Our Largest Download Day Ever - advertising a podcast

• “This is the single largest download day in the history of our podcast.” In the latest part of his exclusive series for Podnews about advertising a podcast, Sean Howard of Fable and Folly Productions writes about promo ad-swaps, episode drops and crossovers, and discovers something that works really well.

• Cavalry Media has launched a podcast division. The company, run by Dana Brunetti and Keegan Rosenberger, has released an initial slate including a companion podcast to The Sopranos and a survival podcast hosted by a former Navy SEAL.

• Podtrac publishes its ranker for February. The top 8 is unchanged from January.

  
  Aug 22 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• On Friday we reported on new charts from Backtracks. On closer look, we’d note that the lists are virtually identical to the Apple Podcasts US charts, which do not measure how popular a podcast is. However, the company tells Podnews: “Backtracks Charts uses a variety of scoring mechanisms using direct data via partnerships with multiple listening platform partners, additional sources of direct data, and indirect signals to derive a proprietary podcast score which Backtracks calls a PodScore. Backtracks has significant ecosystem-wide data that the company will release over time.” To our assertion that they’re identical to Apple, Founder/CEO Jonathan Gill disagrees: “The charts are not identical, but we are modifying the algorithm as it is closely tracking to one partner”.

  
  Aug 22 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Triton Digital is reporting that online audio shares to Public Radio and News/Talk stations have grown this last week, says Westwood One, who also wonders what happens to radio figures if everyone works from home? Not much, they say - the figures are deliberately made to smooth out highs and lows, as a average over a number of months. 90.8% of people who work from home are reached by AM/FM radio says the company, which is owned by Cumulus Media, a company that operates 428 radio stations. See below for Tom Webster’s take for podcasting.

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• Want to automatically remove “ums” and other filler words from your podcast? A service called CleanCast is testing such a product.

  
  Aug 22 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Podcast host Captivate has launched a one-click sponsor kit, which produces “a beautiful PDF” containing download numbers and podcast information. (Podnews’s Editor is on Captivate’s Advisory Board)

• The Podcast Host takes a look at podcast categories and why they’re important.

• “Artists are making television for the ears” is how ABC Australia is describing the renaissance of audio fiction: focusing on many different titles.

Thank you to Cavalry Media for becoming our latest gold supporter. We’re grateful for your support!

COVID-19

“I’ve seen people assume that podcast consumption will go up as we have all of this time at home. I wouldn’t make that assumption. COVID-19 represents a giant disruption in people’s patterns, and those patterns include how podcasts fit into their typical day, which for now doesn’t exist. If you used to listen to podcasts on your commute, well, many of us aren’t commuting. And while we now have all of this time at home, which Infinite Dial and Share of Ear both tell us is the top location for podcast consumption, many of us (myself included) now unexpectedly have kids at home, which doesn’t exactly leave much time for podcasts. As we’ve seen with other significant world events and disasters, media patterns disrupt in unpredictable ways, like a snow globe being shaken up. I’m not saying all podcasts will go down, but some will. Love NBA podcasts? There aren’t any games. Politics junkie? Primaries are canceled. Some people run to bad news in times like this, while others who normally regularly consume news will studiously avoid it. I think you keep doing your show, but don’t expect the same results. And all of this holds true for radio, too.” -- Tom Webster, SVP, Edison Research, who releases The Infinite Dial on Mar 19

• Podcast hosts should not be forced to remove inaccurate or false information about the coronavirus, says entertainment lawyer Gordon Firemark in an article for Podnews today. “We haven’t seen anything yet,” says Buzzsprout’s Alban Brooke, “but if somebody uses Buzzsprout to promote fake 'cures’ that would be a violation of our TOS and we’d 100% remove it.”
• In common with many US shows, topical news quiz Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me was recorded in an empty Fox Theatre in downtown Atlanta GA, USA. “It’ll be unusual for us to make our little jokes without anyone laughing, but on the other hand… no it won’t,” said host Peter Sagal.
• RØDE is donating podcasting kits to schools in their home state of NSW, Australia, “to enable teachers to quickly record lessons as podcasts to distribute to students in the event that schools are closed”.

Aug 22 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.
• The Outlier Podcast Festival, in Columbus OH, USA, has been cancelled.

Podcast News

Unstructured is two years old, and its host, Eric Hunley, posted its 200th episode on the anniversary. On March 11th, it posted an interview with Blubrry’s Todd Cochrane. (Podbean)

The Carlötta Beautox Chronicles, a comedy fiction podcast that follows a wannabe actress in Hollywood, debuts its musical episode today - with five original songs performed by the series’s stars. The show promises a variety of styles including blues, jazz, and rap. (Simplecast)

Sickboy is an independent Canadian comedy podcast that breaks down the stigma surrounding illness and death - with 75,000 listeners each week. You’ll never guess what virus they’re talking about this week (OK, perhaps you will). (Libsyn)

Let Creativity Flow examines how technology is affecting the evolution of music collaboration. It launched last week, and in part considers whether robots are taking over and if AI can really simulate or even replace human creativity. (Osiris Media / Acast)