monetisation for podcasters, including tipping and follower bonuses; the company has signed a bunch of new shows, and partnered with Acast and Megaphone. It has expertise from the wildly successful Ximalaya FM platform in Asia.
January 31, 2019:
January 29, 2019:

Welcome to the nearly 300 people who've subscribed over the past week, including folks from Acast, Bengo Media, the BBC, Edison Research, Entercom, NPR, Slate, USA Today, Condé Nast, Spotify, iHeartMedia and Himalaya. If you like Podnews, please let others know, and consider supporting us.

January 24, 2019:
    David Tennant does a podcast with... is a new interview podcast from the British actor, with impressive access to big named guests. The press release promises current Doctor Who, Jodie Whittaker, is a future guest. (Somethin' Else / No Mystery / Acast)
January 23, 2019:
    The Economist, a newspaper disguised as a magazine, is launching a daily podcast. Jason Palmer will host it, called The Intelligence, which will be published at the same time as Podnews (6am NY, 11am London), from January 29th. Digiday report it has 8 staffers. (Acast)
January 18, 2019:
    Battle Stations is a seven-part podcast set in a radio station. SAG fm plays soft adult grooves and it also plays host to endless behind the scenes disasters. Can radio announcer and argument enthusiast Ray Easton get his station to number one in a workplace where the only thing more toxic than the staff’s attitude is the coffee? (Nova Entertainment / Acast)
January 14, 2019:
    Local to Global with Nick Hewer is a new podcast from the UK Government. Released on the same week as a Parliamentary vote on Britain's future relationship with the European Union, the press release claims that it will "explore why exporting is great for UK businesses", with all those trade agreements that the UK now has with... oh. (Acast)
January 11, 2019:
    Notwithstanding this, listener reaction is predictably fierce. Responses include "the arrogance of the BBC is breathtaking", and that the decision is "bonkers - not good bonkers, bad bonkers". The app has also been poorly-reviewed. As a side note: the BBC monetises its podcast listens outside the UK with Acast, so exclusivity also removes revenue for the corporation. Podnews estimates the BBC is the world's second-largest podcaster, after NPR.
January 9, 2019:
    Beatles City, a Beatles podcast, has a special guest next episode... Sir Paul McCartney. The podcast is produced with the Liverpool Echo newspaper, and Acast.
December 12, 2018:
    Podtrac has announced support for RAD, and their own RAD beta is open for signup. Other companies who've said they'll support it are Acast, AdsWizz, ART19, Awesound, Blubrry Podcasting, Panoply, Omny Studio, Podtrac, PRX, RadioPublic, Triton Digital, and WideOrbit.
December 10, 2018:
December 6, 2018:
    Swedish podcast company Acast has raised $35m in a funding round. Its total funding now stands at more than $67m. The company pioneered dynamic ad insertion, and - among many other clients - monetises BBC podcasts outside the UK.
November 30, 2018:
    Acast have launched personalised podcast ads, working with AMillionAds, a UK company that produces over 20,000 versions of ads using external data like location, time of day, and device details. The first ad, for iD Mobile, calls out different cities based on where the listener is, different deals depending on what they’ve heard before, different messaging depending on when they’re listening and different podcast names based on what show the listener is hearing. (Watch - from Next Radio in 2016, Sam Crowther from AMillionAds gave an overview of how the technology works.)
November 27, 2018:
    Someone in the UK suffers from a stroke every five minutes (and in the US, every 40 seconds). When UK radio broadcaster Mark Goodier suffered a series of strokes in 2016 and 2017, he realised there weren't many resources you could use to help your recovery. Stroke Stories is the answer: in every episode, a different stroke survivor, and a different story of recovery. (Wise Buddah / Acast)
November 13, 2018:
    Talking Points by The Points Guy is a new podcast highlighting, like its parent website, how to get more of those airline and hotel points. It features among its first three guests Chase Bank's Kristin Lemkau, Capital One's Matt Knise, and former record store owner Sir Richard Branson (The Points Guy / Acast)
November 2, 2018:
November 1, 2018:
    A podcast (that we'd like to mention by name but our corporate email subscribers won't ever see our newsletter again, but you can read the name on the image, yes?) is wrapping up series one. "How far do you push your boundaries? Are you normal? What is normal?" (NOVA Entertainment / Acast)
October 31, 2018:
October 30, 2018:
    On the Podnews editorial staff's Google Pixel at the moment: Rule of Three, a UK podcast where UK comedians and comedy writers talk about other comedy that they really like. (Great Big Owl / Acast)
October 24, 2018:
    Welcome to Patchwork, a comedy podcast from Melbourne VIC, Australia, has a special guest of Andy Lee this week (the one from Hamish and Andy that isn't Hamish). (NOVA Entertainment / Acast)
October 16, 2018:
    Invictus Games - The Soldier and The Story - Wippa, a popular Sydney radio presenter, interviews some of the Australian competitors - and ambassador Curtis McGrath, about their time in the armed services and the experiences that have led them to compete alongside more than 500 competitors from 18 nations at the Invictus Games in Sydney. (Two Basic Scoops Media/ NOVA / Acast)
October 15, 2018:
    The Brights launches today - claimed to be the world's first reality show podcast, following Lydia Bright, a UK television star (The Only Way Is Essex), and her family. The podcast is scheduled to be launched with a guest appearance on Good Morning Britain, a UK breakfast TV show. (Sound Directions / Insanity Group / Acast)
October 9, 2018:
    Acast podcasts are now available for distribution on Spotify, the company has announced. We understand that Acast ads will benefit from "passthrough", so Acast can still use dynamic ads in their content, rather than Spotify caching all their audio.
October 8, 2018:
    NOVA Entertainment in Australia released this Podcasting Intelligence Report with Acast last month: plenty of useful data around podcasting for marketers.
October 1, 2018:

