First company certifies to IAB v2.2

• Growth-oriented podcast hosting platform Captivate is the first podcast host to achieve IAB v2.2 Certification for Podcast Measurement. The company supports IPv6 and has a self-auditing spike detection system for accurate and reliable data. v2.2 of the podcast measurement guidelines were released in May.

  • Other certified companies are at v2.1; Spotify’s Megaphone plans to returning to the IAB under v2.2 compliance. Here’s more about podcast statistics.

• According to a customer email seen by Podnews, Megaphone is rolling out new charts and metrics, and an upgraded campaign management tool (here’s how to use it).

• Podcast hosting company Blubrry has launched AI-Generated Clip Highlights. It’s part of the company’s Podcast AI Assistant. Here’s an example.

• In Australia, Commercial Radio & Audio has published The Audio Edge, with data and information about audio advertising.

• Kast Media, which is under Chapter 11 protection, is publishing monthly reports as it continues to operate. In June, it earnt $2,100 from Apple subscriptions, and $74,000 from advertising.

• Because someone asked: we monitored 9,634 non-cached accesses to our podcast RSS feed in a 36-hour period, from podcast directories and apps.

  • Good news: 83.9% support some form of compression (either GZIP or Brotli), which has helped save a lot of bandwidth (87% every time!). 58% prefer GZIP, 42% prefer Brotli, incidentally.
  • Bad news: 21% don’t support if-modified-since, a simple HTTP header that avoids re-dowloading and re-parsing our RSS feed every time. And 13.5% don’t support either if-modified-since or if-none-match.

Enter The Signal Awards. Get Your Podcast Heard by Podcasting’s Lead Taste Makers

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Submit before the final entry deadline: Aug 2nd

The Signal Awards recognizes the most potent, meaningful and unprecedented audio projects being made today. Submit your work to The Signal Awards and it will be heard by an invitation-only body of podcasting’s preeminent voices.

By participating in The Signal Awards, you place your work on the same stage as leading shows including past Signal Winners Pod Save America, Wiser Than Me, Pivot, On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Ten Percent Happier, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, plus projects from The BBC, Wondery, The Moth and more.

Grow your audience, celebrate your team and stand out. The Extended Entry Deadline to submit is Aug 2, 2024. Enter your podcast for consideration.

People News

• Geoff Isenman has been named as CEO of Campside Media. A former NYT exec, he co-founded Cafe Studios, and is also a board member of Podfund.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• The Podcast Host asks: Should I Respond to Podcast Criticism? (And if So, How?). It notes: “Apple Podcasts, for example, lets users post once for each podcast, with no responses,” while Spotify offers responses and moderation. It also reminds us not to feed the trolls. (Damn.)

Podcast News

Obesity is at an all-time high, as is anxiety, depression and chronic disease. Ways To Feel More Human is a new podcast from Susannah Taylor, a wellbeing writer and editor for over twenty years. She speaks to some of the most knowledgeable and inspiring thought leaders, along with creatives and wellness experts to help us rethink the way we currently live.

Milk Drunk by Bobbie is back for a new season, and becomes an always-on show, with Dear Media and Full Picture Productions. The award-winning parenting podcast was born out of a desire to create a culture where parents feel confident and supported, instead of judged.