Esther Manito to host Independent Podcast Awards

• Esther Manito, a British Lebanese comedian and podcaster, is to host the Independent Podcast Awards once more this year, it’s been announced. More than 450 entries were received this year; the event is in London in three weeks, on Oct 23.

• Series shows make up the majority of the most-shared and top new shows each year, says Apple Podcasts, which has launched a new chart, for Series. The chart is available “with iOS 18” in the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Sweden, and United Kingdom. (It also shows up on Mac OS 15.0). The company’s advice if you want to appear in this chart is to, among other things, mark your show as Serial, use Episode and Season tags, submit Full Page Show Art, and include a trailer. The company is also to “celebrate one series each month” in a feature called Series Essentials. - the first is Ghost Story, which was first released in October 2023.

• In the UK, RAJAR has released its MIDAS study for Summer 2024, showing audio consumption in the country. The number of British adults listening to podcasts every week is up to 23%, says the data. The majority listen to podcasts to “broaden my horizons”. Podcasts account for 6% of all time with audio; 77% say they listen to between 1-3 episodes a week.

  • This data is compiled by recontacting those who took part in a radio listening study; it consistently undercounts podcast listening when compared to Edison Research’s Infinite Dial. As ever, the trend is most important.

• Chartable has sent a further email about its closure - warning you to remove the Chartable analytics prefix by Dec 12. When the company closes, it’lll render your podcast entirely unplayable if you’re still using the Chartable prefix - or, in Spotify-speak, “you could risk episode playback issues”.

• Libsyn has unveiled its Podcasting Ad Rates for September 2024: an average CPM of $21.36 It’s up (+0.04%) when compared month-on-month. It’s down (-7.5%) when compared year-on-year.

• Audio Always has launched Always True Crime, a true crime podcast recommendation hub.

• Podeo, which recently announced that it had raised $5.4mn, has partnered with Dolby Laboratories to integrate Dolby Atmos® immersive audio into the company’s service.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• How do you sell a podcast? Heather Osgood is founder of The Podcast Broker, and she was interviewed by PodWritten on everything from valuations to the selling process.

Podcast News

Silenced, underestimated, objectified, infantilised and vilified Africans on film are just some of the screen representations getting a podcast remake. Hosted by award-winning journalist Barbara Angopa and filmmaker Amaka Ugwunkwo, Hollywood Africans reframes the lives of misunderstood characters in the movies. The show launched a few weeks ago.

A new season of RePod - European podcasting has launched - the season is all about understanding the impact AI is having on podcasting. It’s hosted by Alexander Damiano Ricci, the COO of Europod, who interviews industry experts and creators to discuss the state-of-the-art, trends, and innovations in the field of podcasting across Europe.

The Mind Full Podcast is back for a new season with Acast - a show from comedian, author, and broadcaster Dermot Whelan. In each episode, Dermot introduces a key topic, which is then explored in depth with a well-known personality sharing their unique perspective and experiences.