Video, AI and innovation: podcast predictions for 2026

• Senior executives from the biggest companies in podcasting give their highlights of 2025, and their predictions for the year to come, in a special episode of the Podnews Weekly Review, published today.

  • Ben Cave from Apple Podcasts underscores that podcasts are open by design; and teases us that the platform will “continue to innovate with new features”. Buzzsprout’s Jordan Blair highlights that we’ll see an “absolute brick wall of AI fatigue”; Roman Wasenmüller from Spotify focuses on what he calls the authenticity and loyalty that has shaped podcasting; Shea Simpson from Amazon says that video will continue to evolve; Ellie from Pocket Casts wants to see more podcasters adopting new Podcasting 2.0 features; and slightly worryingly, Megan Lazovick from Edison Research threatens that the Infinite Dial presentation next year might be a musical. We hope she’s joking. Tell us she’s joking. The full set of guests are available wherever you get your podcasts.

• Netflix has signed a deal with Barstool Sports for three shows. The streamer will get exclusive access to the video from Pardon My Take, The Ryen Russillo Podcast, and Spittin’ Chiclets - the audio show continues everywhere.

  • As with all these deals, this effectively removes access to video versions of these shows to everywhere outside the US; Netflix’s podcasts will initially be only available within the US, and the company only vaguely promises “additional markets to follow”. Only 27% of Netflix subscribers are in the US.

• Magellan AI’s November 2025 rankings have been released. BetterHelp was the top podcast spender, spending $5.9mn. Washable Sofas was #2, increasing their spend to $5.8mn. And both Aura Frames and The Coca-Cola Company appear high on the top movers & shakers list.

• Podfest will be the biggest it’s ever been next month, the event has announced. Podnews newsletter readers get a discount on selected passes.

• Uproxx has cancelled its podcast Indiecast. The show was five years old. “It is part of an overall downsizing of my role with the company”, Steven Hyden has posted. The company has, however, offered access to the name and RSS feed.

• LiveOne has renewed its audio advertising partnership with DAX US for a further twelve months.

• Triton Digital released rankers for the US and for Canada. The US shows the iHeart Audience Network as #1; CBC/Radio-Canada gets #1 slot in Canada.

• The 8th Canadian Podcast Awards winners were announced. Canadian History Ehx, Mental Health is Horrifying and No Quest for the Wicked were the top award winners.

• Now podcasting has hit the mainstream media landscape, discipline and proper measurement have never been more important, suggests Stamatis Astra, writing for Podnews today.

• RadioWorld magazine examines “the fake AI podcast boom”. “They flood the market with content that makes listening cheaper and attention thinner,” says columnist Jerry del Colliano.

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: The Webby Award-winning The Box of Oddities delves into the strange and mysterious aspects of our world, exploring topics ranging from bizarre medical conditions to unsolved mysteries, and from paranormal phenomena to strange cultural practices from around the world. Today’s episode features listener emails that’ll make you think.

Real estate technology podcast Tangent: Proptech is celebrating its 100th episode with a landmark conversation featuring Airbnb’s head of real estate marketing, Eliza Lochner. It’s been at the intersection of real estate, technology, and urban innovation since 2020.

Amplify Her® Foundation’s podcast, If She Can Make It Here, has just released a conversation with activist and social entrepreneur, Reshma Saujani - who founded Girls Who Code and is the Founder and CEO of Moms First. She is one of the US’s most influential advocates for working mothers, care infrastructure, and gender equity. She shares her journey, theorizes on what’s currently holding women and girls back, and reckons with the idea that progress isn’t always a straight line.

Happy To Be Here launches today - an interview podcast for the recovering perfectionist and the perpetually curious. It’s full of conversations with people who will delight and inspire -- journalists, chefs, authors, and all kinds of excellent humans. The show is created by book nerd Greta Johnsen, former host and co-creator of WBEZ’s Nerdette. Greta also co-hosts HBO’s Official Game of Thrones Podcast and writes the GRETAGRAM newsletter on Substack.