Podcast ads: repetition or reach?

• The number of times that podcast listeners hear the same ad has soared over the past year - more than doubling, according to research from Podsights. In a blog post, Westwood One’s Pierre Bouvard suggests prioritising reach over frequency.

• The Creators, Sounds Profitable and Edison Research’s study into people that make podcasts, has published a full transcript, as well as a video of the webinar.

• The Podcasting, Seriously Awards Fund has expanded to include reimbursements for education and training for BIPOC and LQBTQ+ independent producers, editors, and other creators.

• Mediatel has launched Audioscape, which they call “the UK’s first interactive directory of the audio industry”. It’s free, and available to anyone.

• Buzzsprout’s data for June shows a small drop for consumption share via Apple Podcasts: down from 40.7% to 39.4%. Spotify has increased by a percentage point to 26.4%.

• Acast and The New York Times have agreed a podcast ad sales deal for the UK. Many media companies use Acast to monetise podcast programming outside of its country of origin.

• Sound Carrot is a new website, calling itself 'the best place to discover the greatest kids podcasts’. The name comes from owner Tristan’s ten year-old daughter. “The concept was born out of the frustration my daughter experienced with mainstream podcast apps and the inability of any of them to provide a children’s tag that isn’t dominated by parenting shows.”

• Out of all podcast episodes published in June, Buzzsprout saw a decline of market share to 8.1%, according to Livewire. The company is still the #2 podcast host after Anchor. Amazon Cloudfront is still responsible for more than 50% of all podcast downloads; Spotify’s Chartable and Podtrac both saw an increased amount of use as tracking tools.

Moves and hires

• Chris Stark has quit BBC Radio to join Global, as a presenter and producer of the Capital FM breakfast show, and a remit to expand sports content in Global Player. He’s a co-presenter of That Peter Crouch Podcast, now with Acast, and hosts shows with Scott Mills on BBC Radio 1. Mills moves to Radio 2 later this year.

Podcast News - with Pushkin Industries

From Pushkin: When two reporters started digging into the porn industry, they made quite the discovery. Porn relies on performers to literally bare it all. Yet, information about who runs the industry is kept like a state secret. Hot Money uncovers who is really pulling the strings.

The latest episode of Our Voices features Podnews’s Editor, James Cridland, talking about two role models that shaped his outlook on life. A beautifully-produced fifteen minutes of storytelling, you’ll learn about Michael and Steve. The power of mentorship and learning, it’s a great listen.

The UEFA Women’s EURO 2022™ starts today - that’s soccer, American readers - and The Guardian’s Women’s Football Weekly has been launched to cover the tournament as part of wider coverage. Hosted by Faye Carruthers and Suzanne Wrack, the show will be released twice a week.

Top Billin’ With Bill Bellamy is what you get when you unite hip-hop and comedy. Filmed on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, each week, the comedian-actor speaks candidly with leading figures in music, comedy, sports, and more from the past and present. Bellamy and his guests will share intimate stories about their lives and careers while dissecting current events and pop culture. It launches today.

The podcast that provided daily messages of comfort and respite during 2020’s unpleasantness is now back under a new name, The Lighthouse. In each daily episode, host Mark Steadman brings warm, friendly and tangent-filled conversation to listeners facing isolation, or in need of an audio hug. It’s been described as “how the Shipping Forecast would sound if it cared about how your day went”.

Podcast ads in the wild

Mike Skagerlind spotted this on a Northern Line train in the London Underground, promoting Audible original Coupledom. Public transport seems an ideal place to promote podcasts.

Advertising for podcasts help grow the whole medium - so if you’ve spotted any (or responsible for some), just hit reply and send us a nice picture.