Announced: another season of Batman Unburied

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• Spotify has announced that there will be a season two of Batman Unburied. Speaking in a panel “live from Spotify Beach at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity”, Spotify’s Chief Content and Ads Business Officer Dawn Ostroff (above, right) announced that a second series had received a greenlight from the company. The first season was made available on May 3 in nine languages, and quickly hit the #1 spot in eleven markets for more than two weeks. Ostroff described podcast storytelling as “an incredible experience - calling upon each person to be more engaged”.

• iHeartMedia was also at Cannes, “on the iHeart Yacht”. Topics covered were diversity and representation, LGBTQ+ visibility and NFTs in media, launching its first NFT-hosted show; while at a party, Sam Smith sang and Paris Hilton did an exclusive DJ set (not that exclusive, though, eh, Podcast Movement Evolutions attendees?)

• Acast+ has announced an integration with Facebook. It allows Acast+ subscribers to offer members-only Facebook groups, as a launch partner of new Facebook functionality. Patreon offers a similar integration with Discord.

• Sounds Profitable’s The Creators - research into the people who make podcasts - was released early to sponsors yesterday. The public presentation is in a webinar on June 28. As a sponsor, we can tell you that there are some surprising discoveries.

• SquadCast has released a sneak preview of the redesigned SquadCast Studio and Backstage. Next week the Podland podcast will have a full interview with the co-founders, and the show will be co-hosted by SquadCast’s Arielle Nissenblatt.

• Audio clean-up service Loudness.fm is now out of beta. It’s a service that reduces background noise, balances levels, and makes it the right loudness.

• Edison Research’s Gabriel Soto is to speak at Podcast Movement, “presenting the opportunities that Edison Research sees for podcasters in 2022”. Podcast Movement has announced another set of speakers for their event in Dallas this August. (We note that Kai Chuk from YouTube is also slated as a speaker.)

• Podcasts are more popular in larger markets, according to a US study. 31% listen weekly in the largest media markets in the US (like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago), but weekly listeners fall to 17% in smaller markets (like Fargo, Bakersfield and Amarillo).

• The International Women’s Podcast Festival was last weekend. PodBible’s Francesca Turauskis writes about her day.

• Writing in his Stratechery newsletter, Ben Thompson notes that “over half of my subscribers now listen to the updates [as a paid podcast] instead of reading them”, and that the Spotify app accounts for 33% of his plays. He adds that this has “strengthened my personal conviction that there remains considerable upside in the podcast market broadly”.

Tips and tricks - with RedCircle

• AdsWizz and Simplecast were at The Podcast Show, and have posted their sessions on their website, including panels about podcast monetisation, podcast advertising for brands, and working with IP.

• What’s the best way to create podcast intros? Kate Erickson has plenty of ideas - including clarifying who your podcast is for, and why they should listen.

Podcast News - with Post Script Media

From Post Script Media: Every food decision is a tradeoff for the planet. In the premiere episode of Climavores, journalists Tamar Haspel and Mike Grunwald answer a complex question: What should we eat to be responsible humans on a warming planet? The answers aren’t always obvious.

You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet has joined ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network Australia. The show, with comedian Peter Helliar, features chats with celebrity movie lovers about classic and beloved films they haven’t quite got around to seeing… until now.

New Home is new from Australia’s SBS this week. Hear from migrant and refugee women who are quietly building new lives in regional Australia, making friends, and finding community - setting the record straight from the sensational headlines, fear campaigns and dehumanising language that’s part of the conversation about migrant and refugee communities settling in Australia.

My Cat’s Tale is brand new from Ewan Spence, a BAFTA-nominated podcaster. It’s the tales of cats who have found their forever home and owners who have taken them into their lives, sometimes in surprising ways.

Podcast ads in the wild

Here’s a huuuge billboard in Times Square, New York NY, USA spotted by Sarah Bentley for SXM’s Huuuge Fan. It’s promoting LaChina Robinson’s latest guest, Anthony Ramos, who’s a NY-based actor that, Mamamia tells us, “everyone is talking about”.

Podcast advertising helps grow the whole medium - so if you’ve spotted any, just hit reply and send us a nice picture.