Acast’s Smart Recommendations launched for ad buyers

• Acast has launched its first AI-powered tool (that’s Acast Intelligence to you): Smart Recommendations, an AI-powered podcast ad planner. The tool takes natural language to allow advertisers to turn a desire to reach, for example, “men living in capital cities in Australia interested in craft beer” into a curated set of podcasts to advertise in.

• In the UK, the BBC has announced a partnership with the Crossed Wires podcast festival in Sheffield, to run a weekend of free shows in early July. Free tickets will be available at the end of next week.

• We may have an end to Kast Media’s bankruptcy proceedings, which we’ve been covering for over a year. The company’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy was confirmed by a court yesterday.

  • Meanwhile, Kast Media published its accounts for April 2025 as part of the bankruptcy proceedings. The company made $11,455.05 in advertising, and $3,748.63 from Apple Podcasts premium subscriptions. After paying CEO Colin Thomson’s salary and freelancers, the company lost $11,500 in the month.

• Podcast app Metacast has added AI-generated podcast summaries. Those summaries are used by search to make shows easier to find. You can see a short summary for the Podnews Weekly Review here, on their web app. The app also plans support for private RSS feeds in future.

• In a LinkedIn post, PAVE Studios founder Max Cutler says that PAVE uses the term “show” instead of “podcast” - and the term “podcasting” has outserved its purpose. (He said similar in our interview with him last week in the Podnews Weekly Review.)

• Podcast platform Truefans has announced support for hosting video and audio via HLS, a streaming technology. It’s part of a wider piece of industry work for video support in open RSS.

• The BBC is to remove Gary Lineker’s The Rest is Football from its BBC Sounds app, following the broadcaster leaving the BBC last weekend. The Rest is History will remain on BBC Sounds, in an eight-week-delayed version with advertising removed.

• It’s the last day to enter the British Podcast Awards today.

Moves and hires

• John Sardelis is to leave Barometer, where he was Chief Revenue Officer, to join the BBC as Head of Sales, Podcasts for North America.

Tips and tricks - with The Podcast Show London

• How do the podcast charts work? Our new guide helps get to #1, too.

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: History of Everything takes deep dives into history every week from the history of potatoes to the bloodiest battles. The show is currently looking at the subject of divorce - and the latest episode features customs around divorce in parts of Africa.

“Brands and media partners need to take the time to transcreate, not just translate.” The Media Roundtable this week recaps The Podcast Show London 2025 with a number of people from Oxford Road and Veritone One who were there.

In Cosmic Group Chat with Sarah and Kenzie you’ll get honest conversations, relatable stories, and cosmic insights to help you move through life with more alignment, less overwhelm, and a whole lot more self-trust. Think part astrology, part emotional clarity, part group chat with your best friends who get it.

Rage Against The Menopause with Patrina Jones returns for a new season today from iHeart. Patrina has always been known as a host who is funny, fearless and real, and launched Rage Against the Menopause last year to break the stigma around menopause, build a community of support for other women and let them know they’re not alone. Patrina is joined by a series of guests including renowned experts and public figures to engage in discussions that address this often-taboo topic and the conversations around it.