Search for ‘coronavirus’
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December 12, 2022:
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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)
November 15, 2021:
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The New York Times says that 'misleading covid-19 talk goes unchallenged' on podcasts (and on radio). The article criticises iHeart, Spotify and Apple.
September 16, 2021:
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The NAB Show, due to take place in Las Vegas NV in mid October, has been cancelled for a second year, after a number of major exhibitors pulled out. Citing the ongoing pandemic, NAB's EVP of Events Chris Brown said: "It has become apparent in the face of these challenges that we can no longer effectively host NAB Show in person". The exhibition was to have a podcasting section, and attracted 91,000 people in 2019.
May 4, 2021:
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CNN's 'Coronavirus: Fact or Fiction' podcast has become Chasing Life - Dr Sanjay Gupta will help us approach our new normal mindfully, finding a balance between self-care and productivity.
April 28, 2021:
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Spotify's drunk, stoned, transphobic conspiracy theorist Joe Rogan has told "healthy 21 year-olds" to not bother with getting a coronavirus vaccine. So, we'll link to the story of Cody Lyster, a healthy college student and baseball player at Colorado Mesa University, who died on April 8th last year after catching the virus. He was 21.
November 24, 2020:
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The Reuters Institute has published a new report about Daily News Podcasts. The research points to them being very successful (in terms of total downloads), and highlights four types of daily news podcasts currently available.
November 13, 2020:
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The Coronavirus Radio Ideas Awards took place yesterday. The "best podcast, creativity and entertainment" went to BBC Radio 4's comedy podcast Now Wash Your Hands...
September 18, 2020:
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Spotify's hosting of Joe Rogan is causing problems within the company because of transphobic content in a number of his shows. Spotify says it reviewed the content and determined it didn't meet the criteria for removal. Many episodes didn't make it to Spotify earlier this month, though podcasts with COVID-19 misinformation did; and Rogan has also been accused of homophobia and racism.
July 23, 2020:
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Media Matters for America, a journalism "conservative misinformation" pressure group, highlights comments on a recent Joe Rogan podcast against transgender people. The outlet has previously reported on Rogan's misinformation about COVID-19 (as did Podnews, on June 30); earlier, other commentators called out Rogan's racist, transphobic and homophobic comments. Spotify starts streaming the Joe Rogan podcast from September 1, and has clear rules prohibiting this content. 🍿
July 22, 2020:
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A prime example of good podcast marketing for your show: find a good angle and stick with it. Fireflies: the original kids debate show sent us a press release, which we covered; Steve Scauzillo from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune got in touch with us, and covered the story in the newspaper.
June 29, 2020:
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What effect has the pandemic had on podcasts in India? Not much, says Indus Vox Media's Amit Doshi, in an interview in Quartz India.
June 17, 2020:
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During the coronavirus pandemic, podcasting's "share of ear" - the amount of listening to podcasting vs everything else - jumped by 26%, according to Edison Research. They also noted that the share of at-home listening for all audio increased by 44%.
June 16, 2020:
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"If we survived the last 3 months, there isn’t much else the future has in store that would worry me," says Wondery's Hernan Lopez in a wide-ranging article about the podcasting business by Howard Homonoff in Forbes.
June 15, 2020:
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Podcasting's bigger than ever. ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Australia says that podcast listening is 22% larger than even before the coronavirus pandemic in the country. The company has published detailed stats for categories, and has also announced commercial partnerships with Audioboom and Kast Media.
June 5, 2020:
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NPR has announced the winners of the NPR Student Podcast Challenge. The lower grades winner covers the harassment and racism felt by chinese students in New York City as the coronavirus hit; the higher grades winner focuses on how global warming disproportionately affects black communities.
June 2, 2020:
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A record number of podcasts were started in May. 96,537 new shows were added to Apple Podcasts, according to Daniel J Lewis's My Podcast Reviews. The previous record, 90,977, was hit in April: it's likely that the coronavirus pandemic had a positive effect in podcast launches. There are now 1,136,520 podcasts in Apple Podcasts, according to the data. (Apple Podcasts powers at least 75% of all podcast app directories)
May 29, 2020:
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In South Africa, TheMediaOnline claims that the coronavirus "may just have forced the medium into premature puberty".
