Apple Podcasts launches new video experience

• Apple launched iOS 26.4, and with it, access to the new video experience within Apple Podcasts. Apple also confirmed additional podcast hosting companies will support HLS video: Podspace, Riverside, Ausha, and Firstory have been added to the list (see our story for the full set).

  • Your iPhone will offer an update within the next few weeks; but you can update it today by following Apple’s instructions.
  • One of the podcast hosting companies supporting it, Transistor, has posted a guide; in a video, Stephen Robles shows the iOS experience.

• The absence of support from Spotify/Megaphone at launch may mean that many users won’t see the shows they’re expecting in video within the app (including shows like Joe Rogan and The Ringer titles); Apple says more content will roll out throughout the year. John Spurlock reports just 48 shows available in video at launch; the majority with Acast.

  • The availability of video podcasts isn’t promoted within the iOS update overview, though it is promoted when a user opens the Apple Podcasts app for the first time after upgrading. The Apple Podcasts web app (which also works on Android) has been updated to offer full video support; but the Apple Podcasts macOS app doesn’t support HLS video. In the most glaring omission, the Apple TV doesn’t support HLS video podcasting either.
  • In a piece written in December 2024, Eric Johnson reminds us that video comes with trade-offs.

• About a quarter of Americans claim that they have never consumed a podcast. Sounds Profitable’s Tom Webster today shares The Last Quarter, examining the people who haven’t, yet, tried a podcast - and whether we can still reach them. Nearly 6 in 10 of them are using ad-supported premium video streaming, we learn; and 57% of them are using YouTube.

• iOS podcast app Castamatic has unveiled transcripts and chapters for all podcasts. It uses Apple’s on-device AI to create them, if not already present.

• Brand suitability company Barometer and podcast adtech company AdsWizz have announced an integration to help advertisers understand the context of podcasts on an episode-by-episode basis.

• Magellan AI has launched broadcast radio attribution for advertisers. Recent data from Edison Research at SSRS suggests that radio is listened-to more than 3x as long as podcasts in the US.

• iHeartMedia has renewed its agreement with Las Culturistas, hosted by Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers.

People News

• DAX US has named John Sardelis as SVP of Podcasts. He joins from Barometer, BBC Studios and Warner Bros Discovery. “John will now oversee DAX’s podcast sales efforts and support the company’s continued growth in the digital audio marketplace.”
• John Brooks has joined Slumber Studios as Head of Content. He was previously Head of Content at Realm.

Tips and tricks - with Riverside

• Double-ender recording - where you record your side and your guest records their side - is a good technique for making a show (and as a back-up in case your online tool fails). Stephen Robles explains how it works.
• You’ve probably got lots of audio and video files from the podcast episodes you’ve made: but how should you store them?

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: The Box of Oddities delves into the strange and mysterious aspects of our world, exploring topics ranging from bizarre medical conditions to unsolved mysteries, and from paranormal phenomena to strange cultural practices from around the world.

In the Weekly Crime Brief Podcast this week, former law enforcement investigator Steve Cook brings the latest crime news from Australia, in under 10 minutes. Weekly Crime Brief also shines a light on an unsolved Aussie case each week to raise awareness. Weekly Crime Brief is perfect for those who love true crime but not the doom scrolling!

Leap Forward tells stories about founders of companies you might know, and the people who believed in them before anyone else, like their early boss, first investor, college roommate, or even a parent. The show contains the story of how companies actually get built, and why it rarely looks the way you might expect. Today, check out interviews with Y Combinator founder Jessica Livingston and her husband, Paul Graham; plus, Mercury CEO Immad Akhund and his mother, Tahseen Akhund.

Funny You Ask with Ike Barinholtz is a weekly comedy-trivia show with some of Ike’s funniest friends with random, odd, and “wait… why do you know that?” obsessions with the world. Soup? Sure, why not. The Mets? Duh. Roman Empire? You got it, Caesar. It’s part conversation, part pop quiz, and full of knowledge you didn’t know you needed—until now. The score doesn’t matter, the laughs are endless, and learning something has never been this fun.

UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton is a new podcast that investigates the people, money and power behind America’s anti-LGBTQ ecosystem. From highlighting the voices of people fighting back against systems of injustice to covering breaking news current to the moment, Uncloseted’s reporting provides you with rigorous, objective LGBTQ reporting to better understand the world we live in.

STAN explores obsessive celebrity worship, parasocial relationships and digital intimacy. Each episode centres on a cultural icon or phenomenon - ranging from The Hunger Games, 2010s YouTubers and (of course) Taylor Swift - to unpack how the media we consumed, particularly during our formative years, shaped our desires, ideals, and sense of self.

New this week, The Polycrisis podcast tells the story of the new phase of the energy transition – where countries are taking control of their energy security. This first season - Electric World Order - explores how geopolitics is driving a quiet revolution in clean tech, and how the energy transition is in turn reshaping world power.

Podcasts in the wild

At Radiodays Europe in Rīga, Latvia - “podcast pingpong”. The sport is described as a “fast-paced mix of speed-dating and ping pong with a podcasting slant”, a five-minute game of pingpong while asking rapid-fire questions of your opponent. At least one competitive podcaster was seen making allegations about a substandard table surface.