US podcast listening reaches all-time high

• US podcast listening has hit an all-time high, according to a new study from Edison Research announced yesterday at Podcast Movement Evolutions. 47% of the US population 12+ has listened to a podcast over the past month, up 12% year over year. Women listeners are up 19%. We link to the whole data.

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• Wondery, iHeart and Lemonada Media are all using a non-public product from MowPod - which gives extra lives and game credits to gamers if they follow shows on Apple Podcasts from game apps, according to a piece from Bloomberg’s Ashley Carman. It’s distinct from MowPod’s public product (which we looked into last year). It has the effect of driving more downloads and manipulating chart placings: she says at least nine of the current top fifty shows have been promoted in this way.

  • Speaking to Podnews, CEO Mike Wiston says that ‘gamers’ are, on average, 35 years old with a $70,000 household income; and that the subscriptions are intentional, based on a choice (and a low clickthrough-rate) from an in-app “offer wall”.

• The Podcast Host publishes “The truth about Video Podcasts on YouTube” - you don’t need video to succeed.

• In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Wondery’s Blad Norman talks about a new marketing campaign from the company, with “Wondery Meets Business”, the first themed marketing campaign, starting on Monday.

• Who are upcoming guests for the SmartLess podcast? Peter Hamby suggests that Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton taped an edition of the show yesterday all together. Quite the guest booking.

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• The New York Times has launched its seventh annual student podcast contest.

• PRX has announced Podcast Creator Summit Events for Washington, DC and Atlanta in May and June.

• Bill Maher is to launch a podcast network.

• Podcast Magazine is coming back. The US title, formerly published by Steve Olsher, is now being published by TR Garland. Expect to see it return later this year.

Introducing Podpage AI

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Podpage is releasing PodpageAI, which makes creating content for your podcast website easier than it’s ever been. This groundbreaking tool launches with three features designed to streamline your workflow and enhance your online presence.

First, PodpageAI simplifies content creation by generating companion blog posts for your episode. It suggests topics, provides outlines, and even writes entire posts seamlessly, saving you time and effort and boosting visibility and SEO.

Next, PodpageAI can generate content for you to send to your mailing list. With newsletter creation, PodpageAI compiles the last month’s reviews, blog posts, and episodes into a monthly newsletter. With minimal editing, you can send engaging updates directly to your listeners using your mailing list provider.

Third, PodpageAI will create a review summary. The tool will summarize all your reviews into a short paragraph, just like Amazon does for all their products, making it easy for new visitors to understand the general sentiment of your listeners.

These AI features are available to podcasters on the Podpage Elite plan, starting today. Get started on the Podpage website.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• How to grow your show using LinkedIn (Spotify for Podcasters)

• Top tips to supercharge your podcast discovery on social media (Spotify for Podcasters)

• Your podcast needs better show notes (Wil Williams)

Podcast News - with Airwave

Airwave congratulates our Ambie nominee: Those Who Can’t Teach Anymore - a 7-part podcast series exploring why teachers are leaving education and what can be done to stop the exodus.

The Podnews Weekly Review this week interviews Gautam Raj Anand, the CEO of Indian podcast host Hubhopper - looking at his company and the wider Indian podcast market. The show was recorded at Podcast Movement Evolutions.

Who Killed the Video Star: The Story of MTV is new from Audacy Podcasts. The show is an eight-part series focusing on the former music television channel (it still exists, but isn’t a music channel any more). We wonder if they interview Adam Curry?