The Podcast Academy, six years on

• It’s six years since the launch of The Podcast Academy. In an in-depth look at podcasting’s membership organisation, we examine how it’s doing in terms of membership, the state of its finances, how important The Ambies are to the organisation, and a mysterious change at the top that has left some people wondering what happened. Read our story in full.

• Edison Research at SSRS published the top 50 podcasts in the US for Q1/26. What effect has Netflix had on this chart? The Breakfast Club rose from 15 to 11; it’s the clear leader on Netflix. The Bill Simmons podcast - removed in full from YouTube in favour of Netflix - has also risen from 49 to 42. The highest new entry is The Ramsey Show. Edison Podcast Metrics asks about podcasts, not about platforms - so will include shows wherever people consume them.

• Acast published its annual report for 2025. It posted sales growth in North America of +60% in the year; overall, sales grew by +29%. Bringing in a total of $274mn in revenue, the company posted an overall loss of -$12mn. The company has 429 full-time employees (up from 364 last year).

• Netflix released its financial results for Q1/26. Ted Sarandos sounded bullish about podcasting in an investor Q&A. “We’re seeing some data that would indicate that we’re gaining incremental engagement to the platform”, said Sarandos, noting that podcast content “indexes to daytime hours”, and that it also “indexes much more to mobile”. In a phrase that’ll annoy nobody, he says that podcasting is “more mobile than professional TV”. The company announced that former professional TV news anchor Brian Williams is to host a show for Netflix.

• Podscribe has added radio ad measurement capabilities. Podcasting is often bought alongside radio advertising, and radio is listened-to significantly more; Podscribe’s new service adds verification and performance measurement.

• YouTube announced a way of avoiding YouTube Shorts on the platform. Barrett Media suggests that this is “a quiet threat to one of podcasting’s most reliable growth engines.”

• More Headgum shows are making their way to Hulu. Three more shows will appear on the video streaming platform before they’re available anywhere else.

• “When AI can summarize any episode in seconds, what makes your podcast worth listening to in full?” Jeremy Enns discusses a strategy of Creating A Durable Podcast In the Age of AI

The Tech Stuff - with RSS.com

• Popular iOS podcast app Castamatic has launched Castamatic 13 in beta - with transcripts and chapters generated on-device, with no cloud processing or data uploads. Unlike other recent launches of transcripts, Castamatic respects existing creator-produced transcripts where they exist in an RSS feed. You can see demos of transcripts and chapters; the app is entirely serverless for enhanced privacy.

• A new podcast app called Apecast contains automated transcripts and automated chapter marks (just like you get with Apple Podcasts for free), as well as ad-skipping. You’d have to really dislike the ads to pay US $16.99 a month, though. The app describes advertising as “feeling like theft”; though, as per every other similar podcast app, none of the money reaches creators.

• The New Feeds Report from the Podcast Index is powered by this CSV file. In the last 24 hours, another 217 new feeds from Inception Point AI, mostly in Portuguese and Spanish.

People News

• Reed Hastings is to step down as Chairman of Netflix.
• The BBC is to cut as many as 2,000 jobs, the biggest round of job losses at the BBC since 2011. It was announced by Rhodri Talfan Davies, the interim director general, prior to Matt Brittin’s arrival at the corporation next month. It is required to save £500mn ($675mn) of costs. Individual BBC employees will only learn whether they’re affected later in the year.

Tips and tricks - with the Podnews Report Card

• If you’re launching a new show in a popular category, Ausha has a few ideas on how to stand out.
• Time to rebrand your podcast? Jason Cercone has a story to tell.

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: The Box of Oddities delves into the strange and mysterious aspects of our world, exploring topics ranging from bizarre medical conditions to unsolved mysteries, and from paranormal phenomena to strange cultural practices from around the world.

Nora Achmaoui’s She Said has been launched by Podeo. She’s one of the Middle East’s most prominent advocates for female entrepreneurship, known for her candid voice, purpose-driven content, and her mission to change the lives of a million women.

BFYTW is a British-style panel show podcast about two teams playing games comparing pop culture things to other pop culture things in bizarre and frequently hilarious ways. Hosted by Published Author Aaron Randolph, and Co-Hosted by Captains Augie and MidnightSmoke. BFYTW is a Founding Member of OddPods Media Network and is Proudly Veteran Owned.

Savvy Psychologist is back with a brand new season and a brand new host. Dr. Judy Ho is taking the mic and she is ready to tackle the mental health issues we’re all experiencing. In the very first episode she’s already given a hot take on toxic positivity, called out your attachment style, and explained why we self-sabotage.