Wondery launches three TV channels

• Wondery is turning its podcasts into three TV channels on Amazon Freevee. The Amazon-owned podcast publisher will be the first podcast video channels on Freevee, featuring over 20 Wondery series, centered around True Crime, Sports, and Entertainment & Pop Culture.

• CoHost has announced a prefix tool to enable brands and agencies to access CoHost’s features without migrating from their current hosting provider. The tool gives advanced demographics, and allows B2B podcasters to know which companies are listening.

• Podcast hosting company Libsyn made a number of people redundant on Friday: among them, software developer Nick Michaels, Product Manager Yvette Jenny Menase, Web developers Gary Hlusko, Michael Scarlett, and Software Engineer Jeremiah Voltz. At Pair, Customer Service Rhonda Webb, Apps Security Jaime Eberley, and another five roles have been removed from Libsyn-owned Pair since June.

  • A company spokesperson told Podnews: “Libsyn is strategically allocating resources that include reducing the numbers of specific roles and the creation of new positions in our priority growth areas. These changes will allow us to align our resources with our Company’s evolving needs and objectives.”
  • Below, in our People News section, a senior executive from Libsyn’s Julep has joined Acast.

• US podcast listeners want to listen to more podcasts on the radio, according to a new study from Coleman Insights. Podcast Radio started broadcasting in the US earlier this year, in Detroit, Tampa, Charlotte and Fort Myers.

• The most searched podcast is the Joe Rogan Experience, according to analysis by Podbam.

• One negative review on Apple Podcasts might mean 42% fewer listeners, especially if it appears first, according to scientific research from the Journal of Marketing Research. It suggests that podcast app companies shouldn’t just show 'latest review first’, but instead, list them in different ways.

  • The data also suggests you try to address the negative reviews as soon as possible by replying to them; something currently impossible on Apple Podcasts.

• On Friday, we carried feedback from Megaphone customers that all data was lost about podcasts within Megaphone when moving to Spotify’s “streaming-powered tools”, which offer new analytics.

  • We’re happy to clarify that it’s streaming data from Spotify (only) which is lost from automated exports. Spotify tells us: Spotify plans to introduce streaming-based data within automated exports in the future.
  • We also said all data was removed from Megaphone’s analytics tools; again - it’s just streaming data from Spotify which is removed from some views. Spotify tells us: Spotify streams data is not currently reflected in the “Technology Performance by Downloads” widget because when a publishers turns on the streaming-powered tools, a podcast’s “on-Spotify streaming data” is moved to an entirely new, robust streaming analytics tab where users will not only get to see how many “streams” their content is getting on Spotify but also other new streaming-based metrics, such as starts, completes, and reach.

Thank you to Resound, the AI podcast editor for creators, for becoming our latest gold supporter; and for the Earbuds Podcast Collective for becoming our newest personal supporter. We’re grateful to you for helping fund our independent journalism. You can be like them.

Moves & Hires

• Maik Lenze has joined Acast in Germany as Group Business Director. He joins from Libsyn-owned Julep.

Tips and tricks - with Spotify for Podcasters

Wherever your podcast is hosted, Spotify has free tools to help you find new fans and grow your show. And our latest updates give you even more ways to personalize your presence on one of the most important surfaces on our platform: your show page. This is where many of your fans began their listening journey, and now you can customize that experience to help turn more visitors into loyal fans. Guide first-time listeners to your favorite content by pinning a “Best place to start” episode. Then add up to two “Host recommendations” to cross-promote with another show or just share some of your favorite content on Spotify. Start curating your show page, and check out all the ways Spotify for Podcasters can help your show stand out.

• Voxalyze writes How Spotify for Podcasters’ impression data update changes the podcasting game. (Our tips and tricks section is currently sponsored by Spotify for Podcasters, but this editorial isn’t)

• Want to use commercial music in your podcast? A short clip is probably okay, right? Our article covers the truth of what you can, and can’t, use.

Podcast News

In the Tortoise Investigates feed today: how the anti-vaccination conspiracy infiltrated mainstream life, and the beguiling man who started it all. The show looks into Dr Andrew Wakefield, who sparked a global vaccine panic 25 years ago, and inspired the modern day anti-vax movement in the US.

The Women of Web3 Podcast returns for season three today. Hosted by Lauren Ingram, it’s a beginner’s guide to the metaverse, with plenty of jargon breakdowns, all delivered through interviews with inspirational female leaders from across the blockchain space. The guest today is Ashley McDonnell, the Global Client Activation Director at Puig, the owners of fashion brands like Jean Paul Gaultier.

With justice being sought for TuPac Shakur this month, it’s only natural that questions are being asked regarding Biggie, as well. THE DOSSIER looks at the the murder of The Notorious B.I.G. The show says it can prove, with evidence, who shot and killed Biggie, but more importantly why the power players inside Los Angeles covered it up.

The Inspired Money podcast is changing to be a more interactive format with weekly livestreams on YouTube. Host Andy Wang tells us that the change has led to more guest invitations being accepted, and better interaction with the audience.

Secretly Society returns for season two today, for a new set of untold and abundant stories behind some of independent music’s most influential artists, albums and record labels. Today’s show will look at how Dead Oceans transformed from a scrappy operation to the home of Japanese Breakfast, Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers and more of the alternative zeitgeist’s monumental success stories; and Jagjaguwar’s Jamila Woods traces her journey and talks about her brand new LP.