Apple Podcasts video to be on tvOS and macOS

• Apple released more information on upcoming features, as part of the company’s WWDC event. In the announcement, we learn that from “fall” this year - Mac users will get access to video podcasts in the Podcasts app; Apple Podcasts on tvOS also will support video playback and will have a full redesign; and there is a new “search within a show” feature to find an episode.

  • Apple Podcasts video allows creators to include an optional 4K version of their show, which, while overkill on a phone, will look good on the big screen.
  • Typically, these new features roll-out in mid-September, with public betas in July. Development betas are available now, though are confidential (so, we can’t report on them).

• A Canadian podcast network has agreed to pay CAD $885,000 (US $634,000) in a negotiated settlement after an unfounded allegation in a podcast. The founder of Canadaland, Jesse Brown must make an apology on the website and the podcast. The show appeared to repeat a false claim from a 1996 magazine article as a statement of fact; and Canadaland did not seek comment before publishing. In 2024, a judge suggested Brown showed a “callous disregard of reputation and personal damage”. CTV News reports that it is one of the larger sums paid in recent years. Podnews has learnt that Canadaland was fully insured for the settlement amount.

  • Jesse Brown told Podnews: “The WE Charity Scandal was never about anything Theresa Kielburger did. It was about what Craig and Marc did, and what Justin Trudeau did. That’s why Marc and Craig apologized to their donors and why Justin Trudeau apologized to all Canadians. Theresa Kielburger had nothing to apologize for, and that’s why I apologized to her today.”
  • We asked podcast lawyer Gordon Firemark what we should learn from this case. He told us: “Cases like this illustrate the importance of independent fact checking and verification.  Good practice is to ensure that every potentially damaging  allegation can be corroborated from two, three  or more credible sources.  Relying on a single source exposes you to just this scenario, and potentially significant damages awards.”

• Those who host their podcasts on Substack will be able to distribute video to Apple Podcasts “in a few weeks”, according to a webinar with Substack Product Manager Zach Taylor (spotted by webinar-watcher Chris Stone). The platform also delivers video automatically to YouTube; it doesn’t support Spotify video.

• Tickets for Podcast Movement 2026 in NYC are now on sale. The event has also published its speaker selection process, and session submissions are also open today. We’re promised live podcast recordings each evening.

• 77% of podcast listening comes through just three apps, according to OP3 data analysed by Cohort. The work highlights a specific cluster of listening platforms - but Apple Podcasts, Spotify and CastBox as the big ones, according to the data.

• A new company called poddisco is launching this month. The company builds and maintains custom websites for podcasts, where episodes are made searchable and discoverable on search and AI platforms. In order to test, the company is looking for five shows for their free beta program; the company will design, launch, maintain, and promote a website free of charge for 18 months. You can apply here.

• The Podcast Academy has announced TPA Talent Connect, a way to “serve as a bridge between podcast talent and the companies, organizations, and industry leaders seeking that talent.”

• In the UK, the News Podcast Awards 2026 are taking place next week. The awards will be handed out on June 18, presented by Sky News lead politics presenter Sophie Ridge; we’re told tickets are still available.

• When someone advertises on your show, is Google taking the credit? For one client, Adopter Media found that 47% of podcast-driven traffic was credited as coming from Google search. They cover ways to ensure that your podcast gets the credit.

• Podcast Nation has signed with LGBTQ+ podcast network Confetti Cannon for ad representation of video-first interview podcast Sapphira … DAX US has announced exclusive host-read advertising representation for Katee Sackhoff’s Battlestar React-ica.

• World Cup:

  • One of Europe’s largest television producers, Banijay Entertainment has launched a digital sports brand including its first podcast. Players Network’s first show will be former England football player Jamie Vardy’s Having a Party, “just in time for the World Cup”. The show is made with with sports and entertainment content studio Contentuual.
  • He shoots, he scores, mate! In Australia, NOVA is bringing the UK’s talkSPORT brand down-under with the first Australian-made show, talkSPORT World Cup Shootout. (talkSPORT is owned by News Corp; NOVA is owned by Lachlan Murdoch’s Illyria Pty Ltd).
  • In Dallas, the podcast network Stolen Water Media, founded by Dallas radio legend Mike Rhyner, has launched a comprehensive World Cup 2026 fan hub - including highlights of the coverage from Sunset Soccer Club.
  • A mum and son hosted show, Football Fan Fanatics, has been launched. Football Fan Fanatics “covers the highs, the lows and the glorious chaos of football”, and previews the FIFA World Cup in the debut episode.
  • History: As we go into the World Cup, and wade through all the press releases about podcasts doing special coverage - you might enjoy page 35 of July 2006's Podcast User Magazine, which highlights a number of “sportscasts”; and page 5 of the same issue, which is a comedy World Cup podcast “downloadable free from the web, as an enhanced iTunes Podcast, and from all UK mobile phone networks”. We’ve every issue archived online, thanks to your support.

People news

• The BBC has named Rhodri Talfan Davies as Deputy Director General. He was acting Director General - the name the BBC gives its CEO - before the arrival of Matt Brittin. Davies will be responsible for editorial strategy; he’s been at the Corporation for 28 years.
• Lindsay Turner has been appointed VP Digital Growth and Strategy at BBC Studios Digital Brands. She joins from ad agency VCCP Media.

Tips and tricks

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: Travel, at its best, changes the way we see the world. Join us each week as we dig into stories from people who took a trip—and came home transformed. Travel Tales by AFAR is your ticket to the world, no passport required.

We Choose To Go To Kennedy is brand new from Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, taking audiences behind the gates of the visitor complex and into the heart of human spaceflight. Each episode features conversations, stories and insider perspectives from launch history to the innovations shaping the next era of exploration.

The AudioZoo Podcast Drama Network has released a new season of The Collector, a gritty Neo-Noir crime series. Written by Jerry Bader, the show explores the dark undercurrents of Toronto’s underworld, focusing on the weirder and more dangerous stories hidden in plain sight.

In a bonus episode of Not a Climate Scientist this week, Heather talks with disease detective Neil Vora about the link between ebola outbreaks, deforestation, and climate change. The show talks with everyday Americans about the very real ways climate change is impacting our lives and livelihoods.

An American Game knows the best way to understand a soccer nation is to listen to its fans. As the US prepares to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the show releases a special episode exploring the history of U.S. “ultras” through the songs, chants, and traditions that have defined supporter culture for more than a century. The sounds of — believe it or not — a soccer nation.