New Heights gets new owner

• The rumours back in May were true: New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce has been acquired by Amazon’s Wondery. The deal is said to be worth more than $100mn over three years.

  • The deal includes “rights to create international audio adaptations”. Podnews is told that the company will translate the podcast to different languages, highlighting Germany, Brazil, and Mexico.
  • Travis Kelce’s relationship with Taylor Swift is responsible for much of the show’s success, with audiences growing 4.5x after the relationship was made public.
  • Curiously, though, New Heights appears unavailable on Apple Podcasts in Australia.

• SiriusXM has released The 2024 Podcast Trends Report. Dubbed “Creators at the core”, the report uses a mix of public and private data, with plenty of details about podcast consumption for slide decks everywhere.

• Gumball has added Audience Surveys to its tools for podcasters, allowing creators to understand who their audience is, and what makes them special. The service comes with pre-populated questions, and ideas to help.

• Chris Peterson’s DWNLOAD Media has released a recap of some of the big deals so far in 2024.

• Libsyn reports another new low for Apple Podcasts downloads - slipping to 46.7% of all downloads for shows on the podcast host.

• The new Apple Podcasts web player does not appear, yet, to have made a difference to downloads. OP3 saw around 450 downloads from it on Aug 26; or 0.3% of all the downloads from the app.

  • Meanwhile, RSS.com is now correctly counting Apple Podcasts Web in its dashboard analytics.

• Magellan AI has added a Groups feature to help manage segments of campaigns.

• Steve Pratt will take part in the first Lower Street Office Hours event, on Sep 18. The co-founder of Pacific Content has a book out shortly - Earn It: Unconventional Strategies for Brave Marketers is available for pre-order (affiliate), with lots of juicy stories from his work in podcasting.

• Frank Racioppi criticises The Hollywood Reporter’s recent “biggest challenges for podcasters” article.

• Wynk, an Indian podcast and music app, has closed.

Moves & Hires

• Jessica Scarlett has been hired as Director of Financial Operations at Amplitude Media Partners (AMP). She joins from Libsyn Ads.

Tips and tricks - with Ausha Pro 🚀

• Learn how to successfully pitch a branded podcast to your boss or clients with Ausha’s guide.

• Find expert podcasting partners with Ausha’s Agencies Directory.

• Sometimes the best tips are those that tell you to stop doing something because it’s pointless. So, stop bothering with ID3 tags. According to our research, they’re pointless.

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: History That Doesn’t Suck delivers a legit, seriously researched, hard-hitting survey of American history through entertaining stories.

“The podcast production industry—especially the world of branded podcasting, where we work—has become very closed off in its thinking”, says CitizenRacecar - and to combat that, (A Podcast About) Making Better Podcasts is brand new from the company. Hosted by their Founder & Principal David Hoffman, the show offers an immersive and unpredictable journey into the art and science of audio storytelling.

Famously… returns today from BBC Sounds - this time, focusing on the story of Winona Ryder’s rise, fall and comeback, along with the shifting public perception of the star. It’s hosted by Maisie Williams.

Navigating Now… from The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award returns for a new season today. Co-created together with seven Duke of Edinburgh’s Award participants aged 14-24, Navigating Now is a podcast that helps young people explore answers to the big questions they have about life.