Concern about “breaking point” of podcast ads

• “Some true crime podcast episodes have hit a 34% ad load. One minute of ads for every two minutes of show.” A new website has appeared, criticising the increasing amount of advertising in podcasts. The numbers are compelling - and the site suggests that some genres have already reached breaking point in the number of ads they carry. While the website is advertising for an ad-skipping podcast app, it poses a number of valid questions about whether the level of advertising in some podcasts - particularly when heard in the US - is too great. (Time will tell whether anyone takes notice).

• Semafor reports that podcast producer Kaleidoscope is staffing up, and has hired three new senior staff. The company has also reportedly bought Christy Mirabal’s podcast marketing agency The Listening Party: Mirabal (who is also Chair of The Podcast Academy) will become Kaleidoscope’s Head of Marketing. The company launched in Mar 2022, and raised a further $5mn last year.

• CBC Podcasts has posted an open call for pitches.

• In a video posted on the BBC website, Katty Kay speaks with PJ Vogt about what a podcast really is these days. (Side note: PJ Vogt looks nothing like we thought he did).

• Wondering why Netflix is signing up all those “podcasts”? Because, says Luminate, Netflix has seen its dominance begin to slip. Last year, it slipped to a four year low in terms of total time spent watching US original content.

• Spotify is to open a new office in Istanbul, Türkiye. The release makes no mention of podcasts.

• Awards - Voxtopica launched The Timbre Awards, “recognizing excellence in public-interest audio. The inaugural awards honor podcasts that prioritize accuracy, public understanding, and audience trust and effectively set a higher standard for civic and mission-driven storytelling.” You can enter now; it’s $100 to enter early; US-only. … The Society of Editors in the UK have launched the News Podcast Awards 2026, “the first UK awards dedicated exclusively to recognising excellence in news podcast journalism”. They’re free to enter; there doesn’t appear to be any requirement that they’re from the UK. … Joe Rogan says that he didn’t win a Golden Globes award for his podcast because he didn’t want to spend $500 on the entry fee. “You can’t tell me I didn’t win. I’ve been number one for six years in a row,” said Rogan, who didn’t win.

• Podlytic appears to be a new analytics platform “that unifies your historical data with real-time tracking — no matter where you host”. It connects to OP3 for real-time insights, and also imports older data from selected podcast hosts, and should allow you to switch podcast hosting companies without losing your data.

• Today’s AI Slop Generator: PodPilot. “AI writes, voices, and publishes your entire 30-day podcast schedule automatically—zero editing, zero technical setup, just hit publish.”

The Tech Stuff - with RSS.com

• Castamatic is now supporting the BoostBox API specification (here’s an example). The Boostbox API specification allows information like boost messages and sender names to be added to payments made for streaming sats or boosts. It joins Fountain which supports it (and Podcast Guru, which has something similar, but isn’t following the spec).

• Open podcast hosting software Castopod is now (much) easier to install, with a new, one-line, installation script. It installs all dependencies, updates your system, creates databases and sets everything up; it’s tested on the latest versions of Ubuntu, Debian or Fedora.

• Fun fact: in the Podcast Index, there are 112,200 duplicates (showing the same title and author). (There are a surprising amount of duplicates in Apple Podcasts and Spotify as well.) Algorithmic search normally hides the duplicates - but as the number of podcasts grow, so will the number of duplicates too. Widespread use of the podcast:guid could help this.

  • Our quite unscientific way of calculating this was to download the latest database and then running SELECT title,itunesAuthor, COUNT(*) FROM podcasts GROUP BY title,itunesAuthor HAVING COUNT(*) > 1 ORDER BY COUNT(*) DESC

• Buzzsprout’s January stats shows Spotify consumption is down -23% year-on-year. (Of course, any show that has opted-in to Spotify video won’t be trackable, even if listeners choose the audio version). Browsers are up +56% year-on-year. Transistor’s January stats also show a continued rise in browser usage.

• The Podcast Index is beginning to open-source individual API calls.

• Found a strange podcast app you’d like to check the user-agent of? We can help you with that.

  People news

• Following The Chernin Group’s investment into Goalhanger, TCG’s Greg Bettinelli has been appointed a Director of Goalhanger. So has Gary Lineker, one of the co-founders.

• Sports and entertainment production company Bleav has hired Jonathan Dianora as Vice President of Sales and Revenue Operations.

• For 2026, the IAB has appointed a new Chair, NBCUniversal’s Alison Levin, and Vice Chair, Alan Moss from Amazon Ads.

Podcast News - with Airwave

For your Ambies Consideration: Culture Kids has been nominated in the DIY Podcast Category. With Airwave, it’s a multiple award winning podcast and nonprofit organization on a mission to make a multicultural mindset the default for the next generation. The show takes young listeners on exciting adventures to countries, cities, and cultures all around the world, exploring topics such as holidays, cuisine, traditions, and even animals around the world.

The Longest Shortest Time has returned after a five-year pause. The show features stories about the surprises and absurdities of raising other humans — and being raised by them. Hillary Frank is interviewed by Eric Nuzum about what’s the same in podcasting, and what’s changed.

A recent episode of Trust Revolution interviews Oscar Merry, the co-founder of the Fountain app. “If you choose to go exclusive on Spotify, you’re essentially saying to 70% of your existing and potential audience, ‘Sorry, you can’t listen anymore.’” Oscar Merry watched Joe Rogan lose influence despite a $100 million payday — and built Fountain to prove there’s a better way.

Imagine this: while grieving your father’s death, you find a self-published romance manuscript he wrote about his post-divorce dating life. Explicit. Earnest. Unhinged. Lust to Dust: My Horny Dead Dad is a new comedy podcast that explores those words, and the love, grief, and the mess people make when relationships fall apart.

The Australian national children’s education charity The Smith Family has launched All I Can Be - the deeply personal journeys of prominent and everyday Australians who’ve risen from tough beginnings, and the moments that make all the difference in a young person’s life.

Narco Warriors launches today - a new investigative podcast exposing the hidden history of the global war on drugs. It’s hosted by government officers and journalists, at a time when the impact of narcotics on citizens and states is more serious than ever.

What’s hiding in the albums you know by heart? Jazz pianists Peter Martin and Adam Maness reveal why albums like Thriller, Sign o’ the Times and Rumours are actually jazz … and why that changes everything. You’ll Hear It doesn’t just talk about music - they play it. A new season starts today.

The Messy Parts, the career podcast hosted by former Hyatt, NBC, Nextdoor executive, and founder of The Longest Table, Maryam Banikarim, returns with a new run of episodes. The show will release a fashion-inspired series to coincide with New York Fashion Week, featuring conversations with influential figures in fashion and retail such as Mickey Drexler, Marla Aaron, and more.