How Mozilla's new podcast got 1m downloads in 7 episodes

• How Mozilla’s new podcast got 1 million downloads in its first 7-episode season - Dan Misener writes about IRL, the Veronica Belmont - hosted show we covered on June 30. “We at Mozilla operate with Agile principles. A part of Agile is experimentation, seeing what’s working, cutting what’s not, and doing more of what is.”

• The Apple podcast app gets properly slated in the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Since the Sept. 19 release of iOS 11, which brought with it a totally redesigned Podcasts app, my [morning] routine now includes two unwelcome variables: confusion and aggravation.”

• A profile of Colin Gray, the MD and founder of The Podcast Host, a podcast training resource.

• How Lewis Howes Got to 40M Podcast Downloads - an interview with the athlete. (40m downloads, yes, and 500+ episodes). “Just because people were listening didn’t mean they were automatically going to share or review the show – I had to consistently ask for it.”

• Angela Mandato from podcast host Blubrry shares facts and stats from their own survey data and analytics, showing that podcasts are “still rising in popularity”. “Nearly 63% of podcasts are consumed via mobile apps”. US is the #1 country, with Canada at #3, the UK at #4 and Australia at #5. The #2 is surprising.

• Cinema releases straight to DVD? How about books being released straight to audiobooks? The Chicago Tribune reports that just this is happening, as they try to accelerate growth. “Audiobook publishers saw the third consecutive year of sales growth nearing 20 percent, with revenue of more than $2.1 billion in 2016”

• Ford Sync, the proprietary connected car technology, gave US$10,000 to three companies to help make apps for the platform in an event in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Acast got the cash for “a podcast stream tailored to individual commute and driver preferences”.

  
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• Thinking of launching a podcast? Don’t, Jordan Harbinger advises us. Among other reasons: “It requires more personality than you likely have” - speak for yourself, we’re mad, us! Mad!!! Wahey!

Thank you to DJ Paine for your new Patreon support this week, and also to Wim Brons for making your regular payment bigger. One more $4/month pledge will allow my radio trends weekly newsletter to look as good as podnews does; and then allow me to add a search and categorisation function to both.