The UK gets a podcast ranker, finally

• At The Podcast Show 2023 in London, it was announced that Edison Podcast Metrics are coming to the UK. Edison Podcast Metrics UK will be the first podcast ranker in the country, and will use a quarterly survey of at least 2,000 weekly podcast listeners. The company’s release includes indicative data of the top five shows (none of which are from the BBC); the first full set of data will be unveiled for subscribers in Q3.

• Also at the show, Wondery and Amazon Music announced a distribution and ad-sales deal with UK comedian and actor Rob Brydon’s Brydon & interview podcast. The podcast was previously with Spotify.

• Above: YouTube’s UK Managing Director, Alison Lomax, spoke at a packed session yesterday at The Podcast Show in London, after we unveiled the company’s RSS ingest trials. Asked whether she had any updates to share, she started by saying: “There is no big launch today, for anyone who’s been reading Podnews. I hate to disappoint anyone on that.” She did, though, confirm that podcast features on YouTube will be coming to the UK. “Can’t say which part of the year, but what’s launched in the US will be coming to the UK”.

  • Meanwhile, WARC says that ad revenue for YouTube will grow this year by 4% to reach $30.4bn.

• In Australia, the IAB report that podcast ad revenue saw 20.7% annual growth. This is against a total online ad revenue decline of 0.8%.

• Most podcast advertisers see more than double their return on investment on podcast advertising, according to new research unveiled this morning by Acast. Two-thirds of podcast advertisers say they see between $2-$6 back for every dollar spent; 20% say they see more than $6 back, the most of any tested medium.

• The number of podcasters using Spotify’s proprietary Q&A and polls features has doubled in the past two months, Spotify has revealed - these features are available to any podcaster available on Spotify, wherever they’re hosted. In an article sharing case studies from a number of different podcasts, we also learn that Maya Prohovnik, VP and Head of Podcast Product at Spotify, hosts a show herself - The End of the World as We Know It, a first-time parenting podcast.

• Content studio Project Brazen has launched a podcast network and platform, called simply Brazen. Brazen will be home to shows from others “that are seeking an alternative distribution strategy that allows them to have a greater participation in the success of their work”.

• WIRED writes about AI podcasts: “here whether anyone wants them or not”.

Tips and tricks - with Podnews Live - where podcasting connects

• Do you “heff and jeff” in your podcast? Do you mark it as explicit? If you do, did you know what that means to which country gets your podcast? Dan Misener from Bumper discovers which countries hide explicit content from users unless they want it - and which ban it all together.

Podcast News

The Referral with Dr. Karan was announced at The Podcast Show yesterday. A Sony Music Entertainment production, the show is hosted by an NHS surgeon with over 7 million social media followers. Expect straight-talking with a hearty dose of humour to learn more about health, science and medicine.

The national conversation right now can be chaotic, reckless, and stuck. The Atlantic’s new show, Radio Atlantic, returns today, hosted by Hanna Rosin. The show aims to complicate overly simplistic views, and help listeners make up their own mind about how they think about certain ideas.