Facebook loses interest

• A year after it announced podcasts in its app and other audio tools, Facebook’s interest in podcasting is waning, according to Bloomberg’s Ashley Carman. The company still hasn’t launched podcasts outside of the US, and was entirely absent at Podcast Movement Evolutions; it also hasn’t renewed some deals with Live Audio Rooms partners, as it pivots to focus on the 'metaverse’.

• iHeartMedia plans to triple the amount of branded podcasts it creates. A premium article in AdWeek also gives the rates for a branded podcast with iHeart - between $1 million and $2 million, according to chief marketing officer Gayle Troberman.

• Podcast advertising “needs solutions to reach full potential”, says a piece by Chris Kelly in Marketing Dive. Morning Brew explains how Podsights, Chartable and other attribution solutions work. Meanwhile, improved ad-tech is one reason why the UK’s Press Gazette suggests that the UK is on the cusp of a golden age for podcasts, but the article highlights that the country sees significantly less podcast ad revenue than other markets.

  
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• Expect more marketing email from Acast, but with changes for compliance. The company has responded to our Tuesday story about their 'spam’ marketing emails. We’re told: “Recent campaigns we sent out erroneously featured incomplete contact information as well as outdated language from past email templates. Some emails mention email marketing providers (like BEE and Mailup Inc.) that Acast is no longer working with. Our staff have identified the source of the issue in our email templates, and have updated any remaining live campaigns so that they feature accurate, up-to-date information on (a) Acast’s physical address and (b) the providers we work with. We regret the errors and regret that our email communications were disbursed before we made the fixes. We will continue to go through checks with our legal team to ensure our external marketing communications are compliant and accurate.”

• The IAB has unveiled the agenda for the 2022 IAB Podcast Upfront.

  
  Sep 13 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Is podcasting at a crossroads? Signal Hill Insights asked a number of podcast professionals for the #1 opportunity and #1 threat facing podcasting in the next year.

Moves and hires

• David Pierce is returning to The Verge to co-host The Vergecast. He was Editorial Director at Protocol, and also spent time at the WSJ and WIRED.

Sep 13 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.
• Irena Lam, who launched Facebook Podcasts for Creators, is now “Working on Music and build[ing] a music insights product” for Facebook according to her LinkedIn page. (See main story above)

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• Cheryl Devall is to become GM at KRVS, a radio station in Lafayette LA, USA. An audio editor with significant podcast experience, here is some of her work (and a picture of a very young Ira Glass from 1990).

This link is no longer available, as at Sep 13 2023

Tips and tricks

• If you work in podcasting, you need a podcast, says Evo Terra. (We agree - indeed, we go so far as to host one too).

Podcast News - with Acast

From Acast: Football Ramble celebrates its fifteenth anniversary this month, but it’s celebrating all year. From the sublime to the ridiculous, the bust-ups to the cock-ups, the Premier League to the Copa Libertadores, the Football Ramble is your definitive guide to the 2021/22 season.

Podland News this week includes an interview with Lauren Passell, the CEO of Tink Media, about why she has launched a podcast swap database for podcasters interested in setting up a promo swap for their podcast.

Autism’s First Child is a new original podcast from iHeartRadio, tracing the history of autism; and interviewing Donald Triplett, the first person to have been diagnosed. He’s now 88 years old. The podcast is hosted by Caren Zucker and John Donvan, who have also written a book and made a documentary about autism.

Do you believe in superheroes? The host of The Superhero Complex, journalist David Weinberg, didn’t: until he met one in real life. The show tells the story of Phoenix Jones, the leader of a caped crime fighting posse collectively known as The Rain City Superhero Movement. But after increased notoriety led to the break-up of the crew, Phoenix ended up on the wrong side of the law. Was he a supervillain all along? The podcast was released earlier this month, and is from Novel and iHeartRadio.