The massive podcast market we’re all ignoring

• “Ignoring Brazil isn’t just shortsighted — it’s bad business.” Renato Bontempo, the founder of the Brazil-based production company Bicho de Goiaba, writes for Podnews today with some astonishing figures about podcasting’s success in the country - a top 3 country in the world for podcast consumption, but mostly ignored by larger podcast companies.

• iOS 26 has gone live on iPhone with a set of enhancements to Apple Podcasts. A new AI-powered “enhance dialogue” feature reduces background noise to make it easier to hear voices; playback speeds can now be saved per show and are more granular; “Browse” becomes “New” in the interface; and there are new categories in search. The app also has a new logo - we’ve asked Apple about updated “listen now” buttons.

• Amazon Ads and SiriusXM Media announced a programmatic audio advertising integration to provide marketers using AmazonDSP the ability to access SiriusXM Media.

• A six week in-person mentorship programme has been launched in London, dubbed the Sony Music Podcast Academy 2025. It’s taking applications now from 18-30 year-old emerging content creators who are based in London; it starts on Oct 6. We asked: it’s nothing to do with The Podcast Academy.

• Lily Allen has “departed” the popular Miss Me?, a podcast she co-hosts with Miquita Oliver, according to the UK newspapers. Except, no, she hasn’t really. The podcast will continue, and Podnews learns that she will return, after she works on “a new project” (we’d presume it’s a new album); and she’ll still pop in on the podcast from time to time. Jordan Stephens is stepping in as co-host in the meantime - he’s been regularly on the show anyway. The show’s made by Persephonica for BBC Sounds.

• Tanner Campbell’s podcastreviews.app had added an API, and optional paid extra widgets. The core product - which lets you add a widget with your reviews to your website - remains free.

• Comedy podcast festival Cheerful Earful has announced more stars that are taking part across London, Melbourne, and New York.

• In the UK, TV producer Zoo 55, part of ITV Studios, has announced that select TV shows will be available on Spotify. Another British television channel, Channel 4, did a similar deal in May.

• In Australia, SCA has signed a sales representation deal with US-based Audacy. SCA will sell Audacy podcasts to advertisers in the country. Unlike Global’s deal with ARN, it doesn’t offer reciprocal sales/distribution for SCA podcasts in the US.

• There’s a new podcast studio in London’s Soho. The space is a new video-capable studio with multiple set designs.

• Congratulations to SEND7’s Simple English News Daily, which has just achieved 10 million downloads in five years, according to its podcast host, Spreaker. Unlike many of these types of announcements, this podcast’s download data is on OP3 so we can all see where it’s coming from - the show’s big in Japan, but Germany is its #1 territory (and Castbox is its #1 app).

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People news

• Todd Cochrane’s funeral takes place a little later today in Quincy MI. A number of podcast folk will be in attendance.

Tips and tricks

• So, how has the Simple English News Daily managed to hit ten million downloads? The founder and host Stephen Devincenzi gives us seven reasons.

Podcast News

Through the Square Window is new from the UK journalist Samira Ahmed and TV journalist Graham Kibble-White - guiding you through the UK television we watched in decades gone by.

The Moment with Myf Warhurst is brand new today from the Australian radio and TV personality. It’s a new entertainment podcast that serves up smart, funny, and deeply relatable perspectives on the stories and cultural moments women want to know about. It’s from MIK and on Acast.

Big Emotions: Kids Listen Mashups is a 7-part audio adventure where creators from the Kids Listen community come together to explore feelings in all their shapes and sizes. Each episode pairs two related emotions, sharing original clips and reflections to help kids (and grownups!) understand, name, and navigate their feelings.

Season 2 of The Happily Never After drops this week - a podcast that features stories of big endings that led to personal breakthroughs. The first guest is Shaka Senghor, an MIT fellow and bestselling author who has inspired millions with story of life after 19 years of incarceration, with seven of those years spent in solitary. He’s talking about his new book How to Be Free: A Proven Guide to Escaping Life’s Hidden Prisons.

The Copper Connection Podcast is back for an award-nominated season 2 - to support apprentices, students, and professionals across the UK electrical and plumbing trades with real-world advice, revision-friendly episodes, and conversations that matter. Get the confidence, knowledge, and skills to thrive in the trades.

W2s, start-up costs, and tax audits — oh my. Season 1 of The Not Boring, Boring Bookkeeping and Small Business Podcast helps business owners understand the basics — from choosing an entity to tracking profit — all in short, clear episodes with Paul Rosenblum, your favorite bookkeeping mensch.

Podcast Promotion in the wild

Stolen off Richard Knight’s LinkedIn, the BBC’s Global Story Podcast makes it to the big Amazon screen in Times Square. The rebooted show is almost as exciting as the free chocolate that the sign also promotes; although it’s Hershey’s, so it tastes (and this is a fact) like soap mixed with vomit. The chocolate, not the podcast. The podcast probably tastes of broadsheet newspapers, but frankly that’s better than Hershey’s. Podnews will not enter into correspondence on this.

Podcasting will grow more if we market it more. Seen a podcast being promoted somewhere in the wild - other than on a podcast? Let us know by hitting reply.