May 26, 2020:
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Podtrac reports that podcast consumption continues to recover after a slump caused by the coronavirus. Last week, downloads were up 5%, and audience up 4%. Comedy saw the highest growth. The service only measures participating publishers.
May 22, 2020:
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Thrilling tales of modern capitalism is new from Slate today: featuring on companies who are in the news and what stories have shaped them. Slate tells us that while some will mention the coronavirus, other stories will "provide a nice escape".
May 21, 2020:
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An award-winning folk podcast, Folk on Foot is to run a second music festival online this Monday May 25. The first, over Easter, raised over £110,000 (US$134,000) to support musicians who are unable to earn a living during the coronavirus.
May 19, 2020:
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Podcast Addict has returned to the Google Play app store today. The app had been suspended for linking to third-party podcasts about the coronavirus. Hiroshi Lockheimer, an SVP for Google, has posted on Twitter that "We are still sorting out kinks in our process as we combat Covid misinformation, but this app should not have been removed." The notification from Google Play asks the developer to "continue to monitor your app's content", and there appears to be no guarantee that the app won't be suspended for a fourth time for linking to third-party content.
May 18, 2020:
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The Google Play app store has suspended Podcast Addict, the most-reviewed Android podcast app, for having podcasts in it that mention the coronavirus. The note from Google says that content in the app about COVID-19 had not been approved by government entities or public health organisations. As Reclaim The Net reports, suspension of the app also immediately stops all ad revenue and all in-app payments; an appeal process takes at least seven days. Xavier Guillemane, the app's independent developer, tells Podnews: "I cannot believe that they would really want to ban the app for this reason", and points out that this policy should also apply to all web browsers, news apps and social networks. Existing users can continue to use the app.
May 15, 2020:
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Paul Colligan looks at video podcasting in the time of the corovavirus - without looking like you're video podcasting in the time of the coronavirus. The article includes some technical discussion, but also some discussion of planning and focus.
May 13, 2020:
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Edison Research is presenting a webinar "Podcasting: Connection and Community During Quarantine" - it will focus on how listening, and listeners, have been changing during the coronavirus pandemic. It's free, May 21 at 1pm Eastern.
May 12, 2020:
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Podtrac shows another slow increase in podcast listening in their weekly report. The Business category saw the highest growth last week.
May 11, 2020:
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Manoush Zomorodi and Jen Poyant have released a new episode of ZigZag, announcing the end of the partnership. Parenting time pressures and the uncertainty of the coronavirus were to blame.
May 7, 2020:
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Spotify has removed a COVID-19 podcast featuring an interview with conspiracy theorist and idiot David Icke, after he tried to claim that 5G was to blame for the coronavirus, which it isn't, and then says he doubts the virus exists anyway, which it does. CNBC reports that Apple Podcasts has yet to remove the episode, however. Icke also believes that we're ruled by shape-shifting reptilians, and that the universe is made from vibrational energy.
May 6, 2020:
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The Skimm is laying off 20% of its staff. However, Skimm This and Skimm'd from The Couch have both posted episodes in the last 24 hours, and the producer of Skimm This appears to deny that she's been let go in a tweet.
May 5, 2020:
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Podcast traffic is continuing to recover, according to latest data from Podtrac. Last week was 2% higher for audience and virtually flat for downloads; comedy podcasts fared best. The service measures podcasts from participating publishers.
May 1, 2020:
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It looks like the Apple Podcasts go-slow issue we reported earlier this week has been fixed. Apple's second quarter results show a revenue increase in 1% year-on-year in spite of the coronavirus.
April 30, 2020:
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Mindshare, an advertising agency, reports that 26% of Americans are spending more time with podcasts since the effects of the coronavirus. However, that number's beaten by radio (31% of Americans); shopping online (44%); watching movies (53%); or going online (54%).
April 29, 2020:
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Apple Podcasts are now recommending news podcasts, according to Axios, in a special editorial section for the US, Canada, UK and Australia.
April 28, 2020:
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Podcast consumption is increasing, according to new figures from Podtrac. This is the first week that both downloads and users have grown since the first week of March, the company says.
April 27, 2020:
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The Archers, an 'everyday story of country folk' in Ambridge, broadcast on the BBC since 1951 and available as a podcast since 2007, is to re-broadcast old episodes while it adjusts to a new production schedule because of the coronavirus.
