Ad revenue drops for This American Life: launches paid model

Above: The Aarthi and Sriram Show, “a show on optimistic conversations with people building and creating new products and technologies”, advertising in London Heathrow Airport in July.

• One of the oldest public radio podcasts, This American Life, has launched a premium subscription version of the show, citing a collapse in the podcast ad market. “We’re doing this out of necessity,” says Ira Glass in an email: “the ad market’s changed a lot in the podcast industry and it has affected nearly everyone making shows like ours.” He added: “we expect our ad revenue to be a third less than what we brought in just a few years ago”. The branding is “This American Life Partners” - Glass also suggested other names of “This American Lifeboat” or “This American Life Support”.

  • This American Life switched to ad sales by National Public Media from August. It had been represented by the New York Times.
  • The show is using Supercast and Apple Podcasts to handle subscriptions.
  • The staff page on This American Life lists 36 people on the team.

• Ignite Creator Studios has launched PODignite, a tailored content marketing strategy package. The company offers a full suite of services, including podcast production, social media content creation, and branded content development.

• The 4th annual Anthem Awards has announced its finalists. Among this year’s finalists include podcasts such as The Black Fatherhood Podcast; On Purpose with Jay Shetty; How to Fix the Internet; Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant; Bonus Babies; and more.

• Tom Streetley, Global’s Director of Commercial, DAX Audio, is asked questions at random by The Media Leader. For his ideal dinner party, he’d like former US President Barack Obama, and two former British Prime Ministers, Tony Blair and David Cameron.

• Canadian podcast newsletter Pod the North publishes The 10 Best Canadian Podcasts of 2024.

• In London, In The Dark - a curated evening of audio storytelling - is presenting Unhuman with Axel Kacoutié on Nov 14. We hear it’ll sound even better this time around.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• There’s more to life than just Apple and Spotify. Here’s how to add your podcast to every podcast directory.

Podcast News

The Late Bloomer Actor published a special end-of-season episode. Host David John Clark spoke to 12 hosts of his favourite podcasts from around the world, all collectively talking about podcasting, storytelling and community. Among the featured guests are TrueFans’s Sam Sethi, Buzzsprout’s Jordan Blair, and our Editor.

Attach Your Résumé launches today - talking to online creators about how their jobs work and how they got there. It’s hosted by Eric Silver and Amanda McLoughlin, you can expect interviews with Gita Jackson, co-owner of worker-owned journalism outlet Aftermath; Jack Conte, CEO of Patreon; and podcast host and TV personality Akilah Hughes.

Spolitics from iHeartPodcasts and Jemele Hill is a new podcast that will delve into the intersection of sports, race, gender, sexuality and politics. The series aims to spark important political and cultural conversations that challenge the narratives surrounding these critical issues in the world of sports.

Begin Again with Davina McCall is new today, from Steven Bartlett’s Flight Studio. Davina McCall is a well-known UK television personality, and the show is dedicated to empowering people to embrace midlife: sharing stories of growth, rediscovery, and creating a sense of renewal. Davina wants everyone to know that midlife is not the start of the end, instead it’s the perfect opportunity and time to Begin Again.

Science says that 60% of people can’t get through a 10-minute conversation without telling at least one lie. Spotify’s The Ringer launches Truthless this week - a limited-run show that explores one universal truth: everyone lies. Each episode dives into a single story where a guest reveals a personal lie, unpacking the insecurities and quirks that drove it.