WWE Podcast Network to launch

• The WWE is developing a podcast network, with Endeavor Audio, it’s been announced. The WWE Podcast Network will launch “with several Superstar-focused series”. Wrestling is one of the more popular sports in podcasting.

• After allegations of plagiarism (even reported yesterday in the New York Times), Crime Junkie is attracting a number of one-star reviews. “The host of this show makes it seem like she spends endless hours doing research but she’s just stealing from other people and not citing any sources.” reads one. The podcast removed five episodes earlier this week after others posted evidence. (Here’s one such claim., and a Buzzfeed story with more details.)

  • Late last month, the podcast managed to get well over 3,000 new reviews in just one week - seemingly the result of just asking their audience.

• Who’s number one in Australia? There’s a fight brewing - radio broadcasters HT&E and Southern Cross Austereo are both arguing who’s largest in Australian podcasting, with SCA claiming they’re “undisputed” number one after they “generated 150m downloads” over the last 18 months. We’ll dispute that: neither are; the Australian ABC was claiming 167m downloads in 2016.

• The New York Times, in an analyst’s call earlier this month, revealed that digital advertising (including within its podcasts) grew by 14% year-on-year, and that they added a second ad into The Daily at the end of June. (We think this refers to an additional midroll position; there have been occasional post-roll ads for a while). Mark Thompson, the CEO, added that the company is “looking for ways … of building out our podcasting capability”.

  • Here’s what else you need-to-read-today: Variety writes about The Daily.

• Research company Coleman Insights have posted seven solutions to build your podcasting brand. Consistency is key, they say. To learn more, there’s a free webinar on Thursday Sep 12.

• Some people listen to podcasts on a webpage, but most listen in a podcast app, says Pacific Content’s Dan Misener. (We’d suggest - based on no data at all - that websites are used for initial discovery, and podcast apps are used for regular listening, so don’t remove that webplayer quite yet).

• Brat, an American “Gen Z network”, has partnered with ART19 to create three original podcast series. “Just like in the video space, there’s a gap in the market for youth-focused storytelling on audio channels,” said Rob Fishman, co-founder of Brat.

• The Resonate Recordings web app has added one-click posting to Libsyn.

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Podcasts

Spreaker Prime: Comics with Kenobi focuses on contemporary Star Wars comics published by Marvel and IDW Publishing. May the force be with you. They use Spreaker Prime to earn money and save on their hosting costs.

Unstructured today features a conversation between our Editor James Cridland and podcaster, producer and editor Jason DeFillippo about dynamically inserted ads and whether they’re the work of the devil. (Podbean)

Squiz Shortcuts launches shortly - it’s a new podcast in Australia for listeners who are interested in the news but sometimes find there is a whole lot of assumed knowledge in news reporting which makes it hard to get the full picture. It joins a daily podcast, The Squiz, which launched in May 2018. (The Squiz / Whooshkaa)

Creativity can be your best friend - but also your worst enemy. Right to the Source is hosted by successful songwriters Sarah Hudson (who wrote this) and Evan “Kidd” Bogart (who wrote this): they “dive deep inside the minds of other creative beings”. (Anchor)
Aug 16 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

Audioboom Originals have launched A Life Lived. The press release says it tells the stories of the dead by conducting exclusive interviews with those who knew them in life (Muddy Knees Media / Audioboom)