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Captivate
Easy, professional podcast hosting to create, grow and make money from your podcasts
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Easy, professional podcast hosting to create, grow and make money from your podcasts
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September 4, 2024:
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Ashley Flowers is back with So Supernatural, in a new partnership with Crime House from Max Cutler’s PAVE Studios and audiochuck media. The show was a Spotify exclusive with Parcast; it now has two additional hosts, Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro, and will “dive deeper into the mysteries that captivate our imaginations and challenge our understanding of reality”. It launches on Friday.
August 26, 2024:
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Above - what a request from the Apple Podcasts web player looks like, as seen by OP3. The user-agent looks like a browser; but the “referer” header makes it clear that this is coming from Apple Podcasts. Many podcast hosting companies (Ausha, Buzzsprout, Spreaker, Captivate and Transistor), and OP3, are using the referer to count these as Apple Podcasts downloads.
August 22, 2024:
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Captivate is now attributing plays using the new Apple Podcasts web player in the company’s analytics.
August 20, 2024:
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Statistics in your podcast host - We asked a variety of podcast hosts. Ausha, Buzzsprout and Spreaker will correctly list this as Apple Podcasts. Omny Studio lists this separately as an Apple Podcasts website play. Captivate, Podbean, Megaphone, Spotify for Podcasters and RSS
August 1, 2024:
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Megaphone is now IAB certified under v2.2, says an email to customers. They’re the second company to certify to the new v2.2 standards; the first was Captivate. Megaphone was one of three Spotify companies who quietly withdrew from IAB certification at the beginning of the year, as Podnews reported in April; after criticism from customers, that decision was changed in early June.
July 23, 2024:
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Growth-oriented podcast hosting platform Captivate is the first podcast host to achieve IAB v2.2 Certification for Podcast Measurement. The company supports IPv6 and has a self-auditing spike detection system for accurate and reliable data. v2.2 of the podcast measurement guidelines were released in May.
July 17, 2024:
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Captivate 2.5 was announced. The release offers unlimited networks for all podcasters, and a new look and feel.
July 16, 2024:
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Captivate is doing a live unveiling of Captivate 2.5, the company’s new dashboard and some new features, on a live stream at 4pm UK time (11am ET). Captivate's Mark Asquith, co-founder and Managing Director, Garry Aylott, Head of Design, and Danny Brown, Head of Podcaster Experience will all be speaking.
July 10, 2024:
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In & Around Podcasting ask whether "value 4 value" is dead (by which they really are talking about streaming SATs, not the concept itself). It's a good listen, with Captivate's Mark Asquith and Danny Brown, joined by Mathew (one 't') Passy.
May 3, 2024:
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In the Podnews Weekly Review this week, Kevin Finn talks about "fanmail", a new way for listeners to get in touch with Buzzsprout podcasters. Plus, Captivate's Mark Asquith talks about the YouTube integration the company has worked on this week.
May 1, 2024:
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Captivate has launched a set of integrations with YouTube onto podcast websites and for supporting podcast players.
April 29, 2024:
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Captivate has rolled out support for it. Podpage also now supports it for any podcast episode page, like this one.
April 22, 2024:
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Last week, Libsyn was recertified under the IAB Podcast Measurement Guidelines v2.1. Captivate and Buzzsprout were last certified under v2.0 in 2020, but both companies are in the process of recertification.
April 19, 2024:
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Podcast hosting company Captivate has rolled-out support for chapters, including image and URL support, in its embedded player.
April 18, 2024:
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AdsWizz has successfully recertified for v2.1 of the IAB Podcast Measurement program. Podtrac and Simplecast also recertified in March. On the IAB TechLab website, there are still a number of companies only certified to v2.0, who haven’t recertified in more than three years: Anchor (now Spotify), Buzzsprout, Captivate, Chartable, Libsyn, Megaphone and Podbean.