Welcome to our new subscribers last week, including excellent folk from Acast, Simplecast, MDR, Pocketcasts, Westwood One, the BBC, Audioboom, Bauer Media, Prisa Media and Communicorp UK.

September 26, 2018:
September 25, 2018:
    Acast's Susie Warhurst spoke at Next Radio about how to make a great branded podcast. Among other things she advises to keep branding low and to have a promotional strategy.
September 20, 2018:
September 17, 2018:
    Next Radio, the radio and podcasting conference, is on now in central London. Speakers include Omny Studio, Acast, and a number of independent podcasters. Later in the week we'll link to videos from the event.
September 14, 2018:
    Queerly Beloved is a new podcast series that debuted earlier this week. "It’s a multifaceted portrait of LGBTQ chosen family—the people who help us figure out who we are and inspire us to live as our most authentic selves", and is from Broadly, a platform from Vice for under-represented (or mis-represented) groups. (Acast)
September 12, 2018:
    The Guardian is to launch a daily flagship podcast by the end of the year. The host has been announced as Anushka Asthana, who is currently the newspaper's joint political editor; Leo Hornack is EP. Bose is due to be the launch sponsor, and Acast will represent the podcast.
September 5, 2018:
    Plus 7 Intelligence returns for a new season. "The podcast about how games impact people, and how video games influence real life." (The Podglomerate and Ches Hall / Acast)
August 30, 2018:
    Drunk Women Solving Crime sees a boozed up panel tackle personal crime stories, solve true crime cases, and seek justice for your listener crimes. Guests will include comedians Katherine Ryan and London Hughes to indie singer Nerina Pallot and lead vocalist of T’Pau, Carol Decker. (Acast)
August 28, 2018:
August 27, 2018:
    In comedy, Babyology launches 2 judgy mums: two judgemental mums discuss their lives and impressions of other families lives in a different location each week: this week, at the side of a swimming pool. (Babyology, Acast)
August 21, 2018:
August 17, 2018:
    This, of course, breaks dynamically-served content, including advertising, and means analytics will no longer be visible to podcast hosts. Spotify also caches files; but Stitcher no longer does after sustained criticism. While podcast use on smart speakers is otherwise negligible, the flash briefing feature can deliver significant traffic.
August 15, 2018:
    Google Assistant släppt i Sverige! The Google Assistant has been launched in Sweden today (which powers Google Home and other devices). Stockholm-based Acast are a launch partner, and have today announced a voice app to allow people to listen to shows directly on smart speakers.
August 3, 2018:
July 31, 2018:
    Next Radio, the ideas conference, have announced a new set of speakers including Sharon Taylor from Omny Studio talking about podcast monetisation and Susie Warhurst from Acast discussing branded podcasts. The conference is in central London on Sept 17, and also features Cariad Lloyd (Griefcast), and Suchandrika Chakrabarti (Black Mirror Cracked). (The Editor of Podnews is one of the organisers).
July 27, 2018:
    Acast's News Thing is a new show, which promises to take the week's biggest news stories, "chew them up into a disgusting mushy ball and then spit them right up your ears."
July 24, 2018:
    Acast releases data from their Acast Audio Intelligence Report for the US and the UK. Podcast listeners are big earners and big spenders, says the research, earning 28% more in the UK, and 51% more in the US. They also trust the ads in podcasts more (UK, US).
July 17, 2018:
July 10, 2018:
    Acast have seen their monthly listens doubling over the past year, and their podcasts have now been downloaded 1.5 billion times. The results come as the Stockholm-based company celebrates its fourth birthday.
July 5, 2018:
    Podcast host Acast appear to be quietly supporting the use of Podcast Pingback, the lightweight podcast metrics service. We've added detection for it in the 'more info' section of our podcast pages: here's an example. Our own podcast also supports it, incidentally.
June 29, 2018:

Thank you to 133 new subscribers over the past week, including fine folk from Acast, ESPN, Gimlet Media, Corus, CBC, TED, Ad Results Media, Swedish Radio, Québecor, 7digital, Mamamia, Cadence13, Sky and many others. Your support is very much appreciated.

