US podcast listeners rise 68% in five years

• Nielsen released a new Podcasting Today report, with data from Edison Research and Nielsen Scarborough Podcast Buying Power. The total US podcast audience has grown 68% in the last five years, with the number of Hispanic listeners almost doubling. Comedy is the most popular genre.

• Nearly half of all podcast listeners have used a podcast to help them fall asleep - and more than three-quarters have used a podcast for relaxation, says new research from Acast. The company suggests that this is a great opportunity for advertisers - half (54%) of podcast listeners who use them to fall asleep remembered an ad the next day.

• AdvertiseCast unveiled the average CPM in August was $22.14, fairly flat against last month.

• Transistor’s Justin Jackson posts a review of Podcast Movement: “What makes the conference special is the relationships you build with people there. It’s the one place you can get face-to-face time with podcasters, platforms, and other folks in the industry. This year, came away from Podcast Movement more inspired than ever.”

• In Australia, the ABC’s If You’re Listening podcast has added a video version. “In the last year, multiple surveys have found increasingly large numbers of people want the option of watching their podcasts, not just listening to them.”.

• Mike Jensen, the CEO of Rapsody Voices, is interviewed in the Podcast Business Journal this week - on when video is right to add to an audio podcast. You can subscribe to the Podcast Business Journal here.

Thank you to Dave Beasing, the CEO of Sound That Brands, for becoming a personal supporter of Podnews yesterday. Thanks, too, to Podium Podcast Co, the podcast growth agency, for becoming our latest supporter. Corporate supporters like Podium, or personal supporters like Dave, all help us lessen our reliance on advertising and ensure our reporting is as independent as possible. You can support us here.

Moves and hires

• Lizzy Pollott has been promoted to Chief Communications & Brand Officer at Acast. “LP” has been with the company for more than five years.

• Friedhelm Tauber is Podimo’s new Country Manager for Germany. He replaces Sebastian Romanus.

Tips and tricks

• Even so-called “smaller podcasters” can have effective and profitable revenue streams that doesn’t involve ads, says Danny Brown.

Podcast News - with Airwave

Part of the Airwave Podcast Network: There are many strange and mysterious aspects of our world - bizarre medical conditions to unsolved mysteries, paranormal phenomena to strange cultural practices from around the world. The Box of Oddities satisfies your thirst for the weird and the unusual.

Nathan Gathright is the guest in this week’s Podnews Weekly Review, talking about his new transcription service. Plus, James and Sam talk about James’s time at Podcast Movement last week.

Sisters Assembled is releasing its 100th episode today. The show, which looks at the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will be reflecting on their first hundred shows and inviting friends of the show to discuss fandoms in general. They will also be chatting with a guest from The Superhero Show Show and occasional guest host Davis Klimek.

Today, the state of Texas joins the 20 or so other US states restricting access to medical therapies and procedures for transgender children. In Radio Atlantic today, Trans in Texas looks at what’s next for the thousands of young people who identify as transgender in the state - is it time to leave the state altogether?

The Murder Years is a new scripted crime podcast inspired by a true story. A woman reinvestigates the murders that defined her high school years in the 1980s: a streak of bad luck, or an ancient curse? Forty years later, as the students who lived through these terrifying years revisit their past — the music, the clothes, the gossip, the murders — it seems the “curse” might be returning to this sleepy town via a new round of unexplainable, bizarre and violent deaths. It’s produced by Aliza Rosen’s AYR Media and distributed by iHeartPodcasts.

From TMZ, Fake or Fact: Britney Spears is new: a dive into the world of pop culture’s most iconic figure. Harvey Levin and Charles Latibeaudiere break down Britney’s headline-making divorce, from cheating allegations to prenup disputes to shocking claims of physical violence. With daily episodes, get the latest updates on all things Britney as she navigates this challenging next chapter of her life.

Happiful: Finding What Works is new from the UK mental health magazine. The show will be solution-focused and talk about our mental, physical and emotional health; it’s hosted by Kat Nicholls.

Chameleon: Gallery of Lies is new from Campside and Sony Music. This season chronicles the rise and fall and potential rise again of one of the most powerful figures in the global art market – German art advisor and dealer Helge Achenbach, who was convicted of defrauding his friend and client Berthold Albrecht, an heir to the Aldi supermarket fortune, to the tune of about $20 million.