International Podcast Day at PodFest Dubai

Happy International Podcast Day!

• Dubai Podfest is in progress, organised by the Dubai Press Club. There are a number of speakers from the region’s podcast industry, and the event is highlighting podcasting success stories and explore key factors behind the popularity of some well-known Arabic shows. Our Editor, James Cridland, delivered the opening keynote.

• For International Podcast Day Acast has released a full study about podcast consumers globally. More than 50% of podcast listeners from emerging markets and nearly 40% in established markets plan to increase their time spent with the medium in the next six months, the study says.

• The awards ceremony for the 19th Annual People’s Choice Podcast Awards is today at 8pm ET.

• A former Cumulus Podcast Network exec is launching his own podcast consulting firm - on his birthday (which coincides with International Podcast Day, of course). John Wordock launches John Wordock Media today.

• Can you create 30 episodes in 30 days? The 17th Annual NaPodPoMo Challenge returns today - a worldwide event that fosters creativity, builds community, and promotes the art of podcasting.

• Looking to replace Chartable with a different company, now we know it’s going away? You have options. We’ve written about them here.

• PodMatch has announced its plans for the PodMatch Podcast Network, an initiative to bring together 1,000 independent, interview-based podcasters who release daily episodes.

• Podcast production agency Quill has posted three-year revenue growth of more than 4,100% - earning it a place on The Globe and Mail’s 2024 ranking of the Top Growing Companies.

• In Germany, podcast hosting company Audiorella has introduced a booking tool for publishers. The first customer is German media and newspaper company Funke Mediengruppe. Audiorella was formerly known as Julep Hosting.

• What’s the best way to make sure people know about your newest audio drama podcast? Show it in a cinema, according to Cairo’s Podrama Cast Network - the podcast network’s latest show was played in Zawya Cinema in the city to a sell-out crowd. We’ve video from the event.

• Hollywood’s big boom has gone bust, reports BBC News. Helpful to put some of the recent layoffs in the podcast industry into wider context.

People News

• In the company’s Annual General Meeting, Libsyn added Lauren Jarvis to the Board of Directors. An advisor and director for a number of companies, she was Head of Content Partnerships at Spotify until 2021.
  • Here is the Libsyn stockholder presentation, which is highly critical of acquisitions made in 2021-2022. Libsyn is also revealed to have lost its largest advertising customer, responsible for 40% of revenue, in May 2022. It notes it has not made any decision to return to the stock market.
  • The company also published its financial report for 2022 and 2023. Libsyn Ads earns twice as much as its podcast hosting business, though is significantly less profitable.
  • Unmentioned in the press release, and unannounced by the company, CFO Chuck Cargile is now Interim Chief Executive Officer and President.

The Tech Stuff - with RSS.com

• Fun fact: the thing that grabs RSS-based podcast transcripts for Apple Podcasts uses a useragent of itms while the thing that grabs RSS-based episode artwork uses a useragent of iTMS. Strictly, this isn’t wrong - the many RFCs that talk about HTTP requests suggest that HTTP headers are case-insensitive. But, just so you know.

• Want to test a podcast app? Cloth Ears avoids inadvertently inflating podcast download numbers.

• Linking to Apple Podcasts on the web to help sell subscriptions? If an Apple Podcasts user is signed-in, this is harder than you think. This link to the US store only shows subscription information if the signed-in user is using the US store; but otherwise (like this user’s view) shows no subscription data, and a big banner at that bottom that takes the user back to the front page. This link to the same podcast in the UK store will show that behaviour if you’re signed-in to the US store. Sometimes the pricing does show; but the “buy” button gives an error.

  • We’ve asked whether there’s a better way to link to Apple Podcasts for web for podcasters, but got no response; so our podcast pages now do that redirection for you based on where you are currently. It’s not perfect; but it’s better.

Tips and tricks - with Ausha Pro 🚀

• Learn how to successfully pitch a branded podcast to your boss or clients with Ausha’s guide.

• Find expert podcasting partners with Ausha’s Agencies Directory.

Podcast News

In New Zealand, Making Cents has signed with Acast. It’s a new podcast from Frances Cook, a well-known financial writer and broadcaster in the country.

Is podcasting dead, like Hear Me Out suggested in their last podcast last week? Feed the Queue, Tink Media’s podcast delivery podcast, has thoughts.