March 6, 2024:
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As one open standard gets integrated by Apple (the transcript), another has been integrated by Spreaker. The company now supports podping, a near-instant way of communicating to podcast directories that you’ve published a new episode. Already supported by companies like Buzzsprout, Blubrry, Transistor, RSS
March 4, 2024:
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In & Around Podcasting is a new show launching today from Mark Asquith. A fight against the "podcast elite", and built to be an accessible, inclusive podcast for every single podcaster, it allows everyone with an interest in the medium to have a fair, open and transparent view on the podcasting industry and how it affects them. It's hosted - where else? - on Captivate.
January 17, 2024:
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The Podcast Sessions: Podcast intros and outros to captivate your audience
January 8, 2024:
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Ten podcast companies are still not certified for the latest version of the IAB’s podcast measurement guidelines v2.1, in spite of being asked to do so by the end of 2022. More than a year later, the IAB’s list of compliant companies still shows AdsWizz, Anchor (now Spotify), Buzzsprout, Captivate, Chartable, Libsyn, Megaphone, Podbean, Podtrac and Simplecast as only compliant to v2.0 of the guidelines, something that means “they will lose current status”, according to the IAB Tech Lab.
December 14, 2023:
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Growth-orientated podcast host Captivate has launched an analytics migration tool, which pulls in the data from a podcaster’s previous host as they move over to Captivate. The tool should smooth one pain-point for podcasters looking to switch hosting companies.
December 5, 2023:
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What’s the future for IAB Podcast Measurement? In November 2022, we reported that the IAB’s v2.0 certification would no longer be valid after Dec 31 2023. As of today, some of podcasting’s largest names are still only compliant to v2.0, and all will lose their claim to certification by the end of the year unless recertified: Adswizz, Buzzsprout, Captivate, Chartable, “EmpireStreaming” (now Soundstack), Libsyn, PodBean, Podtrac, Simplecast, and “Anchor” (now Spotify Creator Studio).
November 29, 2023:
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Captivate has added support for chapters in podcast episodes. The implementation supports the Podcasting 2.0 JSON chapters specification, allowing listeners to see the latest chapter detail without redownloading the audio.
October 5, 2023:
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The PodPros Actively Established Podcast Report has been updated for October. It reports more active shows. Captivate is the new #1 ranked podcast host.
September 25, 2023:
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Podcast hosting company Captivate has launched Captivate for Publishers - a way to sell premium podcast subscriptions. The tool can interface with existing subscriber systems, and offers enhanced network-focused analytics.
July 6, 2023:
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Naughty step, part 1: Podcast hosting company Podbean is misleading Google users searching for its competitor, Captivate. A search for "Captivate FM" returns (in third place when we looked) a paid result from Podbean impersonating the company, against Google Ads policy and US trademark law. Podbean didn't respond to Podnews's enquiries this week; the misleading ads are still running.
July 3, 2023:
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Amazon Cloudfront saw its lowest market share in podcast delivery for over a year. Squarespace switched their traffic from Akamai to Fastly. Highwinds was the highest climber: it's used by Spotify's Megaphone and by Captivate, among others.
June 28, 2023:
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Captivate has tweaked its memberships tool to let podcasters offer timed exclusives and free trials. The company also supports access from third-party subscription services.
June 7, 2023:
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The King Road Killings: An Idaho Murder Mystery is new from ABC Audio, investigating a set of savage murders that captivated and horrified the nation at the end of last year in Moscow ID, USA. The final two episodes will include real-time updates from investigators revealed in the preliminary hearing for the accused murderer.
May 19, 2023:
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The Podnews Weekly Review this week includes interviews with Mark Asquith of Captivate on the company's new monetisation tools, Oscar Merry of Fountain on the new version of the app, and Martin Mouritzen on the new version of Podfriend.
May 17, 2023:
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Podcast hosting and analytics platform Captivate has launched a new membership and tipping product, allowing podcasters to launch subscriptions and receive income directly from listeners. The company also launched the “Captivate Creator Suite,” a toolkit that brings together Captivate’s market-leading workflow and revenue tools.
May 5, 2023:
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The Podcast Accelerator has returned after a haitus. In the first episode, host Mark Asquith (who also runs podcast host Captivate) takes some time talking about why he took a break.
March 29, 2023:
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At Radiodays Europe, it was announced that UK daily news podcast The News Agents had reached 24 million downloads since launching seven months ago. The show is hosted by Captivate.
