Make podcast ads funnier, says research

• What do you call a jail cell for podcasters? A Square Space! Podcast listeners want funny and entertaining ads - but mostly just hear boring ads about features, says Signal Hill Insights and Westwood One, in a new study released yesterday.

• When was the last time you checked your stats? Today? Yesterday? An hour ago? Just before reading this? Podcaster and consultant Mark Steadman is inviting you to “regain a more balanced attitude to your creativity, focus on what matters, and raise a little for charity”. You can join The 90-Day No-Stats Challenge today.

• Formerly PodInbox, Fanlist has dropped its paid plans, and made all former PodInbox Pro features free. The company takes a 7% cut from monetisation features; but no longer charges monthly fees.

• The Australian Podcast Ranker for December 2023 was released by Triton Digital. Audioboom’s Casefile True Crime returns to the number one slot by total listeners - but only released one full show in December. The ABC’s Conversations is number one by total downloads: it released seven shows in the month.

  • Total downloads for the top ten publishers fell by 22% month-on-month (December is the start of the Aussie summer holidays).

• Audible has laid off over 100 employees, around 5% of its workforce. The layoffs do not affect Audible’s content teams, a source told Variety.

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• Podcast editor Descript has added a new AI action, called “Edit for Clarity”. It “identifies and removes distracting filler words, tangents, and non-essential sections, ensuring your message is concise and impactful.”

• If you’re a user of ChatGPT Plus, Rephonic has produced an AI podcast question generator to come up with questions for your guests.

• Podcast host Blubrry has published a set of predictions for podcasting in 2024.

• Great Pods has published the top 16 podcast critics of 2023. The UK-skewed list places The Times (of London)’s James Marriott at #1.

Moves & Hires

• Erika Ayers Badan is to leave her role as CEO at Barstool Sports. She posted a video to Twitter saying she is “super sad”. Dave Portnoy added: “It’s been quite a run and we couldn’t have done it without her.”

Tips and tricks - with Patreon + Spotify

• Do plays on YouTube appear in my podcast host’s total numbers? No, they don’t. Here’s how do YouTube stats work for podcasters

• The Podcast Sessions: Podcast intros and outros to captivate your audience

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Podcast News - with Airwave

From Airwave: don’t hit the snooze button. Wake Me Up: Morning Meditation and Motivation contains an inspiring combination of affirmations, meditation, mindfulness, yoga, and motivation to prepare your mind and body to be at their best. It promises to change your morning - and your life.

Global and NOVEL’s Filthy Ritual is to be made into a TV show, with the true-crime show having TV rights signed by Momumental Television, a production company owned by the UK’s ITV Studios. It tells the story of Juliette D’Souza, who made at least one million pounds, through extortion and manipulation, becoming one of the most prolific con women in British history.

Jason Kelce is retiring from the NFL sports field to concentrate on his podcast, New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce. Jason is the one that isn’t going out with Taylor Swift.

The Comment Section with Drew Afualo reaches 100 episodes today. Her guest is Bianca Del Rio, and she’s also posted her favourite moments since day one.

Josie’s Lonely Hearts Club is brand new today: a semi-improvised audio drama set in the studio of New Mexico’s 3rd-best romantic advice call-in show, it’s an often hilarious and surprisingly human show exploring the risks we idiots take every time we fall in or out of love. From the Good Story Guild, it’s hosted by Maximilian Clark and Rachel Music.

The Why with Dwyane Wade is new today from iHeartPodcasts - a new original podcast series hosted by NBA Hall of Famer, three-time NBA Champion, and entrepreneur, Dwyane Wade. It’s a co-production of iHeartPodcasts and Wade’s 59th & Prairie Entertainment.

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