Podcast listening grows among Black Americans

• Signal Hill Insights looks at The Listening and Consumer Habits of the Black (US) Podcast Audience, suggesting that the audience has grown 10% over the past year; and that they’re more likely to choose Sports, Music and Religion/Spirituality shows.

• Spotify announced a major update to its self-serve ad platform, Spotify Ad Studio - and a new name, now called Spotify Ads Manager. There are new ad formats and measurement tools, as well as a redesign.

• The British Podcast Awards announced the nominations for the 2024 awards. The winners will be announced on Sep 26 in central London, hosted by Marcus Brigstocke. The awards had over a thousand entries.

• Sports podcasting is booming in the UK, says PressGazette. The article quotes YouTube views, which are public.

• Microsoft Research is demonstrating a tool it calls GraphRAG, which (in part) uses podcast transcripts to produce a “knowledge-graph” of a podcast, making it easier to search. The website contains a short demo and an arXiv paper.

• Google announced it is no longer planning to block third-party cookies in Chrome. Podcasts don’t use cookies; but podcasts do use IP addresses, which are increasingly hidden with VPNs, Apple’s Private Relay, and other tools. Google is suggesting it will hide IP addresses from Chrome next year.

• Magellan AI has announced support for UID2 and ID5, to help advertisers measure their campaigns. Replacing things like cookies and IP tracking, UID2 and ID5 are centrally-administered personal identifiers, which allow advertisers to recognise individuals and serve them targeted ads.

People News

• Micah Loewinger has been named as the co-host of On The Media, alongside Brooke Gladstone. He had been guest-host for a while. Former co-host Bob Garfield was fired in 2021 over bullying complaints.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• Danny Brown suggests that, if your podcast host offers it, dynamic content can be used for much more than just advertising.

• RedCircle suggest how to streamline your podcast process

Podcast News

The first episode of Politickin’ was released, with Gavin Newsom talking about Biden dropping out of the US presidential race and Trump’s assassination attempt. It’s hosted by Gavin Newsom, Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch, and Doug Hendrickson.

Comedy Bang Bang: The Podcast has signed a multi-year extension with SiriusXM’s Earwolf. The show will also release archive episodes. Scott Aukerman, the host, is currently on a 30-city international tour.

Perfect Day with Jessica Knappett is brand new from the comedian, actor and writer. Fascinated by how her famous friends manage their days, Knappett digs into her guests’ daily routines, bizarre habits, and most embarrassing moments as she explores how we spend our most precious resource: time.

Prognosis: Misconception is a new season from Bloomberg focusing on the fertility industry. A Bloomberg News story was published alongside the podcast, which takes a deep dive into how problems in the IVF industry have fueled conservative, anti-abortion forces who argue we need to restrict the industry.

A seventh season of American Masters: Creative Spark starts today from PBS. The show illuminates the creative journeys of artists and icons across disciplines – from Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Jewel and Tony Award-winning actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Pulitzer-winning playwright Annie Baker.