March 28, 2023:
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First look: A new grassroots industry coalition, the Podcast Standards Project, has been launched to advocate for open podcasting. The group includes podcast hosting companies like Buzzsprout, Red Circle, Captivate and Acast; and podcast players like Pocket Casts and Podverse. The group's initial blog post highlights why open podcasting is better for listeners and creators alike.
March 24, 2023:
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In the Podnews Weekly Review, Sam Sethi is back from skiing, and we talk to Captivate co-founder and CEO Mark Asquith about his company's recent embrace of the new podcast namespace. We also discuss YouTube's recent announcements.
March 13, 2023:
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Thanks to boosts from Mike Dell - "Vegas Boost! Good to see you!", he says; Dave Jones, who says "Yay, Captivate!" at the news that the podcast host was adding more podcasting 2.0 features; and Adam Curry, "value received and returned". Boost us with your comments in Fountain or other new podcast apps.
March 7, 2023:
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Captivate has released a number of RSS enhancements using new features from podcasting 2.0. Ten additional features were launched this week, allowing podcasters to support the vast majority of additional functionality from the new namespace.
January 19, 2023:
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Captivate is the latest podcast hosting company to remove email addresses by default from its RSS feeds. It'll help cut down on spam and enhance privacy.
December 26, 2022:
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In Dec 2021, Adobe revealed Project Shasta, which we noticed in Oct 2022 had rebranded to Adobe Express Podcast. It's now branded Adobe Podcast beta, and offers a mix of Descript-like "Edit words, not waveforms", SquadCast-like "Remote recording", and Auphonic-like "AI-powered audio" - and there's a waitlist on the website. But how does it compare to the market leaders? From Castos, Matt Medeiros gives it a full review.
December 19, 2022:
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Captivate supports OP3, and has done for a while. (Many other podcast hosts let you type in prefixes yourself; "support" means additional UX to help you add services like this).
December 9, 2022:
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The News Agents, the daily news podcast from Global, has exceeded 10 million downloads since launching three months ago. The show is hosted by Captivate and produced by Persephonica.
December 2, 2022:
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YouTube has launched a podcast. Like & Describe, YouTube’s first-ever official trends podcast, is of course available on YouTube itself, but also on all podcast platforms. It's hosted by Captivate.
November 14, 2022:
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Thank you to boosts from Adam Curry, 10,000 sats, because he liked the word "lekker" last Friday. ChemistryMadeSimple sent us 567 sats thanking us about the news about Captivate's download limit changes; and to Dave Jones who suggested the IAB's move to annual re-certification is tone deaf. If you get value from Podnews, support us with a boost from your new podcast app.
November 9, 2022:
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Exclusive: Growth oriented podcast hosting platform Captivate has just announced a significant increase in its tier download limits, all of which have been at least doubled. Customers get their new, permanent, limits applied today.
October 28, 2022:
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Spotted: Adobe's Project Shasta, which we first spotted in Dec 21, appears to now be called Adobe Express Podcast. It's a podcast editor that lets you "edit words, not waveforms", and is in early preview.
September 26, 2022:
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The winners of The African Podcast and Voice Awards were announced in a virtual ceremony. Supported by podcast hosting company Captivate, the Podcast of the Year went to Mantalk.ke by Eli Mwenda and Oscar Koome Mbabu.
September 21, 2022:
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First look: Podcast hosting company Captivate has just announced v2 of their dynamic content and monetisation engine AMIE. The tool includes new slot management, interface upgrades and tagging to allow podcasters to manage dynamic content quickly and at scale.
August 19, 2022:
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Opinion: SiriusXM claims that Stitcher has transcripts available for "some but not all" podcasts, and has "been working diligently to identify and select the technology to implement closed captioning". Let's save them the time - the solution is the podcast:transcript tag, which is in production in a number of podcast hosts, including Buzzsprout, Captivate and others. An already-supported, creator-friendly, open tool that allows both transcripts and closed-captioning could certainly help.
