RedCircle’s open host-read ad system

• RedCircle has launched OpenRAP, a scalable platform for host-read ads. Podcasters can now keep their existing (VAST-capable) hosting provider and have new fully-automated host-read ads inserted directly into their show by RedCircle’s ad platform. RAP automatically manages ad insertion, measurement, reporting and payment.

• First look: RSS.com has bought Mexico City podcast production company Vandi Media. It is set to enhance RSS.com’s production capabilities and ad sales opportunities. RSS is already highly active in Mexico with a number of large shows and agreements with Grupo Fórmula.

• The BBC is to carry advertising on its podcasts in the UK - if you’re not listening on BBC Sounds. The BBC is funded by a mandatory charge for UK households of US$215 a year, in the form of a television licence fee; this is the first time that BBC programmes will carry advertising on first release. It’ll be on smaller shows at first, and BBC News reports that it’s “subject to regulatory assessment”; though it’s unclear what regulator they are referring to.

  • The news has been heavily criticised by commercial competitors, who are solely reliant on ad revenue. News Media Association chief executive Owen Meredith said it would “wreak havoc on commercial players right across the media and advertising sector”, while Måns Ulvestam of Acast - which sells ads on BBC podcasts outside the UK - was quoted as saying the ads “will cannibalise every other podcast’s revenue”.

• Libsyn’s AdvertiseCast is now Libsyn Ads, in a rebrand announced today. It’s “a natural progression of the successful execution of our platform strategy”, says CRO Dave Hanley.

• Fancy a slice of Blubrry PAI? Blubrry has launched the Blubrry Podcast AI Assistant, which helps podcasters with creation, production and clips. Six months of work, the tool is future-ready, able to switch between LLMs when required.

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• Audacy has launched dynamic AI contextual advertising for podcasts, using transcripts to more accurately match topics with advertising categories.

• Audio advertising company AdTonos has unveiled Amplifier, a tool to enhance the audibility of audio ads. The company claims it has been proven, using brain scanning technology, to result in better response rates and emotional connections.

• Acast and Global both spoke at a UK Parliamentary Committee earlier in the week about the future of news, including podcasting.

• The subscription-only New York Times Audio app has exceeded one million installs, and audio on the platform got an average of 110mn monthly downloads per month last year, according to NYT Head of Audio Paula Szuchman.

• PJ Vogt’s Search Engine is to launch a paid subscription, dubbed “Incognito Mode”. It’s powered by Supporting Cast. In the announcement, PJ Vogt says the show is not profitable; and 40% of the show’s audience are international but “we currently do not make money from the advertisements they hear”.

• Disgraceland has launched a podcast… via email. The “Disgraceland Dive” is a daily email over nine days, introducing a listener to an archive season of the popular music podcast, focusing on The Beatles.

• Local US advertising will be $172mn this year, says BIA Advisory Services. Digital will account for $84mn.

Moves and hires

• Matt Tasker has been hired by Voiceworks Sport as Executive Producer. He will lead on the production of some of Voiceworks’ biggest rights holder productions.

100 Latina Birthdays

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In 100 Latina Birthdays, from Peabody-nominated LWC Studios, reporters investigate the health and lifetime outcomes of Latinas in the United States from birth to age 100. Season 1 chronicles Latinas’ health during pregnancy, childhood, adolescence, and up until age 20. Listen here, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• What makes high-quality show notes? (Bamby Media)

• How to write a podcast script (RedCircle)

Podcast News - with Airwave

Part of the Airwave podcast network: The World in Brief from The Economist tells you what’s on the global agenda in the coming day, what to look out for in business, finance and politics and, most importantly, what to make of it. Today - the Fed holds rates steady; and Reddit’s reported share price.

A new slate of stories from LAist’s Imperfect Paradise have been revealed; the show’s four-part stories will feature a story about a group of dancers working to unionize one North Hollywood strip club and the pitfalls they faced along the way; then stories about the Colorado River, the Mexican border, and the lions, coyotes and bears moving into LA. We’ve an interview with LAist’s Shana Naomi Krochmal tomorrow in the Podcast Business Journal.

The Not Old - Better Show has signed with AMP for media sales.

端聞 | 端傳媒新聞播客 launched yesterday - a twice-weekly podcast in Mandarin Chinese from Initium Reports. Hosted by Editor-in-Chief Lulu Hui Ning, and Senior Editor Allison Jing Yang, the show is fueled by Initium Media’s award-winning newsroom, and will be released twice-weekly.

In Australia, the ABC has launched Mushroom Case Daily - a day-by-day podcast following the case of Erin Patterson, who stands accused of serving a Beef Wellington laced with poisonous mushrooms to her unsuspecting guests. The 49-year-old has been charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder. She maintains she is innocent.

Impromptu is new from Washington Post Opinions. The show invites listeners to eavesdrop on the newspaper’s columnists as they go beyond hot takes and have frank, thoughtful conversations on the news and cultural debates. In the first episode, Ruth Marcus, who has covered the Supreme Court for more than two decades at The Post, speaks with Alexandra Petri and Amanda Ripley about what’s at stake as the Supreme Court hears arguments on abortion pill access.

After Earnings is new from Morning Brew and Stakeholder Labs. The podcast features CEOs from public companies, with conversations traditionally reserved for analysts and hedge fund managers in public to connect directly with retail investors after they report quarterly earnings. It’s hosted by Austin Hankwitz and Katie Perry.