Winners of Global Podcast Ondas Awards 2024 announced

• The winners of the Spanish-language Global Podcast Ondas Awards 2024 were announced, including comedy podcast Malas Personas, above. Our list includes the judges’ reasons for each, plus hosting companies and an OPML file to import them all into your compatible podcast player.

• Think one mention of murder in your true crime podcast means no monetisation? Not necessarily. Barometer and Sonnant have worked on a project to offer advertisers suitably separated ad placements, allowing them to reach your audience while avoiding unwanted alignment with the gory bits. The tool uses a contextual engine to set midrolls and other ad placements at a safe distance.

• Podcast host Ausha has launched a transcription service. The tool creates an Apple Podcasts-compatible transcript; transcripts are available in 99 languages in compatible podcast apps and on your Ausha website. It uses the podcast:transcript standard from Podcasting 2.0.

• Remote recording tool StreamYard has been acquired by the owner of Evernote and Meetup, Bending Spoons. Terms weren’t given.

• YouTube Music has unveiled improvements to the app: enhanced podcast sort options, a “recommended shows” shelf in the app, and improved search results. The company announced the changes on Reddit.

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• Data newly available from OP3, and published by our sister publication Podcast Business Journal, shows that “the big three” podcast apps (Apple, Amazon, Spotify) account for 74% of all downloads for the over 2,000 shows measured on the service. CastBox is the biggest independent podcast app at #4; the data is updated daily.

  • Got data? Got it in a format we can read? We’d love to carry it in the data section.

• The Campaign Legal Center has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission about iHeartMedia’s $630,000 funding - “from ad sales associated with Verdict with Ted Cruz” - to a group supporting Senator Ted Cruz’s re-election efforts. The group calls it illegal.

• Shure has released the MV7+ microphone, which now has a USB-C connection, and a redesigned LED display.

• John Goforth from Magellan AI guests on Partner Up Profits to talk about how podcast advertising works.

• 30% of listeners to The Bible In A Year don’t listen to any other podcast, says Edison Research - which shares the top five shows for exclusive listeners today. Perhaps most surprisingly, also in the top five is iHeart’s Steve Harvey Morning Show: a network with much to gain from cross-promotion to other shows.

• Further reading: Simon Owens suggests that local podcasts are rarely sustainable.

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Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• In five ideas to give your podcast feed a spring clean, Podcast Discovery suggests updating the brand and visuals, re-recording some standard elements and refreshing your descriptions.
• How to sell your show to potential brand partners (RedCircle)

Podcast News - with New Podcast Trailers - the podcast

LEAVE YOUR MARK: Freshly Brewed Career Advice with Aliza Licht has joined the Money News Network, which says it’s the #1 finance podcast network. The show has already amassed more than 1.4 million downloads and aims to educate and inspire an engaged, female-skewing audience with genuine conversations on career development, personal branding, and leadership.

A brand new comedy parenting podcast, The Baby Bubble is new from Mamamia today. Hosted by twin sisters and first time mums, Jessie and Clare Stephens, it’s sponsored by Big W, an Australian retailer.

Scandal rewatch podcast Unpacking The Toolbox is back for a second season today, hosted by Katie Lowes and Guillermo Diaz. It’s from Shondaland Audio, in partnership with iHeartPodcasts. We’re promised a slew of special guests including Bellamy Young, Tony Goldwyn, Kate Burton, and Dan Bucatinsky.

How was it for you? with Rachel Parris & Marcus Brigstocke is brand new this week from the two UK comedians. It’s the show where everything (yes everything) gets a review and a star rating out of 5 - and with Rachel and Marcus juggling gigs, radio, TV, a toddler, an obsession with cheese, Roy the chameleon, live improvised Jane Austen shows in the West End and two adult step kids, they are never short of things to give the 'star treatment’ to. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