The Australian Podcast Awards to return for 2020

• The Australian Podcast Awards are back for 2020, with plans to reflect the growing Australian podcast sector. The event moves from May to early November: entries open in July. “We’ll be delivering an even bigger ceremony and want to be even more representative of Australia’s audio makers,” says founder Dave Gertler.

• In 2014, CBS was told to pay $1.3m for “violating a podcast patent”; which was ruled invalid by a court action in Aug 8 2017. A “final rejection” was given by the Supreme Court in May 15 2018. On Friday, Personal Audio LLC lost their appeal in the Federal Circuit, which means this - finally - goes away.

  • Podnews’s Editor is a personal supporter of the EFF, who fought this case on podcasting’s behalf. Here’s where to join.

• Apple’s “service revenue” was $46.3bn in their 2019 financial year from App Store sales and subscriptions to services like Apple Music.

  • Comparison: total revenue the entire US podcasting industry is estimated to have made in 2019: $678m
  
  Aug 20 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.
  • Comparison: total revenue Apple made directly from podcasting in 2019: $0

• Dirty John seems to be the favourite true-crime podcast in California, while Maryland is still keen on Serial, according to a study from Kastle Systems on the 'most popular true crime podcast per US state’. It’s actually based on search queries through Google, not downloads.

• Voice and smart-speakers were “omnipresent” at CES, says Steven Goldstein in a look back at the tech show.

  
  Aug 20 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Barstool Sports is about to be bought by a casino operator, if Vox is to be believed. They announced in August that podcasts make a third of the company’s revenue.

• Casper Mattresses is going for an IPO. In its documents, we learn that for every $1,000 Caspar mattress, it spends $290 on ads, including a lot of podcast ads.

• Our podcast pages now mention all “podcast prefix” companies in use, and we link to their privacy policies. We also now link to podcast hosts privacy policies as well in these pages. Here’s an example And we’ve added a full list of podcast hosts.

• Developers: here’s a list of all “podcast prefix” companies, and links to their privacy policies; and a list of all podcast hosting companies, including non-retail ones, with links to their privacy policies. You’re welcome to make amendments.

Tips and tricks - with Acast Open

• What assets do you need to start your podcast? Less than you think, says Tae Haahr.

• Quality and consistency are key for podcasting, says Origins Media Haus.

Thank you - we hit 11,500 subscribers over the weekend. Welcome to new readers at Spotify, YEA Networks, Muddy Knees Media, The Orchard, Castbox, Acast, and Ngā Taonga - New Zealand’s audiovisual archive.

Podcasts

Blood Ties, the new drama podcast from Wondery, is driving podcast fans crazy with delight, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal. (ART19)

Equity, the podcast from TechCrunch focused on venture capital, now has a Monday edition - a short episode designed to get your week started. (Simplecast)

Something Rhymes with Purple, a podcast about language, has a live show next Tues Jan 14. (Somethin’Else)