June 15, 2018:

Thank you to 79 new subscribers this week, including fine folk from South Africa's Podcart, Acast, Compass Media Networks, Wireless Group, Spotify, Luminary, Macmillan, Prisa Media, Voxnest, Audioboom, ABC Australia, Art19, Kagiso Media and the BBC.

June 13, 2018:
June 8, 2018:
June 5, 2018:
    New podcast: Acast launches The Racquet Magazine, with Australian tennis star Rennae Stubbs and former Acast director of content in the US Caitlin Thompson. The first guest is Chris Evert.
May 25, 2018:

Welcome to our new subscribers this week, including Radio New Zealand, Group M, Radio-Canada, Slate, Acast, Castbox, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, MTG Sweden, the BBC, Global, Radio-Television Slovenia, Ad Results Media and News UK.

May 15, 2018:
    Acast and Wisebuddah have announced Launchpod, which they say is the UK’s first ever large-scale podcast competition, in a bid to find the UK’s new podcast star.
May 1, 2018:
    Breaking: Acast has done a deal with the BBC to monetise its podcasts outside the UK. In a press release, the Corporation has announced that its 30m podcast downloads per month outside the UK will be monetised by Acast with a pre and post roll. UK listeners, who pay a government-mandated licence fee for the BBC's content, will not hear the ads.
April 27, 2018:
March 29, 2018:
    Acast have released Today's Podcast Listener, podcast research for the United States and United Kingdom, as well as a piece of US data, Reach the unreachables, highlighting the type of people who listen to podcasts. Australian data is also promised.
March 21, 2018:
March 9, 2018:
March 6, 2018:
February 14, 2018:
February 9, 2018:
January 26, 2018:

Thank you to Wavve, a company we first wrote about on Sep 21, for becoming a supporter.

January 23, 2018:
January 17, 2018:
    Podcasts "will be the saviour of radio", claims this piece from Distorted, except they don't like the name podcasts. "A “podcast” is a meaningless term left over from the historical piece of technology called an iPods. ... At Distorted, we don’t make podcasts, we make “radio shows” and “programmes”. These shows are usually delivered to listeners and fans via the podcast format through iTunes or Stitcher or Acast etc, but that’s just a small part of the picture."
January 10, 2018:
January 4, 2018:

Thank you and welcome to acast, who joined our list of silver supporters today.

January 2, 2018:
December 19, 2017:
December 15, 2017:
December 8, 2017:
    A piece about acast's Australian plans in Media Week. The company is partnered with NOVA Entertainment, a commercial radio broadcaster. Data point: "Acast currently gets about 3.6 million listens coming from Australia per month."
December 6, 2017:
November 24, 2017:
    Acast talk about data, monetisation and Australia. "Data analysis can reveal podcast listening habits. Henrik gave the example of a specific Nova niche podcast series about IVF, where almost 100% of people who began, listened right through. My Dad Wrote a Porno also has about 100% listening completion, because listeners are so engaged with the comedy"
November 13, 2017:
    Acast announces a Content Director for Australia. He's Guy Scott-Wilson, a journalist for Dennis Publishing in London, and Allure Media / Fairfax in Australia.
November 9, 2017:
    Ford Sync, the proprietary connected car technology, gave US$10,000 to three companies to help make apps for the platform in an event in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Acast got the cash for "a podcast stream tailored to individual commute and driver preferences".
November 1, 2017:
September 13, 2017:
September 8, 2017:
August 28, 2017:
August 22, 2017:
August 16, 2017:
    Geoff Lloyd and Annabel Port, until earlier this year a fixture on the UK's Absolute Radio and Virgin Radio, launch their new podcast next week. Called Adrift, there's a teaser episode up now. "A comic tragedy for anyone flailing in the sea of their own inadequacy."
August 9, 2017:
August 8, 2017:
    From the Audiocraft conference, a panel session on "how to make money from podcasts", with Honor Eastly, Hannah Reich, Megan Tan, and Miles Martignoni. 45 minutes.
August 7, 2017:
August 1, 2017:
    Coverage of Acast, the Swedish podcast platform, in The Guardian. "If a brand wants to reach women aged 30-35, in London, in August, Acast will serve the ads to all listeners who fit that demographic across their different podcasts."
June 28, 2017:
June 22, 2017:
    Interview with acast. "More than 50 million monthly listens to more than 1,000 shows around the world".
June 13, 2017:

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