Canada to regulate podcasts

• In what the media regulator calls a “major step forward” but others call an attempt to crush free speech, Canada’s CRTC has moved into regulation of podcasts. The new rules “ensure online streaming services make meaningful contributions to Canadian and Indigenous content”. The CRTC requires all online services with more than CAD $10mn (USD $7.3mn) in revenue that operate in Canada and that offer podcasts, to register with the government before Nov 28.

  • The regulation says it applies to all streaming services that operate in Canada, not those physically based there. We’re asking the CRTC what an “online streaming service” is (Apple Podcasts? or Wondery?); and what “operating in” means (employees in Canada? or content available there?). We’re also asking what sanctions are liable should a company not register by Nov 28. The CRTC has not responded to a request made over 24 hours ago.
  • The journalist Glenn Greenwald calls it “one of the world’s most repressive online censorship schemes”; The Toronto Sun has also posted criticism.

• Opinion: The Canadian radio market is the most regulated in the Western world. It’s no coincidence that it is also one of the worst-performing radio markets, with dwindling audiences and poor finances that are worse than any other country. But all of the large owners of Canadian radio also own lucrative mobile, cable and television licenses; so they never speak out against the CRTC’s rules, lest the regulator threaten those parts of their companies. Canada deserves better; but it’s unlikely that it’ll get it.

• Adam Bowie writes more about Edison Podcast Metrics, after listening to our interview on the Podnews Weekly Review.

• Perhaps helpful for web apps and embedded players: How to Detect Failed Requests via Web Extensions

• Data: the Italian podcast audience continues to grow, according to IPSOS. 39% of 16-60 year-olds are now listening to podcasts monthly (about 11.9mn people).

• Data: Spotify for Podcasters saw a significant increase in market share by episode, according to Livewire’s data, though the data says that it has “improved accuracy”. It’s unclear what the improvements are.

  • All podcast tracking services decreased; however this is, again, due to improvements in accuracy.
  • The number of episodes hosted on Amazon CloudFront hit a new record.
  • Buzzsprout saw a drop for Apple Podcasts and Spotify downloads; Google Podcasts posted its best-ever download share of 3.5% on the platform, just in time for it to close.

Moves and hires

• The developer of podcast app Podverse, Mitch Downey, has quit his day-job and will be working on the app full-time for the next three months.

Owing to delayed flights, this is a truncated edition of Podnews today. Back to full force tomorrow.