A warning about podcast ad load?

• Exclusive: Podcast ad load is “flashing a yellow light”, suggests new research. The Podcast Study 2026 will reveal in a webinar next Tuesday that the majority of podcast listeners - 54.8% - suggest that there are already too many ads in podcasts: and only 8.6% say that they would tolerate more ads to keep shows free. The research also suggests that social media is three times more effective at helping listeners find new podcasts than ads in other shows.

• Joe Rogan has renewed his agreement with Spotify. He last renewed in Feb 2024, and the show returned to open RSS and YouTube shortly after (and also, we’re told, started carrying midrolls at this time). The agreement is thought to be worth $250mn, a figure denied by Spotify last time round; but someone with knowledge of Rogan’s numbers and the ad revenue he attracts suggests that it’s a profitable deal for Spotify. Podscribe suggests recent shows have contained 15 ads (an 8% adload).

• The winners of the International Women’s Podcast Awards were announced. Presented by Tink Media, Freedom Needs a Soundtrack won two awards.

• Podtrac released its September rankings. Year-on-year, the #1 podcast network, iHeart Audience Network, has grown, from 20,861 shows to 32,741; yet its US audience has shrunk 17%, and its US downloads are down 20%. They’re not alone: none of the top 5 publishers and networks posted an increase.

• Family Secrets with Dani Shapiro returned this week, with Lemonada Media. The show was with iHeart - the new season promises more secrets and stories than ever before.

• AI-powered podcasting platform Rebel Audio has raised series A funding, valuing the company at $50 million. The company, based in Nashville, announced its advisory board and investor network.

• Know any women in media who deserve recognition? The 52nd Annual Gracie Awards has opened its call for entry.

• Becca Bloom, one of TIME’s 100 creators, has partnered with PAVE Studios for a new lifestyle series, starting early next year.

• Ted Hossman from Apple Podcasts talked HLS at the IETF HLS day - particularly around interstitial advertising. “We don’t allow for skip restrictions in the ads”, he clarifies, and shows a neat way to stop listeners hearing “we’ll take a break” if there aren’t any sold ads in that break. He also announced HLS for Apple Podcasts documentation has been added to the Apple developer website. He is also the owner of the clickiest button for his slides that we’ve ever heard.

• What do Gen Z really think about podcasting? Steven Goldstein put three of his NYU students on stage at Podcast Movement 2026, for a conversation about their media habits.

• Audible shared findings from NielsenIQ about spoken-word content, showing that consumption of spoken word audio is continuing to grow. The data also shows that attitudes to AI-generated content is strongest in Japan, and least favourable in Germany.

• SoundStack is holding a free webinar next week, learning what programmatic media buyers see in public radio.

• Podcast Advertising - The Game was available for delegates at the Sounds Profitable Business Summit, but it’s a fun game for the podcaster in your Christmas present list. The good news is - the game is now available from Amazon. “Fake brands, real laughs” is the promise! It’s made by the folks at ADOPTER Media.

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• 13 Oct 2pm Eastern: Beyond the Pre-Roll

Tips and tricks - with Audiencelift

• We’ve updated our article about LUFS, the technique to get your podcast the right loudness. We’ve added two new resources: a free Mac app for levelling out sound, and a free monitoring website to check your show is the correct loudness.

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: The History Chicks celebrates the lives of remarkable women from ancient times to the modern day, exploring women’s history in engaging episodes full of deep research, pop culture references, and the occasional tumble down a rabbit hole. The show’s last episode focuses on Gertrude Jekyll: an inspiration for gardeners and landscape architects, even as her eyesight failed.

Silly Stories for Kids is celebrating 32 million downloads, and a popular touring stage show. The indie podcast, from Australia, has also moved into books.

Now in video, the Podnews Weekly Review this week looks at the rise in podcast ad revenue, and wonders what Libsyn is up to.

In Ctrl Shift this week - a man with ten years in AI explains why he hasn’t written a line of his own code all year. Host DeVanté Pickering asks Jeremy Abel what he wanted to be when he was younger. The answer was skyscrapers, until an 11th grade drafting teacher talked him out of it. You’ll hear what happened instead, and what it cost him to leave Director of AI and start over.