Checking ads aren’t disguised as something else

• Programmatic ads are fine - until they’re not. Some companies are a little too “creative” with their categories, so they can slip past creator filters and you can get ads for things you don’t want in your show. RedCircle has launched Mic Check for Programmatic Ads - a tool that checks programmatic ads have been properly categorised, so they don’t get past your filters. The company estimates that 1 in 50 ads are miscategorized - and tell us that gambling ads often appear categorised as “financial planning” or “investing”.

• Pocket Casts is now available on the big screen - as the podcast app launches a new Apple TV app. The Apple TV app is built to automatically sync with your phone’s app, so you can listen in the car or on the bus; then continue listening when you get home on the big screen (and the decent speakers). Android TV is coming soon, the company says. We asked about video support, and we were told: “The app is not audio-only. HLS support is currently in beta, and we’re planning for HLS video to work on Apple TV as well.”

• Last week, our Editor suggested that we should stop expecting podcast apps to work for free, and cut them into revenue in return for better measurement data. We’ve published a response from Amy Dugger, who accuses us of not wanting to report on the real issues for creators.

• In the Central American country of Belize, the country’s government is planning to require podcasters and YouTubers to get a broadcasting licence, according to a report on News Five. There’s no word, yet, on how much a licence would be; though there is a fine of BZD $50,000 (US $25,000) if you don’t have one - sponsors and podcast hosts can also be fined too. Critics argue the draft legislation is too broad, and could have unintended consequences. The draft regulations are on the BBA’s website, for comment until Aug 24.

• Spotify’s ad-supported music streaming audience is more downscale and smaller than you’d think. Edison Research’s Share of Ear study is reported by Cumulus Media, who tell us that the majority of ad-supported Spotify impressions go to low-income, less educated audiences who are far less likely to work full-time.

• PodView promises a podcast website with RSS, HLS video and YouTube. The company is offering a podcast website that creates and updates creator-owned websites from a traditional RSS feed or from a YouTube channel. The company has a free tier, and paid plans start from $5.99/month.

• Backyard Ventures has signed The Howie Carr Show for ad representation. Carr is a conservative talk radio host.

• More about the AMP Accords:

  • “The most consequential outcome of the Accords would be YouTube, Spotify, and Apple sharing granular consumption data.” Right Side Up writes about the AMP Accords.
  • “The download built podcasting. Now it’s holding it back.” Steven Golstein’s Amplifi Media calls for the AMP Accords to be adopted faster.

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Behind every work is a maker - that’s you.  

The narrator nobody names, the host who is the reason people listen, the producer whose vision shapes it all. The work gets the applause, this time so do you.

Built by people who work in audio, for people who work in audio. SONARR Awards, where the individual is recognised.

3 days left to enter the SONARR Awards. Entries close 31 July.

Tips and tricks - with Podcast Movement NYC

• YouTube Views vs RSS downloads - which perform better for advertisers? Podscribe and Oxford Road spoke at Podcast Movement 2025 to help you value each.

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: Book Riot is the largest independent editorial book site in North America, and Book Riot - The Podcast contains news from the world of books and reading, including hot industry releases, adaptations, publishing industry events, and more with Jeff O’Neal and Rebecca Schinsky.

A new tech network, etn, has relaunched with a $1.6mn seed round, in a brand new 1,500 sqft studio in central London. Launch week guests include former UK PM Rishi Sunak, the CEO of Axel Springer Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Synthesia Victor Riparbelli, and YouTuber Caspar Lee.

Podcasting Over 50 launches today, promising practical, jargon-free strategy for business owners in their 50s, 60s, and beyond who want to launch a podcast of their own. Host Julia Levine, aka The Podcast Teacher, brings 15 years of teaching experience to the show’s step-by-step style. It’s a rebrand of Podcasting for Solopreneurs, already 240 episodes in.

How did a kingdom of palaces, privilege and powdered wigs collapse into revolution? In Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb traces the French Revolution from its smouldering origins and striking female ambition of figures such as Bess Hardwick and Marie Antoinette, to the dramatic and bloody storming of the Bastille to reveal the true stories of the revolt which changed the face of France forever.

Raise the Black Flag and let your reign over the seas begin! History Hit and Ubisoft continue their partnership with a special series of Echoes Of History diving into the real Golden Age of Piracy that inspired Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. Matt Lewis and Dr Rebecca Simon shed light on the origins of Piracy in the Caribbean, Life in the Pirate Republic and the truth behind our favourite Pirate Myths.

Giving Pain Purpose launches a new season today, with more concersations led by host Lyndsay Soprano on living with chronic pain, trauma, and what it actually takes to heal when the world expects you to smile through it. The show blends dark humor, unfiltered storytelling, and real emotional safety in a space that usually offers either clinical detachment or toxic positivity - this show refuses both.

A new season of VW Garage Talk pulls up a chair with the people who keep the Volkswagen community moving. You’ll hear relaxed conversations about classic VWs, road trips, breakdowns, restorations, car shows, garage projects, and the friendships built around them, with stories from owners, builders, travelers, collectors, and other familiar faces from the VW world.

From 30 for 30 Podcasts, The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani is a new six-part investigative series that reveals how baseball star Shohei Ohtani’s trusted friendship with interpreter Ippei Mizuhara unraveled amid an illegal sports betting scheme. With never-before-heard audio from the interview where Mizuhara revealed what was happening, the series leaves no detail of this deception untouched as it tells the tale of a brotherhood betrayed at the hands of the multi-billion-dollar illegal gambling industry.