April 24, 2020:
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In the UK, 18% of British adults - over 10.1m people - now listen to podcasts every week, according to new data from audio measurement company RAJAR. Podcasts are now more popular than CDs or peoples' own MP3 music collection, according to the study. The full data is on RAJAR's website: fieldwork was carried out in February, before the coronavirus pandemic.
April 23, 2020:
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Voxnest have released an update on COVID-19 podcast listening across their network. The main claim is that global podcast listens are "up by 42%", a comparison to listening in the first week of January, a time when many people, especially in Europe, were on holiday. The graphs appear to show that all territories have increased since the end of March; and that categories around peoples' "hobbies and passions" are doing well; the company does note that, as a whole, US podcast listens are down by over 20%, however.
April 22, 2020:
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Soundstripe surveyed over 320 video freelancers and creative agencies about the impact the coronavirus has had on their business. Over half of those surveyed have lost more than three-quarters of their projects; and almost 25% have shut their businesses altogether.
April 21, 2020:
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Podtrac's weekly update shows a continued decline in downloads, by 1% last week, across the publishers that they monitor. Fiction was the highest growing category, with downloads increasing by 35% week-on-week.
April 20, 2020:
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Can't get a test for COVID-19? Just be a guest on Joe Rogan's podcast.
April 17, 2020:
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Broadway Podcast Network is seeing downloads increase by 30%. “The jump is really across the board,” commented its founder, Dori Berinstein. “Every podcast is seeing greater traffic,” she said, adding that “one of our new podcasts, Ramin Karimloo’s The Hang, is so popular it crashed the site this week.”
April 16, 2020:
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Axios claims that consumers crave cheerful content Awesome alliteration also, apparently.
April 14, 2020:
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Podtrac have also released their weekly podcast consumption data. This shows that podcast consumption continues to decrease, with sports being the hardest-hit.
April 13, 2020:
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Podtrac has published their top 20 US podcasts for March. There's only one new entry: CNN's Coronavirus: Fact vs Fiction, which debuts at #13.
April 10, 2020:
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First look: Which podcasts are talking about the coronavirus? Magellan has taken a look: and discovered that 4 out of 5 comedy podcasts are mentioning it; and 1 in 4 of all true crime shows. It's the latest in a series of articles about how the coronavirus is affecting podcast advertising.
April 8, 2020:
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How many takedowns have Blubrry and Libsyn had from Spotify because of coronavirus-related concerns? Hardly any - "under double digits" according to Todd Cochrane of Blubrry, speaking on The New Media Show.
April 7, 2020:
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Podtrac has released a new set of data about podcast consumption during the coronavirus. Last week, downloads were down just 1% week-on-week, leading the company to say that the effects are levelling off. The highest-growing category last week was TV & Film; though fiction podcasts have grown strongly over the past three weeks.
April 6, 2020:
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Following our story on Friday, Spotify has told Podnews that they are not automatically removing episodes just for mentioning the words 'coronavirus' or 'covid-19'. Some shows, mainly with titles around prevention or treatment, were manually removed following violations of Spotify's terms of service. Spotify also has a coronavirus section, by the way.
April 2, 2020:
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Apple have published a curated list of coronavirus podcasts called COVID-19: Essential Listening. It's available in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, with more countries to come.
April 1, 2020:
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First look: Downloads are down; listening is down more. So says Chartable, which has just published how coronavirus is changing podcast listening. Unlike other download numbers that we've linked-to so far, Chartable also has access to Spotify and Apple Podcasts listening data, which it aggregates into its platform. "Listening has dropped off much more than downloads have. This is likely because many podcast apps, like Apple Podcasts, will continue downloading podcast episodes even if they are not actually played." The number of reviews also dramatically dropped, as have downloads over cellular networks. There is a slow recovery on the way though.
March 31, 2020:
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First look: US podcast downloads were down 4% last week, says Podtrac, which has posted a new weekly update: they are still 25% higher than the first week of January (when everyone was, admittedly, mostly on holiday). In terms of categories, audio fiction podcast downloads were up by 19% week-on-week; news podcasts saw a 6% decline, and sports down 10%. Podtrac measure over a billion podcast downloads per month.
