Arabic podcast network suspends operations

• A podcast network based in Dubai in the UAE, Kerning Cultures has suspended operations and laid off staff, apparently due to lack of funding. The female-led Arabic and English network was eight years old; the website lists 33 staff. They were a partner with Acast.

  • Kerning Cultures was working on Spotify’s PodCamp in Saudi Arabia. A notice on the website says that the program has been postponed.

• Glenn Beck has continued to retweet claims that his podcast was “deplatformed” and that Apple Podcasts censored his podcast, and has pinned a comment suggesting that he still doesn’t know why the show was taken down. In an investigation, Podnews has discovered that The Glenn Beck Program was removed after he knowingly used a trademark of a company that took him to court less than two years ago.

• PodcastOne has gained approval to be listed on the NASDAQ as a spinoff business from LiveOne. There’s no date, yet; LiveOne’s CEO Rob Ellin was interviewed last week in the Podcast Business Journal.

• Triton Digital (Podcast Movement booth #201) released the US Podcast Ranker for July.

• Music royalties organisation SoundExchange has filed a lawsuit against SiriusXM (#520) for unpaid music royalties. The lawsuit is related to the company’s radio services, not podcasts.

• Libsyn (#101) is doing a $250,000 podcast advertising giveaway at Podcast Movement next week.

• Starglow Media, a kids and family audio company, launched in Los Angeles. Some shows on their slate join from Glassbox Media (#412) and Wondery (#864).

• PodcastDb and Sonnant have launched a podcast advertiser directory to allow agencies to find and buy into podcasts of all sizes.

• In Kenya, podcast hosting and distribution platform Afripods has formally announced its brodcast-to-podcast platform. It’s already being used for more than a hundred stations across Africa.

• In Nigeria, The Podcast Assembly has been announced for September 30, International Podcast Day. The event will be held in Lagos, with sessions, panel discussions, and interactive workshops.

• The nominations of the New Jersey Web Fest were announced. There are nominations from a large number of audio fiction producers.

• Audio Wave Network, a podcast studio in Detroit, suffered a breakin.

Acast vs Spotify cage fight

Acast’s decision to refuse advertising using Spotify’s Ad Analytics from Sep 1, which we reported yesterday, has Spotify giving us this comment:

“The ongoing results of Spotify’s commitment to growing audiences and monetization for creators speak for themselves with tens of millions of new podcast listeners and industry-wide podcast ad revenue growth of over 250% since 2019. By working closely with partners across the industry and innovating to meet their needs, we’ve become the number one platform in many markets worldwide. Acast’s decision to limit campaign insights, reach and performance will negatively impact advertisers, publishers, and creators, hurting the openness of the ecosystem and creating a downstream impact on their bottom line. We remain committed to investing in the industry’s long-term success.”

Ross Adams, Acast’s CEO, wrote: “I firmly believe that the key to unlocking the true potential of podcast advertising lies in detailed and impartial measurement, especially when it comes to attribution … As champions of the open podcasting ecosystem, we firmly believe that a rising tide lifts all boats. We are dedicated to fostering an ecosystem that benefits all players, where success is shared by creators, advertisers, and the industry as a whole. … At Acast, we recognize that independence and objectivity are vital for advertisers and the industry as a whole when it comes to measurement. To ensure that impartiality, we have always partnered with trusted third-party partners for measuring and reporting on campaigns.”

• Both companies will be at Podcast Movement in a number of sessions. Spotify is an event sponsor.
• Spotify’s claim, above, of “number one platform” is based on number of users only.

Tips and tricks - with Pod Predictor by Coleman Insights

• It might be on Elon Musk’s fast-disintegrating platform, but producer Chris Stevens (who also composed Podnews’s music) writes the perfect thread about how to make podcast promos.

Podcast News - with Airwave

Part of the Airwave podcast network: Tumble Science Podcast for Kids explores stories of science discovery - for the whole family. Join Lindsay Patterson and Marshall Escamilla as they ask questions, uncover mysteries, and share what science is all about.

Shaping Success is new from Simply Be, a UK fashion brand. Fleur East interviews some of the UK’s leading female icons as they share remarkable journeys of perseverance and personal achievement. It’s a ten-part weekly series.

HOFs The Podcast is a new show “offering a unique experience of deep dives into the lives of sports’ most iconic figures from the legends themselves”. It’s hosted by C. Lamont Smith, a renowned sports agent who guided the career of five Hall of Famers.

Employees Only is a new improv series from iHeartPodcasts and Imagine Audio featuring the news of the day through the comedic voices of the colorful employees that make up the fictional retail giant, Buywell. Listeners are invited to be a “fly-on-the-wall” in Buywell’s break room as its employees give their unfiltered take on the news that really “matters.”

Crimson Hearts Collide marks Hallmark’s first entry into scripted podcasting. The show is produced by AYR Media, and involves a top lawyer from New York, a village in the middle of nowhere, a farm and a handsome cowboy.

Waterlands is back for a second season; the show from The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust looks at the watery habitats that surround us, telling the stories of the people and places that have been shaped by them. It’s produced by 18Sixty.