One of the biggest podcast advertisers last month?

• Magellan AI released its top US podcast advertiser rankings for February. McDonald’s was the top mover, spending $5.1mn last month (is it just us, or did they forget to mention the brand name in the ad? Weird) Clothing company Quince is the #1 spender, spending $5.8mn.

• Podtrac published its global multi-channel podcast ranking for February. The MeidasTouch Podcast is still #1, but The Rest is History has jumped up to third place.

• PodcastOne renewed sales and distribution for five popular A+E Networks podcasts. The shows’ combined downloads are more than 200 million.

• Acast has become the first global platform to join Spain’s Audio Academy. The organisation aims to support Spanish-language audio’s professionalisation, and strengthen its institutional representation.

• Want to run the world’s biggest podcast festival? Crossed Wires is looking for a Managing Director for the yearly event in Sheffield.

• The BBC website has a new regular podcast review section. Eight of the best podcasts of 2026 so far is from Fiona Sturges, who has been writing a weekly column at the FT for the last decade, and also works at The Guardian and I paper.

• Spotify launched a new podcast, Spotify EQUAL, highlighting the company’s five year program to address gender inequities in music. Interviewing ambassadors for the program, the artists share their creative journeys, the challenges they’ve faced, and what it takes to build community and equity for women in music.

Thank you to Blubrry, which has returned as a silver supporter. Blubrry’s podcast hosting makes publishing, growing and monetizing your show easy. Their support pays for everyone to get Podnews - no VIP areas or hidden Slack channels. We’re really grateful to Mike Dell and the rest of the team. (Here’s where to support us).

Tips and tricks - with Riverside

• Polished video interviews are dead easy to do - with a few little tips about lighting, sound and preparation.
• Found a strange new podcast app, and wondering if it appears anywhere in your podcast stats? Here’s how to test user-agent details.

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: the Family Road Trip Podcast might save your sanity this weekend, with weekly trivia fun for everyone while you’re stuck in the traffic (or worrying how much the fuel will cost)

In the Podnews Weekly Review a little later today - we hear how the Reveal investigative podcast has been able to tweak the show with great results.

The Candid Divorce Lawyer from Trethowans won the Innovative Marketing Award at the Legal Growth Awards. Recording for the next season is already underway, as Trethowans continues its commitment to creating open, accessible and human conversations around family law.

Pete Wicks’ Man Made will make it to a live stage show for the first time in May, as part of The Podcast Show. The show explores life, relationships, mental health and the things men (and women) don’t always find easy to talk about.

In this week’s PodBiz - just before Apple Podcasts launches its new video podcasting experience, NJ Belenkey speaks with Rox Codes, who shares what podcasting can learn from YouTube.

ASMR Garden is a new podcast out next week; but the show is celebrating a week early with an exclusive limited edition of what it claims is the world’s first ASMR vinyl release. Popular with Gen Z around the world, Australian based ASMR Youtuber, JojoASMR is launching his first interview podcast: softly spoken nostalgia filled conversation with famous folk like bbno$, BENEE, Lyanna Kea and plenty more.

The Tree Whisperer is a new audio fantasy comedy about a forest ranger who can talk to trees and the everyday adventures of Bufford National Park. Listen in to hear to tree talk, gossip and judge us humans.