Podcast listeners want video, says survey

• 46% of podcast listeners say they prefer listening to podcasts with video, according to a Morning Consult survey. Among the reasons why: “to see facial expressions and reactions from the hosts and guests”, and “to better focus on the podcast”. The same survey unsurprisingly puts YouTube as the most preferred podcast platform among podcast listeners; Spotify, Apple Podcasts and then Pandora.

• A cloned voice, powered by AI, meant that a German media publisher doubled the amount of daily tech news podcast episodes, leading to increased revenue. Isabel Grünewald had her voice cloned for new episodes of Kurz Informiert, increasing total plays of the show by 37%. The company doing the voice cloning was Aflorithmic, based in Barcelona and London.

• Apple Podcasts doesn’t make the US hits any more, claims Ashley Carman in a newsletter, noting that the company seems more keen to promote podcasts with an accompanying premium subscription. Coincidentally, the Podnews Daily and Podnews Weekly Review are available ad-free in Apple Podcasts.

• Podfans, a to-be-launched podcast platform from Sam Sethi, has achieved a seed funding round of more than £300,000. Sam made the announcement in today’s Podnews Weekly Review podcast.

• Spotify has announced its second Stream On event will be in Los Angeles (and via livestream) on Mar 8.

• Open podcast analytics service OP3 has published its method of calculating downloads, including links to code. It also highlights an important difference for analytics prefix services.

  • Podnews Daily achieved 50,796 downloads in December, OP3 tells us.

• Evergreen Podcasts is partnering with Ideastream Public Media for a new journalistic podcast series. Living for We will address the health and wellness challenges Black women face in Northeast Ohio, US.

• The Podcast Academy and BIPOC Podcast Creators have announced a partnership for the 2023 Spring Mentorship Program. You’ve until Jan 20 to apply.

• The New York Festivals Radio Awards announced its 2023 grand jury, selected from a number of countries across the world.

• US radio broadcaster Salem Media Group has announced an extension of its agreement with Triton Digital, including Podcast Metrics Demos+.

• Jack Dorsey uses Fountain to listen to podcasts, the former Twitter CEO says.

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Tips and tricks - with Podcast Movement Evolutions

• Creating a content strategy is a sure-shot way to shine amidst the noise, says Nidhi Kala. She recommends defining a target audience and studying your competitors.

Podcast News - with editaudio

From editaudio: Postlight Podcast Join industry veterans Gina Trapani and Chris LoSacco in conversation with their friends and team at Postlight for conversations on product, business, and leadership.

Code Name Siren launched yesterday - a new true crime show from Storic Media. It’s hosted by Nina Hobson, a former UK police detective and owner of a global private investigation firm who’s seen it all: murder, human trafficking, and billion-dollar money laundering schemes. You can expect first-hand accounts from psychological experts, operatives, criminal informants, and the victims of the crimes she investigates.

In the Podnews Weekly Review this week, Sam Sethi and Podnews’s Editor James Cridland talk about Google and Spotify, and Sam reveals his seed funding for his new podcast platform Podfans.

Drink Champs has signed an audio exclusive deal with Interval Presents, Warner Music Group’s podcast network. The show was with iHeart and the Black Effect Network, and was threatened with a $250m lawsuit last October

A Prison’s Guide To… is new from Acast and the UK’s Ministry of Justice this week. It aims to give the public unprecedented insight into what really goes on behind the prison walls.

The Comb, the BBC World Service’s podcast that combs Africa for fresh perspectives and stories, returns for a new season today. It’s made by the team behind BBC Focus On Africa, and this season takes us to Namibia, Kenya, Cameroon, Somalia, South Africa, Malawi and Nigeria.

Chameleon: Dr. Dante, the latest from the Chameleon podcast series, launched earlier this week. Dr Ronald Dante wasn’t a real doctor, but was an excellent conman, hypnotising women out of their fortunes, taking out hits on his rivals, and opening up one of the biggest fake universities in history. Subscribers to The Binge can hear the whole series now; it’s from Campside Media and Sony Music Entertainment.