Focusing on the effects of iOS 17’s changes

• Exclusive: How much are podcast downloads down year-on-year following the changes in Apple Podcasts? For Podnews, the leading podcast metrics company Podtrac has analysed more than 2.7bn downloads; and some individual categories fared very differently.

  • Some of this data will be presented in our Editor’s opening keynote at Podcast Movement Evolutions, at 9am today in Los Angeles, just before Amy Poehler takes to the stage.

• The Ambies Awards took place last night. We’ve a full list of the winners, including podcast of the year Slow Burn and three wins for Weight For It. Our list includes hosting companies and links to the winning trailers.

• Today, Steven Goldstein will moderate the View from the Top panel for the ninth time. If you’re at Evolutions, it’s at 11am in Diamond 5, as part of the Industry Track, sponsored by Podnews.

• First look: In podcast advertising, there’s “host reads”, “announcer reads”, and a new tool, “talent reads” - an ad voiced by talent from an existing podcast, but who is not featured in the specific podcast where the ad is inserted. New research released today by Gumball, ART19 and Signal Hill Insights shows that this “talent reads” format is an effective addition to an advertiser’s toolset. The study will be presented at Evolutions tomorrow at 9am, in Platinum F.

• Exclusive: The Podcast Show in London has all gone a bit Pete Tong - the renowned DJ has been announced as the host of the Spreaker and Triton Digital official party. A number of speakers for The Podcast Show have also been announced: including Will Pearson and Carrie Lieberman from iHeartPodcasts, Alison Lomax, YouTube’s UK Managing Director, and Richard Knight, the Director of Audio for BBC Studios. The event’s in May - use PODNEWS10 to save on selected passes.

• Triton Digital has acquired Sounder, a brand suitability and contextual advertising tool. The deal will allow Sounder to accelerate its growth, while giving Triton Digital its own brand suitability technology. Terms weren’t given.

• Evergreen Podcasts has acquired Converge Podcast Network, a collection of family-friendly and faith-based shows.

• Senior executives listen to a lot of podcasts, says Signal Hill Insights - they’re heavy podcast listeners, twice as likely to listen for more than five hours a week. Unsurprisingly, news podcasts are their #1 genre (the rest of us prefer comedy).

• First look: Podchaser unveiled enhancements to its “predictive demographics”, improving audience targeting for advertisers. It’s powered by AI and works for all English-language podcasts.

• The Locked On podcast network is to be represented for adsales by Adswizz. They were with Libsyn Ads, formerly AdvertiseCast.

• Choses à Savoir, one of the biggest podcast networks in France, has signed with Acast. They were with Spotify’s Megaphone.

• Podfest has announced Podfest Asia, which will be in Manila in the Philippines on May 8.

• Amy Poehler’s Paper Kite is to launch a new weekly advice show with Audacy Podcasts. She’s speaking today at Podcast Movement Evolutions.

• Acast is working with Canada’s Indigenous Screen Office to help and host twelve all-indigenous podcast projects. The program was funded by Google.org.

• The TWiT network “missed ad sales by 13% and club growth by 24%” in this quarter, according to Lisa Laporte.

• A new wireless microphone set, the Boyamic, has been launched. Each microphone also records up to fifteen hours of audio.

• Screenwriter and actor Kurt Sutter and actor Katey Sagal have announced a podcast. PIE - People, Influences, Experiences - will start Apr 2. It’s to be produced for Big IP by Scott Porch, Harris Lane and Katie Curtright; and hosted on Libsyn.

• In the UK, the ARIAS announced the nominees for the audio awards, which will be held on May 7.

• 9to5Google writes a history of Google Podcasts, which is to close next week (in the US only). “It could have been great” is the headline.

Evergreen Podcasts expands further

Paid content

Evergreen Broadens Scope, Welcomes Family-Friendly and Faith-Based Shows Through Acquisition of Converge Podcast Network. The largest of five acquisitions since August 2023, the move bolsters Evergreen’s commitment to inclusive, enriching content for listeners from all walks of life.

“Even amidst the whirlwind of recent months, we’re genuinely excited and deeply honored to welcome Converge Podcast Network into the Evergreen family," exclaimed Michael DeAloia, CEO of Evergreen Podcasts.

People News

• Tiffany Dean has been hired as The Podglomerate’s new Partner Manager. She was formerly Director of Sales Planning and Operations at Audioboom.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• Buzzsprout shares tips on how to make decent-looking podcast artwork.

• 4 Big Lessons I’ve Learned From Recording 50 Episodes for My Podcast - Ucha Vekua suggests that consistency beats everything; that you should focus on your workflow; and play the long game.

Podcast News - with Airwave

Airwave congratulates our Ambie nominee: UnTextbooked, a history podcast for the future. Can protests really save lives? Were American Jews an integral part of the Civil Rights movement? And who won the Cold War, really? This show gives answers to your big questions.

Airwave congratulates our Ambie nominee: abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast. Blake Pfeil’s explores abandoned spaces across the United States, and asks critical questions about American history and culture, community, capitalism and economics, the environment, and mental health.

Last week, Podcast Perspectives had Bikram Chatterji, CEO of MaximumFun, as a guest. The company says that it believes “being a co-op will protect the values that we’ve always cared about and will further ensure our sustainability as a company, just as we maintain that an audience-supported business model is the right one for creative work.” He speaks about their experience, one year in.

Scripted comedy podcast Dial F for Football is launched today from Keep It Light Media. The show takes listeners behind-the-scenes of a popular commercial sports radio station, Totalsport FM, and features cameos from a wide range of UK comedy stars.