August 9, 2022:
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Blubrry has partnered with Descript to allow Descript users to publish their edited podcasts directly from the app. Blubrry joins Buzzsprout, Captivate, Castos, Hello audio, Podbean, Podcast·co and Transistor with this functionality. Blubrry publishing is also available directly from Hindenburg.
August 1, 2022:
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Podcast hosting company Captivate has announced that they will be the Platinum Sponsors of the African Podcast and Voice Artist Awards. The competition saw more than 2,000 nominees this year.
June 17, 2022:
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Julie-Anna Needham of Decibel Podcasts learnt eight things at The Podcast Show in London; while podcast host Captivate interviewed eleven attendees, including Podnews's Editor.
June 15, 2022:
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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:
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Media and entertainment group Global has made a strategic investment in audio ad company Odeeo, which puts audio ads in mobile games. Global's DAX will become exclusive sales partner in the UK and US. Global also owns podcast hosting company Captivate, as well as a significant radio and outdoor business in the UK.
June 10, 2022:
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The new episode of Pod Chat released today is with Captivate CEO, Mark Asquith. "The time for exciting things needs to take a break, and we need to get really good at the basics. How do we measure things? How do we make sure that all creators are represented fairly? How do we begin to educate that podcasting is different depending on your scale?"
May 30, 2022:
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Riverside, SquadCast, Restream and Captivate will be adding new integrations with Descript. There's a launch event on June 1 at 12pm ET.
April 19, 2022:
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In the UK, the Hospital Broadcasting Association has launched its own podcast hosting network, working with Captivate. Radio station members will be able to add their podcasts at no charge.
February 2, 2022:
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We've been there too. In spite of following Google's recommendations, our own Podland News was switched in December from podcast host Buzzsprout to point to (confusingly) a 301 redirect on Captivate, its former host - without our consent. That lost our stats for a little bit; and would normally take two weeks to correct. Similarly, in October, a test podcast feed in Google Podcasts was switched erroneously to a similar URL; again, losing stats (and again, pointing to a 301 redirect).
January 17, 2022:
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In the latest episode of The Podcast Accelerator, co-founder Mark Asquith talks about podcast hosting company Captivate's acquisition by Global, and the company's plans for 2022. (Podnews's Editor was an advisor for Captivate).
December 22, 2021:
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New, from Global's podcast hosting company Captivate, comes Captivate Insider - a weekly behind-the-scenes show hosted by Garry Aylott.
December 21, 2021:
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We reported yesterday that podcast hosting company bCast had pulled all "lifetime" accounts with just two weeks notice. The company has now changed its mind, calling the decision "misguided, irresponsible and a mistake"; it's also refunding customers if they bought a new plan.
December 20, 2021:
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Breaking: Media and entertainment group Global has purchased podcast hosting company Captivate. "This acquisition will enable us to support all talent in the podcast community from the very largest to emerging new talent", said Global's Group CEO Stephen Miron. Terms weren't given; company founders Mark Asquith and Kieran McKeefery will remain with the business. Podnews's Editor was an advisor to Captivate.
December 16, 2021:
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The
podcast:transcript
tag is an open standard, supported by a number of podcasts and offers both static transcripts (in HTML or text) or real-time captions (in the SRT format). It has significant usage already - widely supported by many modern podcast hosts including Captivate, Transistor, Buzzsprout, Omny Studio and others, a number of podcast apps display these transcripts, including the popular Android app Podcast Addict. This open standard enables podcast publishers to produce accurate transcripts for themselves.
December 6, 2021:
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PodLP is enabling transcripts shortly within its app, and has posted a demo. The
podcast:transcript
tag is supported by podcast hosts like Buzzsprout, Captivate, Castopod, Fireside FM and others.
December 3, 2021:
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Data: Around 425,000 new episodes were published on Anchor in November, but the company lost 0.7% market share. In the top ten, the top 8 remains unchanged; Captivate is new at #9, beating Megaphone which remains at #10. (Podnews's Editor is an advisor for Captivate).
December 2, 2021:
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Auphonic has announced an integration with growth-oriented podcast host Captivate. The Auphonic service will polish your audio, adding noise reduction and fixing audio levels. Podnews's Editor is an advisor to Captivate.
