Apple Podcasts changes in iOS 12

In the iPhone’s next version, iOS 12, Apple Podcasts supports chapter points in MP3 podcasts (it only supported them in AAC audio files before). You can also ask Siri to 'skip to the next chapter’. (In December we looked at chapter point support.) You can also customise skip duration, and change the behaviour of steering wheel controls.

The BBC/NRK podcast Death in Ice Valley has attracted over 11,500 people into a Facebook group discussing the crime.

Where is podcasting’s Family Feud? asks Pacific Content’s Steve Pratt: comparing the genre of the most-watched TV shows with podcasting and asking if we can grow podcasting’s popularity by learning from it. He concludes: “We are not creating enough programming specifically designed to reach first-time audiences”. (If you’re a Brit, he means Family Fortunes, the one with Les Dennis, Max Bygraves or Bob Monkhouse, not really the one with Andy Collins.)

AdsWizz has been awarded the “Best Overall Technology for Programmatic Trading” at the DRUM Digital Trading Awards on May 31 in London. Notable: other entries included video and display; Erik Barraud, AdsWizz’s head of product, said it feels in some ways like a milestone in the arrival of audio as a true medium for programmatic. The acquisition of the company by Pandora completed on May 29.

New podcast: Acast launches The Racquet Magazine, with Australian tennis star Rennae Stubbs and former Acast director of content in the US Caitlin Thompson. The first guest is Chris Evert.

Shane Martin argues that monetising podcasts with ads is harder than you’d think, and offers paid membership as an alternative.

In The Word from Mouth this week: Why it matters to to pay attention to the many micro Faustian deals we regularly make which impact the nature, dissemination, and monetization of podcasts, and an interview with Ashley Berges of “Live Your True Life Perspectives” podcast.

Fans of aloof British accents might enjoy the latest episode of The School of Podcasting - Dave Jackson interviews Podnews Editor James Cridland.