NPR consolidates its apps

• Flagged in October 2019, NPR has closed the NPR One app to simplify its offerings in app stores, moving NPR One’s functionality to the main NPR app. The new NPR app offers podcasts, the NPR One personalised radio flow, curated stories and access to flagship news shows. You can listen to Podnews’s daily updates there too.

• TikTok’s lost interest in podcasting. In August, TikTok was letting some podcasters add RSS feeds; but this week, they have cancelled the beta test. “We value our podcast creators, but we are focusing our efforts on other initiatives,” the company said in an email.

• The Australian Podcast Ranker was released for November. For the first time, it includes the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The ABC says it has the most titles in the top 200, with long-form interview show Conversations landing at #5. LiSTNR claims the #1 podcast slot, with Hamish & Andy being the only podcast with more than a million listeners; ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network Australia claims #1 publisher. The top 10 shows are all Australian.

  • The New Zealand Podcast Ranker was also released, which doesn’t contain RNZ. Total downloads are 6% down month-on-month.

• Almost 47% of people who watch video podcasts in the US say they have watched The Joe Rogan Experience in the last month. Only 29% consume the show on Spotify, though, with 71% saying they watch the show on YouTube. A new study called Sound You Can See, released by Signal Hill Insights and Sounds Profitable, also claims audiences differentiate “podcasts” from other content, and that YouTube podcast consumers hate YouTube’s ads.

• Growth-orientated podcast host Captivate has launched an analytics migration tool, which pulls in the data from a podcaster’s previous host as they move over to Captivate. The tool should smooth one pain-point for podcasters looking to switch hosting companies.

• We’re just going down to the gym to… record a podcast? Poddster has done a deal with GymNation to launch the Middle East’s first podcast studio within a gym. The first studio will be in Dubai’s Motor City.

• The Guardian’s daily news podcast Today in Focus is the focus today of an article by the UK’s Press Gazette.

• UK podcast production company Adelicious will be represented for ad sales in the US by Realm, the companies have announced.

People News

• Stew Cornelius has joined Acast as an Account Director based in NYC. Stew has a broad background in media and has held roles at Turner Broadcasting, Hulu, and Twitter. Andrew Mongarella is a new Account Director with Acast in NYC. Andrew has spent the bulk of his career in digital audio sales with roles at SiriusXM and SoundCloud.
• In Los Angeles, Evelyn Weisskohl joins Acast as an Account Director. Evelyn has previously held sales roles at Ted, where she worked directly with the Ted Audio Collective, and at Spotify. And Zach Alter has joined Acast as the Director of Strategic Accounts and Agency Development based in LA. Zach comes to Acast from Trusted Media Brands.
• Diana Dapito has been promoted to Head of Regional Content, North America at Audible. As part of the announcement, Kate Navin has been made Head of Creative Development, North America; and Rhonda Adams Medina becomes Head of Business Affairs for Audible.

Podcast promotion in the wild

Podnews reader Troy spotted this while waiting for his train. The show, called Spilling the T, focuses on “the T”, Boston’s MBTA transport system, and covers infrastructure upgrades, service disruptions, safety measures, and everything in between. We admire the puns - the use of “platform” while being shown on a platform, and the dual-meaning of the “T” and some minor disagreement about the taxing of tea in 1773 in the “hahbah”. C’mon, Bostonians, get over it already.

Spot some marketing for podcasts in the real world? Hit reply and send us a (landscape) photograph.