March 30, 2020:
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Podsights has published a piece about the current effects on podcast advertising from the coronavirus. It reports downloads are holding steady; but that many downloads have moved to later in the day. The company estimates that advertising revenue is going to be down for Q2 by about 20%. (Also: almost half of all podcast publishers surveyed said they were making podcasts about the coronavirus.)
March 27, 2020:
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While you can't go to live podcast shows any more, Melbourne-based Stupid Old Studios Presents is selling tickets to live podcast streams instead. Ticket sales, we're told, are strong - with 800 sold within 24 hours. Supporting comedians and the creative arts, a section of the community that have been significantly harmed by the coronavirus, seems like a good thing right now.
March 26, 2020:
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Meanwhile Nielsen claims that consumers forced indoors spend more time on media: publishing case studies into Hurricane Harvey, Snowpocalypse 2016, and coronavirus-related viewing in Korea and Italy.
March 25, 2020:
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Magellan has looked at which podcast advertisers are spending more, and less, because of the coronavirus. Travel advertising is down 73%, which shouldn't surprise anyone. Meanwhile, Triton Digital says that news/talk radio's share of streaming has grown by 14%.
March 24, 2020:
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Exclusive: Podtrac, the largest podcast analytics company in the US, has released weekly podcast data showing podcast download and audience growth including the effect of the coronavirus. The data will be published later on the Podtrac website, and updated weekly.
March 23, 2020:
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How is the coronavirus affecting podcast downloads? If you're seeing a slight drop in your downloads, you're not alone, it seems - we've lots of detail from podcasters today, as well as an understanding of whether the internet can cope with all this home working. (The comments are open here, too)
March 20, 2020:
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The Apple Podcasts iOS app has been updated with specific Coronavirus information in the US, reports AppleInsider. Visible in the screenshots are promotion for CNN's Coronavirus: Fact vs Fiction, NPR's Coronavirus Daily, and the BBC's Coronavirus Daily Update. Other new sections include "Cultivating Calm" and "Boredom Busters". (No change is visible in Australia).
March 19, 2020:
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Podcast Movement is five months away; and currently is still planned to happen at the end of August. Happily, the event is scheduled to be in Dallas TX this year, which is where Podcast Movement's main headquarters is based, so they know what it's like. The company has also posted details of a "contingency registration", and ways that it offers to remain part of the podcasting community.
March 18, 2020:
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The UK radio station Podcast Radio is now broadcasting information about the coronavirus.
March 17, 2020:
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Hindenburg Journalist Pro have also offered three-month temporary licences for B2B customers (you've got an email from them). However, for podcasters everywhere, they often advertise this link for a 90-day free trial, and a mystery "special discount". This isn't related to the coronavirus, and isn't an affiliate link - we use their product and like it though.
March 16, 2020:
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Podcast hosts should not be forced to remove inaccurate or false information about the coronavirus, says entertainment lawyer Gordon Firemark in an article for Podnews today. "We haven't seen anything yet," says Buzzsprout's Alban Brooke, "but if somebody uses Buzzsprout to promote fake 'cures' that would be a violation of our TOS and we'd 100% remove it."
March 13, 2020:
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Dan Misener examines the numbers of podcasts about the coronavirus, and notes the value of relevance.
March 12, 2020:
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On Twitter, podcast producer Tom Green plots the growth of Coronavirus podcasts.
March 11, 2020:
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Following a recent live podcast recording event in co Clare, Ireland, last month, an attendee has been found to have the Covid-19 virus. Up to ten people have been advised to self-isolate as a result.
March 5, 2020:
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Science Vs has a new episode about covid-19, the virus more commonly known as Coronavirus. They've also added a song to remind you to wash your hands, the most effective way of protecting yourself. (Megaphone)
February 27, 2020:
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Radiodays Europe, a large conference for radio and podcasting in Lisbon, Portugal, is going ahead at the end of March. It has announced a number of keynote speakers, including Entale's Wil Harris; and has covid-19 information on its website.
February 20, 2020:
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The NAB Show in Las Vegas is going ahead, in spite of worries about the coronavirus.
February 12, 2020:
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Podcast Brunch Club ("like book club but for podcasts") has a special coronavirus playlist.
February 10, 2020:
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How do we fix it?, a solutions-based podcast, turns its attention to the coronavirus this week, with an interview with an infection and immunity specialist. (Davies Content/Acast)