November 16, 2021:
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Captivate will give a demonstration of their new AMIE dynamic content tool on YouTube today at 11am Eastern. For "the serious independent podcasters of the world", it's available to anyone who hosts their podcast on Captivate. (Podnews's Editor is an advisor).
November 8, 2021:
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Player 456 is - and you may not need telling - a show about Squid Game; it's the first from the UK, and takes a deep dive into the Korean show that has captivated the world. Produced by Quite The Thing Media, it's released three times a week.
November 1, 2021:
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Podcast host Captivate has unveiled AMIE, its "audio monetization and integration engine". The dynamic content insertion system allows pre, post and midroll slots to be added, as well as an "ad-painter", to help paint out older, baked-in ads to replace with dynamic content. The tool is released to all Captivate podcasters on Nov 16. (Podnews's Editor is an advisor).
October 25, 2021:
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Captivate is due to launch AMIE, their dynamic ad and content insertion tool, live on YouTube this Friday at 12pm Eastern. Podnews's Editor is an advisor.
October 1, 2021:
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Released during International Podcast Day, growth podcast host Captivate announced a guest booking and interview management system. The system allows capture of guest information, diary management and import to episode notes, and is integrated with remote recording tool SquadCast. Podnews's Editor is an advisor.
September 30, 2021:
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Podcast host Captivate has a live stream today (12pm Eastern) with a 'huge' new feature. We'll have details of it tomorrow. Podnews's Editor is an advisor.
September 28, 2021:
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Podcast hosting company Captivate revealed their new embeddable podcast player. Here's what it looks like - it's completely screenreader accessible, responsive and has a fully customisable design. The company also promises "a big reveal" on International Podcast Day. Podnews's Editor is an advisor.
September 23, 2021:
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Podcast Maker Day is today, from podcast host Captivate. It's free for everyone, and includes guest speakers and help launching a podcast.
September 16, 2021:
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Podcast host Captivate is running a free Podcast Maker Day on Sep 23. It's open to everyone, not just Captivate customers; and features guest speakers sharing their stories of growing their podcast, as well as a Q&A session. Podnews's Editor is an advisor.
August 20, 2021:
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Podcast host Captivate now sends podcast credits automatically to Podchaser, using the Podcast Taxonomy to make it clear who does what. Podnews's Editor is an advisor to Captivate; Podjobs also supports the Podcast Taxonomy.
August 19, 2021:
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Podcast host Captivate has added a set of features for podcast networks, available to all users. Network analytics, team management, a network website, and feed drops are free to all Captivate users. Podnews's Editor is an advisor.
August 18, 2021:
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Podcast hosting company Captivate is set to unveil a major new feature as part of their Ready, Set, Grow! podcast education summit. It's free today at 11am Eastern, and also has guests James Marriott, Heather Osgood and Kelsey Johnson. Podnews's Editor is an advisor.
June 30, 2021:
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Podcast host Captivate has launched Captivate Growth Labs: described as "an actionable and continually expanding library of courses and workshops diving deep into all facets of podcast marketing, audience growth and monetization". The community is free to all Captivate customers. Podnews's Editor is an advisor.
June 9, 2021:
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Podcast host Captivate has unveiled what it calls Captivate 2.0: a refresh of the user interface, a new trackable short-links tool, an "omni-search" service for quick navigation, and a simpler global one-click distribution service for podcast directories. Mark Asquith, pictured above, told Podnews: "We always wanted to make the real potential of podcasting more accessible to everyday podcasters, and we think the new features and the flexibility that these upgrades offer for the future are a game-changer." Podnews's Editor is an advisor to the company.
June 4, 2021:
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Podcast host Captivate showed off a preview of Captivate 2.0, which offers a number of additional features for the growth-oriented podcast host. Podnews's Editor, James Cridland, is an advisor.
May 31, 2021:
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Brian of London writes an article on why podcast apps and aggregators should be using Podping. Podping is now in live beta with Buzzsprout, RSS․com, Captivate and Transistor.
