Acast and Buzzsprout both enhance video offerings

• How much could video increase your show? “Adding video saw an estimated increase of around 25% in weekly sessions on Apple Podcasts” says Acast, announcing today that any Acast creator can now publish video to Apple Podcasts; the feature had previously been invitation-only. All creators have potential to earn from video as well, through Acast’s marketplace. The video plan starts at $39.99/month on an annual plan. (If you’re already on the Acast Creator Network, just ask your partner manager).

• Buzzsprout has expanded its video hosting to now support Apple Podcasts, YouTube and Spotify. One of the biggest podcast hosts in the world, the company’s users can now deliver 1080p video to all three platforms. The audio + video plan starts at $25/month on an annual plan.

• Yesterday, we reported on new “skip ahead” functionality from Spotify, which can be used to skip ads, intros or promos in podcasts with just one button. Being tested by selected Premium users in the US, it now appears that this is also available for some Premium users in the UK, the world’s second-biggest podcast market.

• How flash is your office? Ah, but has it got a rocket in the middle of it? While Diary of a CEO’s Steven Bartlett has spent more time in the US recently, he’s committed to his London offices by recently completing a full renovation of them. We’ve plenty of pictures: it’s close to The Podcast Show venue, so we assume there’ll be a flat white for us if we pop in next May?

• The recently-opened Obama Presidential Center has a state of the art Media Suite, and a recording studio. The first podcaster to be invited was Ana Xavier, who met President Obama to discuss his hopes for how it’ll be used by the surrounding community.

• Signings: Kill Tony has launched a membership platform on Supercast, for premium and ad-free access to its shows … meanwhile, comedy show My Momma Told Me has partnered with Wave Sports & Entertainment for ad sales and distribution, and will be exec produced by Caleb Hearon.

• The Sony Music Entertainment podcast How to Fail With Elizabeth Day has interviewed the UK’s newest Prime Minister, Andy Burnham. Recorded in the newly established No.10 North in Manchester, the Prime Minister brought three ‘failures’ with him to discuss.

• Podscribe released its podcast rankings for July. The top podcast by audio reach is Crime Junkie (up +9%); Diary of a CEO is top by downloads/views per episode (+2%); while The MeidasTouch Podcast is top by total monthly downloads/views (-12%). The company also publishes top publishers and top advertisers.

• Podcast Movement shared the first 40 sessions for Podcast Movement NYC, as voted on by the public. The committee has also voted, and the final 40 are currently being confirmed as speakers. The event is Sep 17-18.

• Ford and Lincoln drivers will be able to listen to location-based audio stories about where they’re driving, thanks to a new app from Autio. The experience includes more than 12,000 stories, and notes that it’s “similar to a podcast experience”. (The podcast:location feature could enable this too!)

• In In & Around Podcasting, Rob Walch and Elsie Escobar give their view about the AMP Accords, a recently-announced suggestion for a consumption data standard. Whether or not they happen is “all down to the privacy lawyers at the biggest aggregator apps, and more specifically at Apple and Spotify,” Walch suggests. “Why would you spend the money on the privacy lawyers if Apple and Spotify’s privacy lawyers haven’t come out and said, yes, we’re behind this?”

  • He also has advice for those talking down the download as our unit of measurement: “Don’t crap on the download. The download is really all that we have today and tomorrow. And for the foreseeable future. And crapping on the download without something in place and agreed upon and tested to replace it is not showing support for AMP. It’s stupid and short-sighted and it will put more media buyers on the sideline or worse yet, get them to leave the stadium completely.” Good advice, we think.

• Kill the Fill is Mac OS software that promises “tedious edits, done in seconds” - removing ums, ers, you-knows, and any other words that you put into a list. The tool works 100% offline, can export edits to Final Cut Pro or as an EDL, and can also export transcript files.

• As AI voice cloning is happening more and more, Royall is an AI tool that monitors the open internet for people using your face, voice and name. The tool claims to let you license your likeness, as well as act quickly against people who are using it without permission.

• Compact writes how podcasts ruined America - the main charge being a lack of journalistic pushback, and less accountability for public speech.

People news

• Clare Davey has joined Fresh Air as Senior Partnerships Manager.
• Brett Schreiber joined FOX Advertising at Fox News Media; he was at Ad Results Media.

Tips and tricks - with Podcast Movement NYC

• Even if some companies are trying to get us to skip past them, audio ads work, says Stew Redwine of Oxford Road. Last year, he gave Podcast Movement attendees the freshest insights, new case studies, and a sharper lens on what’s working—and what’s not—in audio advertising right now.
• Buzzsprout tell us how to write a podcast script

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: Some people thought that sheep used to grow from trees; there’s a hotel in Las Vegas that accidentally shoots heat rays at poolside guests; and a new form of water in the 1960s set off a cold war arms race. The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong focuses on the always fascinating ways people mess things up.

Elsie Escobar is celebrating 20 years of podcasting. The first episode of Elsie’s Yoga Class was published at the end of July 2006.

Joe Budden is to host a true crime show. Crime in America with Joe Budden will start next Tuesday, promising to “bring together entertainment, journalism, and true crime storytelling in an innovative format built around stories unfolding in real time.”

Route 66 is one hundred years old this year, and Route 66: America’s Greatest Road Trip is a new podcast from Telegraph Media Group that explores the historic highway, meeting well-known faces whose lives were shaped by the journey and the local characters who keep its spirit thriving today.

Christian Outdoors Podcast hosted by outdoor writer and speaker Pete Rogers, has joined the LifeAudio network. Since 2019, the show has given outdoor enthusiasts a platform to share their faith, pairing conversations about hunting, fishing, and adventure with honest discussions on the Christian walk. With 400K+ monthly listeners, it’s a strong addition to LifeAudio’s lineup of faith-driven content.

The Management Meets Podcast returns for a fifth season this week, as Katie and Steve explore the Entrepreneurial Mindset—the ambition, curiosity, resilience and determination that drive people to turn ideas into reality. Drawing on the inspiring stories of entrepreneurs from the University of Bath School of Management community, the hosts look beyond the businesses they’ve built to uncover the motivations, challenges and defining moments that shaped their journeys.