What podcast listeners are doing while they listen

• The majority of Americans listen to podcasts, says new research released by YouGov. The most popular thing your listeners are doing while they listen? Household chores. (The cliché of “falling asleep” is 7th on the list).

• Hindenburg has announced a sneak peek to demonstrate v2.0 of the popular Hindenburg PRO editor, on Feb 13. No details have been shared of the new features, but we suspect that the image on the page might be a clue.

• The Podcast Show 2023 in London has announced its first set of speakers, and tickets are now on-sale. The event takes place on May 23-25. Ashley Flowers, Jordan Harbinger and Hala Taha are among the speakers announced so far.

• The Infinite Dial US 2023 will be presented as a free webinar on Mar 2. The study includes data on podcast consumption: a figure that dropped slightly last year.

• Podcast host Ausha and Targetspot have just announced “automatic monetisation” for podcasts in a webinar this morning. Targetspot works with more than 5,000 advertisers: your podcast needs a minimum of 5,000 monthly downloads to be considered for these automatic prerolls.

• PodFest Cairo 2023 has been announced: the event is on Saturday March 4th at The American University in the city. It’s free.

• The German Podcast Awards are open for entry. You’ve until Apr 16. (The website is one for fans of “that photograph of the boy shouting at an unplugged microphone”).

• Content agency This Is Distorted has opened a new visual podcast studio in Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK.

• Apple TV is promoting MLS Season Pass, allowing you to watch every Major League Soccer match, including the playoffs. The start of a ten year deal with Apple, it’s available in more than a hundred countries.

  • A new podcast Here and Abroad follows the US Men’s National Soccer Team and their players across MLS and Europe.

• A bug in the Brave browser for iOS, which was incorrectly inflating podcast download numbers, has been fixed thanks to an eagle-eyed John Spurlock.

• The Audio Content Fund, a UK government-funded grant which paid for audio content to be made for radio and podcast, has been praised as good value for money by an independent report. However, there is a lack of clear commitment to future funding from the government, which was described by the CEO of Radiocentre as a missed opportunity.

• For Black History Month, Podbean has announced a free live event with a panel of podcasters talking about their experiences.

• Kurt Hanson’s RAIN News has returned to daily publishing, covering the online audio industry. We’re delighted to see it back along with Editor Brad Hill.

• Nick Hilton, who claimed that podcasting was dead at the end of last year, admits in a follow-up that the title was because he “wanted people to click on the article”. After landing a guest spot on a BBC Radio 4 show to opine about podcasts (more than we’ve done), and being mentioned in a Bloomberg article (we’ve managed that at least), he admits that he “doesn’t really think that podcasts are dying”, adding that he would quite like you to subscribe to his newsletter. We’re taking notes at his clever customer acquisition scheme; but would also like to congratulate Maria who became our 26,000th subscriber yesterday in spite of boring article titles like “no, the number of new podcasts are not really plummeting”.

People News

• Andrew Parella has joined Podcast Allies as Production Manager. The company plans to move into public radio, and offer radio show development, and host and editor training services to public radio leaders.

Tips and tricks

• How do you make your podcast rank better in search? Podchaser asked 35 podcast SEO experts, and has produced a fifteen-step guide to podcast SEO.

Podcast News

Semi-Qualified Queens with Juice Boxx and Synthia Kiss is a new signing for the Sonar Network, Canada’s award-winning independent podcast network. The show is by former Canada’s Drag Race contestants Juice Boxx and Synthia Kiss, who recap episodes of Drag Race and welcome the most recently eliminated queens on the show to spill the tea and the trauma.

Plastic is everywhere - it’s advanced our world, but damaged our environment, and our health. Discarded is new from Lemonada Media this week, focusing on society’s relationship with plastic, as told through the personal story of Sharon Lavigne, who became an accidental activist in this space. It’s hosted by Gloria Riviera.

The original Radiolab EP, Ellen Horne, has worked on a new podcast, Admissible: Shreds of Evidence which launched this week. Hosted by Tessa Kramer and co-produced by VPM, Virginia’s public media station, and iHeartPodcasts, it focuses on allegations of a cover-up within the Virginia Department of Forensic Science.

Acclaimed storytelling organisation The Moth is putting out its first new podcast Grown, all about the awkward time between teen years and adulthood. Launched yesterday, it features Alfonso Lacayo (along with co-host Aleeza Kazmi) who first came to the organisation via the nonprofit’s Education program.

Canada’s Jessi Cruickshank is launching her debut podcast today called Phone a Friend. The first show today features Dan Levy as guest - an on-air reunion for the former co-hosts of MTV’s The Hills: The After Show. It’s being distributed everywhere by Acast.

From The New York Times, Modern Love has returned for a new season, exploring the complicated love lives of real people through conversation and storytelling.

The Pitch has launched a new season - the first since partnering with Vox Media last year. The show features investors being pitched by entrepreneurs, and sees over $900,000 being invested.

Podcast ads in the wild

In central Washington DC, billboards for Lava for Good’s The War On Drugs. The QR code takes you to this page, a super-simple and clickable page to direct listeners to the podcast app of their choice. (Thank you, Kevin!)