May 28, 2021:
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Captivate will reveal Captivate 2.0 on June 3. (Our Editor is on their Advisory Board).
May 18, 2021:
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How to podcast on YouTube - Captivate did some experimentation recently and discovered some mistakes you want to avoid.
May 11, 2021:
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Mark Asquith from Captivate has added a new Twitter list of 'people doing amazing work in the industry' - might be worth a follow.
May 6, 2021:
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The new Apple Podcasts iOS 14.5 app is not following Apple's specification around the
itunes:title
tag, and seems to ignore the tag completely. This is leading to shows displaying with double episode numbers. Those examples are hosted on Libsyn and Captivate, who both follow that specification correctly. Thanks to Crate Media for the heads-up.
April 26, 2021:
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Meanwhile, Podcasting 2.0 chats to Kieran and Mark from Captivate, and "Hydra Podping", which we'll cover when we understand it.
April 12, 2021:
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How to Help Listeners Find Your Show looks at SEO for podcasting. One tip Captivate gives is how to discover what keywords people are searching for to find your podcast.
April 5, 2021:
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How to prepare your podcast guests: Captivate has a clever hack for using Twitter.
March 30, 2021:
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How to start a podcast - Captivate has a definitive step-by-step guide.
March 24, 2021:
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Podsights has announced a $4m funding round. (They had a previous funding round of $1.5m in Jan 2020). The analytics company, which has a team of 15 people, is profitable.
March 5, 2021:
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Captivate is the latest podcast host to support the new podcast namespace: they've anounced support for transcriptions, including the new
podcast:transcript
tag.
February 24, 2021:
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Buzzsprout, Podbean, Spreaker and Captivate were all subject to a denial-of-service attack. The same attackers appear to have been involved. We were wondering why they've targeted podcast hosts: so we talked to the group behind the attacks.
February 19, 2021:
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Podcast host Captivate has announced new integration with Descript, allowing you to upload directly from the Descript interface. Megaphone has launched a unique listener performance tool, allowing "elegant, real-time visibility into podcast impressions, downloads, and listener engagement".
February 16, 2021:
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Gary Aylott has joined podcast host Captivate as the company's Head of Design.
January 26, 2021:
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The
.fm
top-level domain-name is now most popular with podcasters, according to 2020 data from the company, with Castbox, Anchor, Podsights, Megaphone, Omny Studio, Transistor, and Captivate in the top 15 of a chart of DNS server responses.
January 15, 2021:
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After an experiment, growth-orientated podcast host Captivate has stopped publishing one of their company podcasts to YouTube. In a blog post, Mark Asquith explains the steps they took, and concludes that focusing solely on audio helps grow a more specific and focused audience, rather than automatic repurposing to YouTube.
December 18, 2020:
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Captivate has launched "show notes snippets", a simple way to add pre-written snippets to your show notes. (Podnews's Editor is an advisor).
December 11, 2020:
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Transistor's private podcasts now have expanded analytics with more information. Castos has a new player for their Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin. Captivate's private podcast feeds now integrate with Zapier (Disclosures).
December 3, 2020:
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Podland, a new weekly podcast about the world of podcasting, launches today - with Sam Sethi and our Editor, James Cridland. This week there's an interview with Captivate's Mark Asquith, too.
November 27, 2020:
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Podcast host Captivate has added private feeds, free for every podcaster on their platform. (Our Editor is an advisor).
November 23, 2020:
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4 Insights from #1 Rated Branded Podcasts - the top branded podcasts only spend an average of 11 seconds of their episode talking about their brand, says San Francisco-based podcast maker Captivate.
October 26, 2020:
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Podcast host Captivate have unveiled AMIE, their "audio mastering and integration engine" which is now in private beta. The tool offers dynamic content insertion for all podcasters on the platform, and also includes a proprietary audio processing tool. (Podnews's Editor is an advisor).
October 22, 2020:
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Podcorn, a self-service marketplace connecting podcasters with advertisers for native sponsorships, is announcing new partnership deals with podcast hosts Buzzsprout, Podomatic, RSS, Captivate and Omny Studio. Podcorn claims to have done thousands of campaigns with tens of thousands of podcast creators.
