Spotify and NPR outline partnership

• Spotify and NPR are detailing their new partnership in a post highlighting how the two companies are “forging a new partnership focused on diversification and discoverability”. The major partnership was announced last week at Spotify’s Stream On event and Podcast Movement Evolutions.

• Audacy released financial results. Podcasting revenue was down 8% y/y. Excluding the loss of Crooked Media (which switched to SiriusXM in May), revenues would have been up 14%. The company claims 9% increase in Q4 downloads.

• February’s US Podcast Ranker is out from Triton Digital. The top 5 remains unchanged; it measures participating publishers only; notably, iHeart-owned Triton Digital doesn’t measure iHeartPodcasts.

• In the UK, it’s Red Nose Day, helping raise money to make positive change in the UK and around the world. Acast has produced a podcast mashup series, merging some of the company’s biggest UK podcasts together to help encourage donations.

• Scripted podcast network Realm has announced new partnerships: the network now covers more than 120 shows.

• Podcast Studio Ideas is a new website from Justin Jackson, featuring the home (and office) setups of different podcasters. The first profile is on Stephen Robles (who does the AppleInsider, HomeKit, and Movies on the Side podcasts).

• Gordon Firemark is to host a free workshop, “Business & Legal Fundamentals for Podcast Growth & Profit”.

• The Podcast Host looks at the podcasting scene in Zimbabwe.

• BBC Local Radio journalists went on strike, after plans were unveiled to merge programming between stations. BBC Radio Humberside’s Amanda White, tweeting in a personal capacity, explains why there isn’t enough local digital content on BBC Sounds: pointing the finger of blame at BBC senior management. Particularly, while she broadcasts live on TV and can control a radio station, she points out she isn’t trusted to publish a thing on the BBC website.

Tips and tricks - with Phantom Producer

• Rephonic publish The Ultimate Guide to Podcast Collaboration. In podcast collaboration, two podcasts with similar audiences in the same niche (or related niches) work together for their mutual benefit.

Podcast News - with Left Over

There are a lot of studies on how podcasting can benefit listeners when it comes to their mental wellness, but this isn’t the case when it comes to the mental health issues podcasting can cause the creators behind the podcasts. And that’s more than a little disconcerting. A bonus episode of Pod Chat - Insights and Trends from Podcast Experts drops today.

In this week’s Podnews Weekly Review, James managed to record the show on his inbuilt MacBook Air microphone (see how that’s fixed in post-production), and he’s joined by Courtney Kocak as co-host after Sam decides he’s going skiing. The guest is Norma-Jean Belenky from Podbean.

The Concierge is a new travel podcast from Monocle - a publication with 50 correspondents around the world. Unlike many others, the team behind the podcast say that they do not take press trips, free meals or overnights. “We pay our way so everything we feature is 100% selected on merit and expertise.” It’s hosted by Robert Bound.

The second season of Navigating Narcissism with Dr. Ramani has been released (and, also now has its own YouTube channel. Guests this season include Bill Cosby survivor Lili Bernard, Harvey Weinstein survivor Sarah Anne Masse, journalist Abby Ellin who was duped into falling in love with a conman and many others who have endured heartbreaking infidelity, devastating fraud, terrifying abuse and more.

Podcast ads in the wild

Satirical UK news magazine Private Eye promotes its Page 94 podcast in a not-so-subtle way on the magazine’s subscriber packaging - notably, using the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts icons.