Emerging Women in Podcasting competition launches

• JAR Audio has announced the third edition of the Emerging Women in Podcasting Pilot Competition. The winner gets a professionally produced audio podcast pilot episode, with full support from JAR’s talented team. The winner last year was Half Betty.

• The Daily Wire has announced a new advertising partnership with Perplexity, an AI-driven “answer engine”. Ben Shapiro will use the tool to get “real-time context and facts” about issues he is covering.

• In Mumbai, India’s biggest podcasting conclave and awards, Podmasters 2025, ends early bird entries later today. (You’ve still eight hours left!) Public voting starts on Friday; the awards event is later this year.

• In the UK, a recent government consultation into the app stores of Apple and Google has uncovered some interesting submissions from UK media, according to our Editor’s personal blog. The BBC claims that because its apps are free and don’t earn Apple any money, they get less promotion in the App Store. (Some claim similar for podcasts without Apple premium subscriptions, too).

• Veritonic has launched Audience Insights, a tool built to help podcasters get cost-effective demographic data on their listeners. It allows advertisers to understand audiences at a deeper level, the company says.

• EarBuds this week looks at podcasts for Women’s History Month.

• Audio from selected sessions from SXSW are being posted online on the SXSW website, with free access; like Business Power of Political Podcasts, Both Sides of the Mic - more added soon, we’re told. Here’s an RSS feed of the audio.

The Tech Stuff - with RSS.com

• What podcast apps are listeners using? This page on our sister publication Podcast Business Journal shows share of downloads by podcast app for all shows in OP3 for the past 30 days (at least 16 million downloads). It now has a fancy pie chart, and it’s updated daily.

• All last week, we’ve been trying to get to the bottom of why our daily podcast suddenly has twenty times the number of downloads. As of now, we’re seeing 35,000 downloads per episode, which is great, but also not so much, since they look automated and suspicious. Our Editor has dived into the data to try to find out what’s up - but, whatever it is, it’s not obvious. Any ideas?

• Also, while we talk about automated requests - our search tool was being battered by repeated automated searches in multiple languages from Microsoft IPs last week. Since Feb 28, we’ve seen more than 88,000 searches - but only 3,100 (3.5%) were from human beings.

  • The top search - made 448 times - was “Mr. Prashant Gautam, Police/Chief of Police” (apparently he’s deputy chief constable in Delhi).
  • The top search made by human beings? “Acast”, searched 14 times.

Tips and tricks - with Pod Predictor by Coleman Insights

• Can your podcast survive if it’s audio only? asks Rachel Corbett. “While video is an important part of your podcast strategy, uploading full episodes of your podcast isn’t essential for success. In fact, for some shows it won’t work at all.”

• Want free, third-party, podcast analytics for your show? Podnews supports OP3 - and the more podcasters to use this analytics service, the better - because data always works better when it’s open.

Podcast News - with Airwave

Airwave presents, for your Ambies consideration: In NerdWallet’s Smart Money Podcast for Best Business Podcast. NerdWallet’s trusted finance journalists answer real-world money questions to help you make smarter financial decisions with confidence.

Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast has made the leap to Spotify video. The show will now post weekly video episodes on Spotify - with a no-holds-barred take on culture with relatable witty conversations featuring an all-star comedy line up. It was with Audioboom; it’s now hosted with Megaphone.

How We Made Your Mother launches today. The beloved sitcom How I Met Your Mother is finally getting the rewatch podcast it deserves, as Josh Radnor, who played “Ted Mosby” for 9 seasons on the show, teams up with series co-creator Craig Thomas for a behind-the-scenes deep-dive into the making of the show. How We Made Your Mother invites fan voices into every episode, alongside special guests from the HIMYM universe (and beyond).

NET-A-PORTER’s Incredible Women podcast returns for a ninth season, with a stellar line-up of Incredible Women whose spirit and drive sets them apart – and who are admired for their unique talent, strength and commitment. This series celebrates Passion & Purpose with guests including award-winning actor and producer Rosamund Pike and Babygirl writer and director, Halina Reijn.

In the In Detail… feed, a new series called the Toxic Waste Scandal has just started. It’s the true story of a Netflix drama Toxic Town, covering industrial waste in the British town of Corby, its effects on the population, and their long fight for justice. The host, George Taylor, has a personal connection to the story, having been born with a deformed thumb and forefinger as a result of the toxic waste.

Oceans: Life Under Water from Greenpeace starts a new season today, with Crowd Network. The show covers stories of the wonders of the ocean — from beautiful coral reefs and stunning species like dolphins and turtles, to threats like deep sea mining.