Fiction podcasts get completed more than tech ones

• Spotify released a Fan Study for podcast creators. Fans who “follow” (aka subscribe to) your podcast will listen to 4x the number of episodes of those who don’t, says the data; and episode completion rate varies from genre to genre, with true crime and fiction podcasts having the highest completion rates (at about 87%), while tech shows have one of the lowest (about 72%). Also in new research, The State of Branded Podcasts 2022 Report was released by CoHost, a podcast hosting company. Two-thirds of branded podcasts post every week, says that data.

• The winners of the 17th annual People’s Choice Podcast Awards were announced. 5.7 million listeners participated. The winners of the Gotham/Variety Audio Honors were also announced.

• There has been a jump in the average CPM for podcast advertising, according to Libsyn’s AdvertiseCast: the average is now $24.35, the second-highest on record. It’s up 3.7% month-on-month, or 5% year-on-year.

• Anchor continues to lose market share for total podcast episodes released last month, according to Livewire. The podcast hosting platform was responsible for 22.2% of all new podcast episodes in August, the lowest figure recorded.

• London ad-agency AudioPlus has signed with Veritonic to use its attribution solution. It’ll enable the agency to measure ROI of client audio ads.

• Excitement for Hocus Pocus fans, as it was revealed that a musical is on the way. The big reveal was apparently in the podcast The Art of Kindness; though… actually you’d have heard the news a year earlier by listening to The Big Seance, in episode 195.

• Huberman Lab is to launch a paid subscription on Supercast. The show is consistently rated #1 in its categories; the new Premium subscription offers additional content.

• New word: showcast. CBS has launched a “showcast” for The Young And The Restless. It’s the audio track from the popular daytime drama set in Genoa City.

• Transistor is now supporting host and guest credits.

• In the UK, October’s Pod Bible magazine was released inside some copies of The Sunday Times, and is available to read online. It features interviews with cover star Brett Goldstein from Films To Be Buried With and Jolyon Rubenstein from The New Conspiracist. There’s also Helen Bauer picking her top 5 shows, and regular columns from Acast, Audible, Stak and Apple Podcasts. We like page 27.

• Podcast recommendation newsletters are working on a Podcast Riddle Challenge, and the first two riddles dropped this weekend. You could win a fancy Sonos speaker.

• Joe Rogan is no longer #1 in Podnews’s Ranker. 40% of our mentions of people were of women in the 90 days to the end of September.

Moves and hires - with Podjobs.net

• Lucinda Treat has been hired as Crooked Media’s first CEO. She joins from Vice Media Group, where she was chief legal officer. Crooked Media has also announced an investment from George Soros, the amount of which was undisclosed.
• Emily Krumberger has joined FRQNCY Media as Associate Producer. She joins from radio, and is finishing a certificate in Documentary Studies from Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies.
• Katie Klimacek has joined FRQNCY Media as Graphic Designer. From Chicago, she has also worked as a freelancer.

The Tech Stuff - with RSS.com

• To improve the open OPAWG useragent list, Podnews has produced a live tool that uses the data to give the apps used for 1,000 OP3 audio requests.
• SATurn, the Alby view into boostagrams, now shows complete boost amounts, so you too can thank someone for a Rush Boost.
• Podping, a method of faster notification of your new episodes, is now supported by PowerPress. The Blubrry publisher “is not far behind”, Todd Cochrane tells us.
• Even without PowerPress until now, Podping is continuing to grow in use. “Of the 1.66 million new episodes published in September, podping found 11.6% of them first”, says John Spurlock.
• Transistor’s new support for host and guest credits also includes support for the podcast:person tag.

Podcast News - with Lemonada Media

From Lemonada Media: Good Sex asks duos of all types to open up to each other about pleasure, intimacy and what turns them on. Listen to hear intimate chats and playful moments between friends, lovers and everyone in between.

In the latest episode of Content is for Closers, FRQNCY Media’s CEO, Founder, and Executive Producer, Michelle Khouri, spoke about branded podcast networks and innovative audio strategies.

The latest edition of Podtastic Audio talks to Podnews Editor James Cridland - about working in radio and podcasting, and how he came up with Podnews in the first place.

Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel has debuted at #1 in its category in both Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The show talks unfiltered about what’s going on in the world, pop culture, and how to afford a life you love.

Emperors of Rome is celebrating episode CC tomorrow with a live recording at ACMI in Flinders Street Melbourne, Australia. It seems only yesterday that they did episode CXCIX. Anyway, the live event (it’s free) looks at Anthony and Kleopatra - how they fought against Octavian, brought about the end of the republic, and the start of a new age for Rome. The live show looks at their love affair, their war together, and their defeat.

UK television personality Lorraine Kelly has launched a new podcast, Paws to Talk, looking at the positive influence dogs have on social isolation. It’s sponsored by MORE THAN and charity Dogs for Good, and launched yesterday.