Study: $1 in podcast ads = $4.90 in increased sales

• Spend $1 on podcast advertising, and get back $4.90 in increased sales. So says media agency OMD and podcast company Acast, after a study in Sweden of more than $192mn of adspend. At 4.9%, podcast advertising gives the highest long-term return on ad spend (ROAS) of any media tested, including ads on social media and radio, according to the study with OMD’s analytics division Annalect.

• Is your work in Descript being used to train generative AI tools - and could it leak out in other forms? Writing in The Squeeze, Skye Pillsbury notes that a major investor in Descript is OpenAI, a company which has been keen to grab as much training data for its tools as possible. Does that include your content in Descript - even the stuff that doesn’t make it to your final podcast? The company says no, but is there more to the story?

• Blubrry has introduced AI-generated podcast episode art for its customers. The tool can automatically generate images, including show titles and host names.

• Another podcast summarising service, PodSnacks delivers by email, for free.

• Shows from open-source podcast network Changelog Media are now with BackBeat Media for sponsorship representation.

• Is $100,000 the bare minimum for a professionally produced audio documentary? Matt Medeiros is raising the money for a documentary about radio.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• Headliner shares a Dictionary Guide to Podcast Ads, for anyone who wants to learn about podcast advertising and paid podcast growth - including what the jargon all means.

Moves and hires

• Zara Curtis has been named Chief Content Officer at Mamamia. She joins with 20 years experience across content, creative and marketing teams.

Podcast News

Mac Geek Gab’s Dave Hamilton, who has been podcasting for twenty years, will be speaking at Podcast Movement 2024. (Code PODNEWS saves on passes).

As the General Election draws closer in the UK, Politics Uncensored is hosted by the political commentator, former parliamentary candidate and the national chair of the Labour Muslim Network, Ali Milani. The show is currently carried live on FUBAR Radio, and made available as a podcast.

The Guiding Voice says it’s the world’s only quadri-lingual podcast (English, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada); and today it posts its 500th episode. The show delivers insightful content across a wide spectrum, including entrepreneurship, coaching, contemporary technologies, and stories of unsung heroes.

Tactful Pettiness with Cody Rigsby and Andrew Chappelle has been launched today by PodcastOne. They’ll traverse the pop culture world, chat with their celebrity friends, dish out relationship advice and show you how to accept yourself without taking life too seriously.

New from Immigrantly Media, Nationly is looking at the stories behind political issues that really matter to minority communities—immigrants and communities of color in the US during election year. The most recent episode looks at the Latino vote.