BetterHelp spent $4.4m on podcasts in January

• BetterHelp is still the #1 podcast advertiser in the US, according to Magellan AI. CarMax, an auto retailer, increased their spending the most.

• Entercom did their Q4 2020 earnings call. Digital revenue was up 23% year-on-year, though the company didn’t break out podcasts.

• DAX is reported to have been appointed exclusive sponsorship partner for NPR in Canada. DAX already represents Wondery in the country.

• iHeartMedia announced a new partnership with Novel, a UK podcast producer, to co-produce a series of narrative, in-depth investigative podcasts.

• The Wall Street Journal highlight Gotham Podcast Studio in Manhattan NY, USA - and the rise of “pros to polish podcasts”.

• The Ambies, the podcast awards from The Podcast Academy, will announce its nominations on March 4th.

• WACUP really whips the llama’s ass. The WinAmp Community Update Project is a set of plugins aiming to keep Winamp working and updated. It appears to have a podcasts player inside it.

• AdsWizz Audiomatic got a deep-dive in Sounds Profitable last week. A scalable way to reach podcast and audio listeners, Erik Barraud shows Bryan Barletta how the product achieves targeting, real-time measurement and attribution.

• Christina Cauterucci at Slate dissects the Spotify press image of Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama. She notes that Obama has three different beverages: “something in a mug, something in a glass, and something in an insulated cup”.

Tips and tricks - with PODGO

• Scheduling Podcasts Helps You Level Up Without Burning Out, says RSS Podcasting
• Seven Years in, The Benefits of Doing a Podcast - Bruce Wawrzyniak highlights what he’s got out of doing his show - including relationships and revenue.

Podcast News - with CBC Podcasts

From CBC Podcasts: The Dose The Dose cuts through confusion to deliver credible health news you can use. Host Dr Brian Goldman brings you the best science from top experts in plain language.

Twenty Thousand Hertz looks at the McDonald’s “ba da ba ba ba” melody: expect controversy, celebrity, and 3,700 different audio mixes. A podcast about the world’s most recognisable and interesting sounds, we’re loving it. (The podcast also seems quietly to no longer be part of the TED family of shows).

The second season of Manbet, from the Jordanian podcast company Sowt, has been released. It tells the story of enslaved African Muslim Omar ibn Said, from his manuscript written in 1831.

Jane Coaston hosts the new series of The Argument from the New York Times’s Opinion Audio team. The first episode discusses the 1806 device to prevent a measure from being taken to a vote: the Filibuster. Containing a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition, don’t expect a five minute argument, more the full forty minutes.