Denmark’s DR plans to restrict open podcasts

• DR, the public broadcaster for Denmark, is to remove some of its popular podcasts from open platforms. New episodes of Sara & Monopolet will only be available in DR LYD, the broadcaster’s own app, and other shows will follow. Tine Godsk Hansen from the broadcaster claims podcast apps “favour paid content”, and says it’s an opportunity for Danes to discover more from DR. Read our opinion

• Acast released Q1/23 financials. Revenue grew by 11% y-on-y, though US sales were static. The total number of listens increased slightly by 2% y-y.

  • “Acquired operations” accounted for revenue of SEK6.1mn ($600,000): Podchaser (which has 42 staff) appears to be the only revenue-generating acquisition of Acast.
  • Acast now has 400 full-time staff, a decrease of 34 (8%) y-on-y Acast now has 358 full-time staff, excluding Podchaser: a decrease of 83 people (19%) from Q2/22. The company had said it would lay off 15%. We’re grateful to Acast for the correction.

• Podcast ad spending in the US was up 43.7% year-on-year, according to SMI, a media analysis company. “There has not been any sort of pullback in advertising on podcasts due to economic pressures,” the company says. Podcasting has 26% of all digital audio spend, however: the majority goes to streaming audio.

• Headliner has announced that it has created 6.5mn short-form podcast videos so far. Short-form videos, like this, are said to perform well on social media.

• Dovetail from PRX, the company’s podcast publishing and monetization platform, is now IAB certified. We’ve updated our list of podcast hosts.

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• The winners of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize were announced. Winners included Gimlet’s Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s. It is the first podcast series to win both a Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award in the same year.

• Post-production service Auphonic has added an automated silence-cutting service.

• A new “we’ll summarise all the podcasts you listen to using AI” service is Podsift, which emails you the summaries of every show you subscribe to.

• Expect financials from Audacy and the New York Times in the next few hours.

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• As YouTube gets into the podcast world, how does the YouTube algorithm really work? How does it decide whether videos are any good? This video by Answer in Progress comes recommended by YouTuber Tom Scott.

• RedCircle suggests Things Every Podcast Should Have Before Accepting Host-Read Ads

Podcast News

The Rights To Ricky Sanchez: The Sixers (76ers) Podcast is, says this article, the most popular fan podcast in sports. One of the hosts is VP of Programming for WFAN, a sports radio station.

Drink From the Well is a new podcast where “conscious leaders listen to get revitalized & inspired”. The show, hosted by Tina Dietz, has drawn from multiple podcasting formats to keep it fresh: rather than just relying on guests to provide content and direction.

It Needed To Be Said returns for season two. The show was created and hosted by NFL superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill and features celebrities and other notable personalities to speak on the most heated discussions in sports, entertainment and culture.

Podcast ads in the wild

Posting on LinkedIn, Morgan Stanley’s Jamie Roô says: “There are tons of smart ways to promote your podcast, but having a digital billboard in Times Square doesn’t hurt! Especially with a 20-foot-high QR code… (And yes - people are scanning it.)” The show is What Should I Do With My Money?