October 8, 2020:
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Following our story on Tuesday about the ease of podcast piracy using Anchor's tools, podcast host Captivate has announced a safeguard against piracy by triggering a verification email giving the opportunity to cancel any import. (Podnews's Editor is an advisor, though wasn't involved in this new feature).
September 25, 2020:
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Captivate has announced a raft of updates to Captivate Sites, the company's free podcast websites for customers. The sites are now customisable, include email optins. (Podnews’s Editor is an advisor).
September 22, 2020:
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Captivate, a podcast host, is to integrate with Zapier, and are looking for beta testers. Zapier allows a number of automation triggers with over 2,000 apps and services - Podnews uses it to post stories to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. (Disclosures)
September 21, 2020:
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Captivate wasn't the first to announce integration with The Podcast Index, as we said on Friday: Fireside was first, implementing that within 24 hours. Sorry.
September 18, 2020:
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Podcast host Captivate has become the first podcast host to allow podcasters to directly add their show to The Podcast Index, Adam Curry and Dave Jones's alternative index for podcast apps. (Disclosures) Meanwhile, The Podcast Index has added a twitter-like discussion system, using Mastodon.
September 3, 2020:
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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.
August 17, 2020:
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Podcast host Captivate has added Gaana as a destination - they claim it's India's #1 audio platform; and a link with Podcorn in their new resources section. (Our Editor is on Captivate's advisory board - Disclosures).
July 17, 2020:
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Captivate has announced an agreement with SongsforPodcasters to allow podcasters to licence songs from independent musicians. (Podnews's Editor is an advisor to Captivate).
July 16, 2020:
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Growth-oriented podcast host Captivate has published tips on how to market your podcasts for growth, revenue and success. (Podnews's Editor is an advisor).
June 1, 2020:
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Captivate have added customisation for their embeddable podcast player, and added the IAB seal to their sponsor kits. Disclosures
May 22, 2020:
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Exclusive: Podcast host Captivate will announce later today that they have achieved IAB Certification for their podcast analytics. The certification was achieved at an "unprecedented pace" according to CEO Mark Asquith, and podcasters will see no significant changes to their reported download numbers. The first UK company to undergo this work, Captivate joins another 10 retail hosts that are certified compliant. (Podnews's Editor is on Captivate's advisory board).
May 15, 2020:
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Podcast host Captivate have added unique listeners to their analytics. Calculated to the IAB v2 standard, they highlight it as "part one of an analytics upgrade". (Disclosures)
April 22, 2020:
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Podcast host Captivate have launched a set of additional analytics, including episode-by-episode and geographical data. It's available for all Captivate podcasters. (Disclosure - the Editor of Podnews is on Captivate's advisory board).
April 17, 2020:
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For every review, Podchaser is paying 25 cents to Meals on Wheels America. It's extended its reviews4good program until the end of April. Libsyn and Captivate are also matching all donations for podcasts on their platform, and if a podcast replies to the review, that doubles the money. (Our Editor is on Captivate's advisory board. Disclosures)
April 8, 2020:
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In Captivate's weekly feature release, the podcast host has added XSLT styling for podcast feeds, that removes the confusing jumble of code you normally see when clicking an RSS feed by mistake. Here's an example. (Our Editor is on their advisory board; Podnews smartened up our RSS feed up a few weeks ago too.)
March 16, 2020:
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Podcast host Captivate has launched a one-click sponsor kit, which produces "a beautiful PDF" containing download numbers and podcast information. (Podnews's Editor is on Captivate's Advisory Board)
February 6, 2020:
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As part of the podcast industry gets ready for Podcast Movement Evolutions, Trade Show University is a new podcast helping small businesses benefit from trade shows. One listener claims the tips learnt in the podcast helped increase his leads by 250%. (Captivate)
February 5, 2020:
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Podcast host Captivate has announced four new appointments to its advisory board - Chris Ducker, Kathy Doyle, Jordan Harbinger and Daniel J Lewis. They join Laura Roeder, Evo Terra and our Editor, James Cridland. James has also joined Poductivity's advisory board, and the Podnews disclosures page has been updated.
