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Ximalaya
A Tencent-backed podcasting and audio book platform
Ad sales and monetisation · Hosting platforms · Listening apps
A Tencent-backed podcasting and audio book platform
Ad sales and monetisation · Hosting platforms · Listening apps
Stories
January 30, 2024:
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Yesterday, we mentioned that Apple Podcasts had mistakenly included Libsyn as a company supporting Podcasting 2.0’s transcripts feature. Libsyn had criticised the standard and clarified it didn’t support the feature. Today, we note they’ve disappeared from the list - along with Acast, Firstory, Pinecast, Podigee, Simplecast, Ximalaya and ZenCast. (We think Fireside and Pinecast support transcripts, incidentally).
January 8, 2024:
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In China, one in five internet users listen to podcasts on Ximalaya, says the company. It shared US $9.8mn with its podcast hosts.
August 19, 2022:
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Podnews lists more than 1,990 subscriber channels within Apple Podcasts. Ximalaya's channel is the largest free channel, with 1,205 shows in it; Ideabrew Studios is the largest with paid shows, with a total of 232.
June 24, 2022:
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Chinese podcasting company Ximalaya has pushed back the launch of its planned IPO in Hong Kong. They were seeking $100 million, but Bloomberg reports market volatility is to blame.
November 9, 2021:
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PodFest China was held recently, and we've a full report, and pictures from the day in Shanghai. It was announced that NPR's Podcast Start Up Guide will be published in a Chinese version, and podcast host and app Ximalaya revealed that it hosts 23,300 podcasts, with more than 5,000 added so far this year.
September 10, 2021:
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The Chinese podcast platform Ximalaya has cancelled plans for a US stock exchange listing, and now plans to file for an IPO in Hong Kong after apparent pressure from the Chinese government. It has a market share of 75% of all audio consumption on mobile platforms in the country.
June 2, 2021:
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Ximalaya might not float on the New York Stock Exchange after all. Chinese authorities have, apparently, asked the company to launch in Hong Kong instead. The company owns Himalaya, which it apparently injected $100m into, though maybe it didn't.
May 3, 2021:
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Ximalaya has filed for a US IPO. The largest online audio platform in China (with spoken-word and music content), it has 250m monthly users, and 5.2m active content creators. Out of all audio listened-to on mobile in China, Ximalaya provides 75%.
June 15, 2020:
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Ximalaya FM ("shee ma lai ya"), the most popular Chinese free podcast hosting company, have unveiled significant restrictions to podcasts taking advertising. Ximalaya FM now requires podcasters to inform them of details of every advertising deal, and the company will now take an unspecified commission on all deals worth more than US$4,250.
May 12, 2020:
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Half of podcast consumers in China listen every day, according to the first survey of podcasting in the country from PodFest China. The most popular app is Apple Podcasts, according to the data, with Ximalaya FM and NetEase also being in the top 3; while a chat app, WeChat, is at #4. Most people listen to podcasts on public transport.
April 9, 2020:
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Podcasting is growing in China, according to a piece in the Chinese government's China Daily. The piece includes financial information for the biggest apps in the country, including Ximalaya FM, Qingting FM and Lizhi FM. "Paid content is in decline," it notes.
January 3, 2020:
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The new Chinese government podcast we linked to yesterday? Yang Yi from JustPod looked into it: it's on Ximlaya, and is called 物种100·贵州智慧 - Species 100: Guizhou Wisdom. However: it's an audiobook, and not a podcast. "When Xinhua News Agency translated the original release into English, it just borrowed the word 'podcast', which may be easier to understand in the Western world. But it caused huge misunderstandings."
August 30, 2019:
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Podcast app Ximalaya FM now has 500 million users in China, and is more than ten times larger than its competitors Lizhi FM and Dragonfly FM. Additionally, more than five million users create and upload content onto the Ximalaya platform. Ximalaya is the main investor in the Himalaya podcast app.
August 14, 2019:
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HiStudios is a new podcasting content venture from Himalaya. Launched in March, the company is opening studios in Los Angeles CA, USA next month. Partners of HiStudios also receive follower bonuses for every person who follows their podcast on the Himalaya app.
February 7, 2019:
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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.
July 5, 2018:
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China: there was a podcasting event today in Dongdaqiao in Beijing. Of note from this story: Chinese audio platform XimalayaFM is "dominant; they have twice the subscribers of iTunes"; and the registration process for attending the event was to scan a QR code.