The country with the most regular podcast listeners

• YouGov has released data showing the number of regular podcast listeners in countries around the world. The data suggests that 39% of US consumers listen to podcasts for more than an hour a week; that South Africa is the most popular country for podcasts at 68%, Saudi Arabia at 59%, and Indonesia at 57%. (Some countries, including South Africa, only surveyed internet users.)

  • The data appears broadly similar to separate data from the Reuters Institute in 2022, with Ireland, Spain and Sweden leading the EU; Australia roughly mid-table, and the UK towards the bottom.

• Podcast hosting and monetisation company Acast released its Q1/24 financial results. The company, which is #1 global podcast publisher according to Podtrac, reported that net sales grew 25% year-on-year - driven by North America, where sales grew by 48%. The company is closer to positive EBITDA, losing $1.4mn in the quarter (compared to $5.6mn a year ago).

  • The number of listens dropped 12% year-on-year, attributed to changes in iOS 17. However, average revenue per thousand listens increased to $34.30 (up year-on-year from $24.10).

• Cumulus Media’s Q1/24 financials were released. Podcasting isn’t broken out, but “is pacing up” according to executive comments. Total revenue is down 2.7%.

• The winners of the 2024 Pulitzer Prizes were announced. The podcast You didn’t see nothin from USG Audio and the Invisible Institute won the Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting.

• In Marketing Brew, Alyssa Meyers suggests that in spite of podcasting not needing “upfronts” they’re becoming more popular anyway - describing both PodMov Upfronts in Los Angeles, and the IAB Podcast Upfront later this week in New York.

• Edison Research will unveil The Podcast Consumer, the company’s data on who listens to podcasts, in a free webinar on May 16.

• A new full-service production studio has launched in London. Lock It In Studio will “focus on podcasts that are inspired by the nuances of British culture”.

• A tale of two numbers:

  • The number of active podcasts - those updated in the last 30 days - has been relatively steady since early March, suggests data from The Podcast Index.
  • The number of new podcast feeds in April 2024 was lowest in over a year, according to data from Listen Notes.

Moves and hires

• Australian women’s media brand Mamamia has appointed Natalie Harvey as CEO. She joined as Chief Revenue Officer in January; Co-Founder and CEO Jason Lavigne becomes Executive-Chair.

Tips and tricks - with Ausha 🚀

• Ausha suggests: Discover the art of audience engagement by creating detailed listener personas with Ausha’s comprehensive resources.
• Ausha suggests: Explore effective strategies for building a dedicated audience
• Is there a difference between IAB “Certified” or “Compliant”?
• What happens when a podcast has the same name?

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: Big Picture Science’s Seth Shostak says: “Airwave’s expert services free us to use our creative energies to make the best show we can. Without a doubt, our program is simply better thanks to the efforts of Airwave."

The latest edition of The Sound Off Podcast is edition number 400; and to celebrate, Matt Cundill interviews Dave Jackson from The School of Podcasting. Dave talks about some of the podcast apps he uses (and why he doesn’t use some of the biggest), and also lets slip about a big domain-name that he owns.

SmartLess celebrates its 200th episode today with Steven Martin & Martin Short. Expect chats about the talk-show anecdote, the best use of a time-machine, and have you ever heard of the word “combo?”

Shootings are not unusual in Belize. Shootings of cops are. When a wealthy woman – married into one of the most powerful families in Belize – is found on a pier late at night, next to a body, it becomes the country’s biggest news story in a generation. From Campside Media, White Devil launched this week.

The Girlfriends returns for a new season today, from Novel and iHeartRadio. The show has been optioned for TV; the new season tries to discover the true identity of a mysterious woman whose body washed up on a beach in Staten Island.