January 22, 2020:
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Podcast host Captivate have added "single subscribe pages" for all podcasts. Here's one. The pages are automatically generated for every podcast hosted on the platform.
December 31, 2019:
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Mark Asquith from Rebel Base Media, which runs growth-oriented podcast host Captivate, has been interviewed by SquadCast. Disclosures
December 20, 2019:
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Podcast Gumbo is a new, weekly, podcast from the excellent Paul Kondo, who writes the Podcast Gumbo newsletter. It'll contain three podcast recommendations, in less than five minutes. (Captivate)
December 11, 2019:
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Gravity is a brand new podcast from real estate developer, speaker, writer and advisor Brett Kaufman, featuring thoughtful conversations with people worldwide. (Crate Media / Captivate)
December 10, 2019:
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Podcast host Transistor now supports WebSub, to help get your episodes quicker to podcast apps. Captivate, Simplecast, Zencast, Transistor, Powerpress and Buzzsprout now all support the standard.
December 5, 2019:
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Captivate has increased its download plans by around 20%. (Disclosures)
November 6, 2019:
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Podcast host Captivate has launched Captivate Sync™, a WordPress podcasting plugin. The company has a history of WordPress development.
November 4, 2019:
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Why do podcast companies try to complicate things?, asks Captivate's Mark Asquith. "Many of the 'old school' people in the industry still try to hold on to podcasting being complicated, generally making newer podcasters feel bad about themselves and treating them like fools. This has to stop," he says.
October 31, 2019:
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The producer and co-host of The Successful Encore Career Podcast has been announced as the winner of AARP Ohio's Disrupt Aging Award. Congratulations to them! (Captivate)
October 22, 2019:
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Our podcast pages now highlight podcasts who are using WebSub to make their new episodes appear faster in listeners' podcast apps. Find it in the Technical Details section: try ours, any from Captivate, like Captivate Insider, any from Simplecast, like Uncommon, any from Buzzsprout, like AskPat, and plenty more.
October 21, 2019:
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Our podcast pages now highlight podcasts who are using WebSub to make their new episodes appear faster in listeners' podcast apps. Find it in the Technical Details section: try ours, any from Captivate, like Captivate Insider, any from Simplecast, like Uncommon, any from Buzzsprout, like AskPat, and plenty more.
October 8, 2019:
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Podcast host Captivate now has Spotify passthrough, which means Spotify stats appear in the same place as the rest of stats on the Captivate platform.
September 25, 2019:
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Podcast host Captivate has released a number of enhancements including automatic checking for cover-art size/colourspace, Podchaser ratings, and support for third-party tracking codes. Disclosures
August 30, 2019:
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Podcast host Captivate is now in public beta. Part of Rebel Base Media, it describes itself as the world's only growth-oriented podcast host, and includes a website generation tool and submission services. Disclosures
August 27, 2019:
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The Podcast Host reviews Captivate, a growth-oriented podcast host, and seem to give it a good bill of health. (Disclosures)
August 12, 2019:
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Captivate podcast hosting, analytics & marketing from Rebel Base Media have announced their Advisory Board, including Laura Roeder, the Founder of MeetEdgar and well-known podcast "pontificator" Evo Terra, CEO of SimplerMedia. Our Founder and Editor, James Cridland, is also an advisor. Disclosures
August 6, 2019:
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AWeber has announced its second Beyond the Podcast Virtual Summit on September 18th. It's free, and will include six podcasting experts including Captivate's Mark Asquith, Dave Jackson and Harry Duran.
July 25, 2019:
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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 5, 2019:
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Captivate, a growth-oriented podcast host currently in beta, has just announced Captivate Sites for a podcast website that "looks like it was designed this decade".
November 30, 2018:
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Reflecting planned expansion at the company, the owner of Podcast Websites is now known as Rebel Base Media, with Podcast Websites making up one product within a suite of platforms created to help podcasters grow their audience and their audio influence. Today, they announced a new "growth-orientated" podcast hosting platform, Captivate·FM. The service is open for pre-registration in preparation for launch in January 2019.