The world’s most successful branded podcast?

• Dish from Waitrose is the world’s most successful branded podcast, according to a release today. The show has had more than a billion downloads, views and listens since launching in 2022; and is the only branded podcast featured in both Apple and Spotify’s top 100 charts. The show is sponsored by Waitrose, a UK supermarket.

• Apple’s WWDC made a number of announcements. Relevant updates, coming soon, include a redesigned Podcasts app on tvOS (which will likely bring podcast video to the Apple TV device), and a customizable EQ feature for AirPods. We expect more detailed announcements as the conference continues.

• Fire TV is to launch “in the coming months” in the UK, Germany and Canada - it’s already live in the US. In the UK, Bauer Media Audio has announced that it is a launch partner, and will bring its podcasts and radio stations to the platform.

• Podtrac released its May 2026 rankers. The ranker also includes a global multichannel ranking, which includes audio and video podcasts and video clips. (“Video Podcasts” is Spotify and YouTube only, and doesn’t include Apple Podcasts). The Daily becomes the #1 podcast, overtaking NPR News Now.

• Combat sports podcast network SmashCast Media has partnered with Backyard Ventures for advertising representation.

• Campbell McLaren, the cofounder of UFC, is to take part in a new podcast about the early days of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. There Are No Rules launches later this month, distributed by reVolver Podcasts.

• The Empowered Podcasting Conference has announced details of its third annual conference. The event is in Charlotte NC, USA, on August 21-23. Marc Ronick, the event’s founder, tell us “it’s a place where independent creators can learn from industry leaders, connect with like-minded people, and discover new opportunities to grow their audience, their skills, and their business.”

• A media literacy program from a podcast publisher will be rolled out to every South Australian primary school. Newshounds, from Squiz Media, teaches kids to 'stop, think and check’ before believing everything they see online. Already in more than 5,000 classrooms across Australia, a new version of the tools (with an emphasis on artificial intelligence and classroom resources) will be rolled-out to every primary school across SA later this year.

Tips and tricks

• Should you get a trademark for your podcast? You should, we think (we’ve got one, after all). We’ve also updated this article with more details about how to protect yourself in multiple countries, too.

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: We all need a bit of Useless Information in our lives. For example: the dates of the least and most popular days for a baby to be born in the United States; or the time when a house is cut in half after two sisters argue over its repair. If you find this interesting, this podcast is for you!

The Athletic has announced coverage of the World Cup across its podcasts, video and streaming: including a new daily show from The Athletic FC - The Athletic FC Daily Cup - which will exclusively air, in video, on Fire TV.

The Adam Friedland Show is moving from the All Things Comedy network to Spotify, and will be working with The Ringer for a mini-series, called The Beautiful Pod, within the feed from tomorrow. The series will run over the course of the World Cup, reacting to the tournament action through Friedland’s comedic lens.

Tuesdays with Stories! has a brand new website. The website for the weekly comedy podcast, hosted by comedians Mark Normand and Joe List, lists every episode and includes fan polls.

Judgemental is brand new from Bauer Media Group today - with two judges that you’d recognise from Strictly Come Dancing, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood. We’re told the show is a “witty, warm and wonderfully opinionated new listen for anyone who loves pop cultural commentary, etiquette debates of questionable importance, and the sound of two great friends putting the world to rights.”

Banned Camp, the comedy podcast where two hosts read banned books out loud for the first time, chapter by chapter, launches Season 11 today with The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Listeners voted for the book. The timing was not lost on anyone.

The Louis Theroux Podcast returns for a new season today, with special guest Gary Lineker. We’re promised singer Mel C, chef Marco Pierre White, and YouTuber Andrew Callaghan, among other guests.

In Conversations with Stephen Kamugasa this week, how a sudden, devastating setback can test the very limits of human resilience. Maria Diekmann, founder of the Rare & Endangered Species Trust (REST) in Namibia, takes you from the frontlines of protecting endangered species directly into the hidden, personal battles of advocacy, leaving you with a powerful reflection on what true citizenship looks like in a changing world.

If you’re neurodivergent and tired of regulation advice that doesn’t account for your brain, in Wired Divergent host Jen deHaan explains why common nervous system strategies can backfire for autistic, ADHD, and AuDHD adults, offers adjustments that might help you out. Each week you’ll get a strategy episode covering the science behind a specific roadblock and why it affects our lives, and a guided practice episode you can use in the moment. The whole show is grounded in somatic tools and science from someone who’s late-diagnosed.

Why do your fingers and toes go wrinkly in the bath? Why does our taste in food change as we get older? And how high volcanoes can actually send molten lava up into the air? The Conversation’s Curious Kids is back for a new season, with host Eloise joined by a curious kid with a burning question about the world and an expert to answer it. Little listeners can expect a fun, educational dive into those head-scratching questions that their grown-ups find so hard to answer.

Podcasts in the wild

Podnews reader Amanda dropped us this picture in email, with no other notes; but a clever idea to market your local podcast right next to a local newspaper vending machine. This lo-fi ad is for the Rockaway Podcast. - “your go-to daily guide to the weather, surf report, and the latest happenings at the shore.”

See any marketing for podcasts in the real world? Snap’em and send’em to us.