Spotify’s Megaphone: older listeners listening longer

• Spotify’s Megaphone published its Podcast Trends 2023 report. The data shows significant growth in podcast listening by older listeners: in Italy, people aged 55-64 are listening twice as long as last year; in the US total time spent listening for 55-64s has increased by 50%, and by 49% for those over 65.

• YouTube Music continues rolling-out its support for playing podcasts via RSS feeds. You can currently add new RSS feeds to the app using Android or the web; but you can play them back on the app on iOS already. We built a website to help listeners find RSS feeds (and for podcasters to link to). You’ll also find a new YouTube Music button in our podcast pages.

• First look: The UK’s largest radio and outdoor media company Global has signed an exclusive platform distribution and ad sales deal with the US’s iHeartMedia. Global and iHeartMedia will license, distribute and represent each other’s podcast portfolios. Global currently owns just under 15% of iHeartMedia.

• Pushkin Industries is the subject of a piece in The Daily Beast, reporting on an all-staff meeting back in July. “I think we got a little blinded by some of the hype and craziness in our industry over the last couple of years,” Malcolm Gladwell is quoted as saying.

• Veritonic has extended its long-form content analysis solution to video. It’ll now work with content like news, live TV, movies and YouTube programming: and will spot trending topics and content that resonates with audiences.

• Magellan AI and Sounder have announced a partnership to offer brand safety and suitability verification for podcast campaigns.

• The Australian Podcast Ranker was released for October, the 50th release. There’s no change in the top 5 podcasts or the top 5 publishers. The ABC, who announced its participation in October 2019 and again in March 2023, still is not present.

• Everyone at Buzzsprout is working a support shift over the next few months. “It helps us build empathy with our customers but also identify issues we could solve with marketing or in the product,” says Alban Brooke.

• The podcast:person feature - which allows you to add host names and images - is to be supported by the Android podcast app AntennaPod. (They’re working on translations of the job titles).

• In Pod the North, Kattie Laur asks Why can’t I access podcast transcripts on the apps? Indeed, Spotify and Apple… there’s an open standard here, if you’d use it?

People News

• Gwen O’Toole has been named the new Director of Sales at The Podcast Exchange (TPX). She joins from Quebecor Media.

Podcast News - with Airwave

From Airwave: TechCrunch Industry News helps you keep up to date about the latest in the tech world, with two episodes every weekday. Recent shows have focused on TikTok’s feature to save songs you like directly to Spotify or Amazon Music; and the new Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones.

Gay Girl Gone, the latest from CBC Podcasts, launches today. Hosted by Journalist Samira Mohyeddin, the new series investigates the disappearance of a revolutionary blogger in Syria, fighting for justice and gay liberation.

Tosh Show is new from iHeart and comedian Daniel Tosh. Each week, “Tosh will take listeners on a witty and insightful journey, interviewing people from all walks of life he finds interesting. In addition, he will share his unique perspective on current events and provide a glimpse into his own world.”

Rocking Chair; or, Settlement is a new, narrative, horror musical podcast - helping us meet people lured into a haunted forest over the course of three centuries, the ghosts that haunted them there, and the mysterious rocking chair at the heart of it all. The first half of the podcast is out; the rest come later this year.

Podcast promotion in the wild

58% of Americans haven’t listened to a single podcast in the last 30 days. The number is similar in other English-speaking countries, too. So, we welcome back our “Podcast promotion in the wild” section, which aims to share ads for podcasts that are in the real world, where those 58% might see them.

Today: a true crime podcast that launched at the end of September at the Eradicate Hate Summit in Pittsburgh. Stoppable delves into the back stories of perpetrators to solve the mystery of how and why our friends, neighbors, siblings, children and parents turn to dark acts of extreme violence against innocent victims. The QR code points to a web player with links to Apple, Spotify and iHeart.

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