Bumper announces new dashboard for clients

• Podcast growth agency Bumper has announced the Bumper Dashboard, a measurement tool that combines podcast data from a number of different sources. It allows Bumper’s clients to see numbers of verified listeners, total listen time, and more statistics across platforms. Curious to know what it looks like? We were given access - see what we learnt about Podnews podcasts in the Bumper Dashboard.

• The Hollywood Reporter announced “The Most Powerful People in Podcasting in 2024”. The list is a mix of podcast executives and hosts; and is almost entirely US-based (excepting two Brits who now live there).

  • People named in the list were polled about Listening to podcasts at over 1.5x speed. Julia Louis-Dreyfus doesn’t know what 1.5x is. Bill Simmons says “it’s for sociopaths”; although 1.5x is “too slow” according to Ben Shapiro, who is definitely not a sociopath.

• How Spotify started — and killed — Latin America’s podcast boom suggests that the virtual monopoly that Spotify has of the LATAM market, with as much as 90% of consumption, has meant that the region’s podcasters are now suffering more than most after Spotify’s change in strategy.

• The finalists of the Asia Podcast Awards have been published. You have two weeks to vote for the People’s Choice section of the awards. Winners will be announced at Radiodays Asia (and Podcast Day Asia) in KL next month.

  • The countries with the strongest podcast industries, according to entry submission and finalists’ success are: Singapore, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Japan.

• Audacy released its Q2/24 financial report. It doesn’t break out podcasting; its “digital” revenue, including podcasting, was up 12% year-on-year, and represents 25% of the company’s net revenue. It made a slight loss of $3mn.

• AI audio creation tool Wondercraft has announced a change in pricing for new subscribers; and given existing users more credits. Credits are now charged for each piece of audio generated, including previews, rather than solely for produced audio tracks.

• Anycast+ is a note-taking, translating podcast app (iOS/Android) that also adds an AI-chat function so you can ask what your favourite podcast host thinks. There’s a $4.99 monthly fee to get the most out of it.

• EB Moss writes How Podcasting Leads to Love, highlighting the personal touch that podcasting can give you and your brand.

• In Australia, the winners of the Radio Today Podcast Awards were announced.

• Fun fact: the UK’s Global sells ads into iHeartMedia’s podcasts in the UK and Ireland. Yet, if you follow a link to an iHeart podcast page from the UK, it’s blocked.

The Tech Stuff - with RSS.com

• Alby, which was used by many different people as a way to pay podcasters, is communicating to its account holders that it is starting to reduce maximum balances for free wallets. The company’s replacement, the Alby Hub, will cost $12 a month.

• Our podcast episode list pages - here’s one for Podcasting 2.0 - now contain links to episodes.fm, so you can listen in any app. These pages are generated by JavaScript: your browser calls the RSS feed directly.

• Want to use the Podcast Index to watch for new episodes? Here’s how (from the Podcasting 2.0 podcast this week):

  • Grab tracking.podcastindex.org/current which is a (2.8MB) JSON file of the latest 10,000 feeds just updated. It’s updated every minute. Parse the RSS feeds in there.
  • Look for the previousTrackingUrl near the top, and iterate through until you get back to the last point that you checked.
  • Do this on a regular cronjob, and you’ll always have the latest episodes in your database.

Tips and tricks - with Ausha 🚀

• Explore Ausha’s 5 innovative ways to use transcription to enhance your podcast’s accessibility and SEO.
• Find out about the top podcast transcription services of 2024 with Ausha’s detailed review.
• Wanting to embed a podcast player in your website? We’ve a list of some good ones here.

Podcast News - with Airwave

From Airwave: History of the Second World War’s Wesley Livesay says: “This is the first podcast network I have been a part of where I can always depend on getting help and support. Emails are responded to, questions are answered. The network respects and supports my path as an independent creator, and I have experienced constant growth since joining the network.”

That Hoarder: Overcome Compulsive Hoarding has reached a quarter of a million downloads, just after achieving its 150th episode. The show, about the highly stigmatised mental health condition, hoarding disorder, is hosted anonymously and is independently run.

What would happen if we confronted the issues our modern world faces with curiosity rather than dread? A Fine Mess is a new weekly podcast launching today, hosted by host Sabrina Merage Naim, a venture capitalist and philanthropist. On this show, understanding replaces assumptions and commonalities replace divides - it starts with interviews with comedian and writer Samantha Bee on the rise of satirical news.