Female-founded video podcast network launches

• In the UK, a new, female-founded video podcast network has been launched by former Google, YouTube, and BBC & Freemantle execs. HERA is founded by Rosie Allimonos, Nishma Patel Robb and Kirsty Hunter, and aims “to unlock the most underserved audience in media history: women”.

• Daniel Ek is to step down as CEO of Spotify. From Jan 1, Gustav Söderström, co-President and Chief Product and Technology Officer, and Alex Norström, co-President and Chief Business Officer, will become co-CEOs. Ek will become Executive Chairman, to “spend more time on the long-term strategic decisions that will define Spotify [in the] next decade”.

• Spotify has announced changes ahead for Megaphone-hosted publishers. “Beginning midyear 2026”, Megaphone publishers will gain access to Spotify’s ad technology, including the Spotify Ad Exchange, enabling them to book private marketplace deals (PMPs) and unlock new features like video ads, clickable ads, and improved forecasting. Targeting will also be enhanced by introducing Spotify first-party data.

  • For International Podcast Day, which was yesterday, Spotify also published a piece on “where podcasting is now” written by Spotify podcast editorial staff. It also shared a number of videos to Instagram with advice for podcasters.
  • Spotify also announced an inaugural podcaster roundtable with The Hollywood Reporter, which will air in November, featuring top contenders for the newly introduced ‘Best Podcast’ category at the Golden Globes.

• SoundStack has launched podcast delivery via HLS. The technology allows for adaptive bitrate, more accurate measurement, better support for video, and richer monetisation, the company says. It’s currently supported by a few smaller podcast apps.

  • As of today, the Podnews Daily podcast supports HLS too - we’re publishing two different quality AAC audio versions in the RSS feed’s alternateEnclosures.

• PRX has acquired its sales partner, Soundrise. Soundrise has worked with PRX since 2017, and its audio sales team will be integrated in-house at PRX beginning in January 2026.

• YAP Media has signed Rufus Griscom and Caleb Bissinger’s The Next Big Idea and The Next Big Idea Daily. The podcasts move from the LinkedIn Podcast Network, which has closed. (LinkedIn sent us a “clarifying” email when we said this in August; but while it still works with creators in other ways, a spokesperson confirmed that it had indeed closed its podcast network.)

• In Los Angeles, breakout podcast network Podcast Nation continues to grow, adding philosophy podcast Overthink to its slate of shows.

• Libsyn has had issues with RSS feed generation over the past 36 hours. All Libsyn shows are temporarily limited to their most recent 100 episodes.

• At the IAB Podcast Upfronts in New York yesterday, Pod Digital Media revealed a slate of cultural event activations with audio;

• Riverside launched “chat-based editing”. The tool allows you to make edits just by asking. Riverside’s Kendall Brietman is the guest in The Podcast Superfriends today to explain more. Riverside has also integrated AI video generator VEO 3.

Moves and hires

• Marguerite Howell has been hired as the first VP of Audio at The Dispatch. She joins from The Economist, where she launched The Intelligence, the newspaper’s flagship daily podcast, which has been downloaded more than 700 million times and earned multiple industry awards.
  • The Dispatch has also added Fred Ryan, Chairman of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, to the company’s board. He was previously CEO of the Washington Post.

Tips and tricks

• This October, it’s worth thinking about your digital legacy - before someone else has to do that thinking for you. Who can look after your podcast if you’re unable to?

Podcast News - with Airwave

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