“Overblown”: YouTube is not dominating podcasting

• No, YouTube isn’t dominating podcasting, says Paul Riismandel from research company Signal Hill Insights, showing plenty of evidence that the majority of podcast consumers are still using an audio-first platform most often; and that “it’s time to tone down the discourse”.

  • In April, we shared this data from Podtrac, which appears to back up the point - for consumption, rather than people, YouTube is not #1.

• Libsyn has made its Automatic Podcast Ads programmatic advertising available for all podcasters, removing the previous required minimum of 2,000 downloads. The company says that creators have complete control over the categories of ads that run. There’s a revenue calculator to see how much you can earn. Other companies have also dropped minimum requirements.

• Tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams are “to launch a video podcast on X”, says AdWeek.

• YouTube contributed $55bn to the US GDP in 2024, the equivalent of 49,000 full-time jobs, says the company.

• The popular show SmartLess has launched a mobile phone company. The service is “smart” because it offers “less” data - the argument being that most people have wifi access so don’t need that much. The show’s hosts say that the SmartLess podcast reaches “millions” of Americans a month (Podscribe’s audience data suggests more than two million) and almost everyone uses their phone to listen.

• The Parapod Podcast Awards have been launched. It’s the third year for the awards, which honor the best and most compelling voices in the paranormal, supernatural, and unexplained podcasting genres.

• Descript has added a teleprompter in its latest release.

• Bloomberg’s scoop back in April that Tencent Music was buying Ximalaya for $2.4bn was about right - Tencent’s note to the SEC says the deal has now been done - with $1.2bn cash, plus 5.2% of shares (currently worth $1.5bn). DigitalMusicNews notes that Sony Music owned a significant amount of Ximalaya shares.

• Acast has shared another case study of successful podcast advertising - this time for EuroMillions. The campaign drove a 10% year-on-year rise in sales.

• AppleInsider highlights how a new feature called Local Capture on the forthcoming iPadOS 26 makes the iPad great as a podcast recorder. Meanwhile, on Apple’s developer website, the icon chosen to highlight the flexibility of Apple’s new visual treatment is the one for Apple Podcasts.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• We Edit Podcasts posts Choosing the Best Podcast Publishing Frequency for Audience Growth

Moves and hires

• Nick Simpson has been made Strategic Partnerships Director at Formidable, an IP brand partnership company in the UK.

Podcast News - with Podcast Movement

In “But Jesus Drank Wine” & Other Stories That Kept Us Stuck this week, retired over-drinkers turned alcohol freedom coaches get real about the stories that kept them stuck, like “But Jesus drank wine?” With grace, compassion, and zero judgment, they explore tough questions around drinking and faith to help you find freedom. Part of the Life Audio Podcast Network.

In a recent episode of What If We Get It Right?, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson has a reunion with her former podcast co-host, Alex Blumberg. Alex and her co-created How to Save a Planet, which ran for 2 years as Spotify’s flagship climate show. If you’ve been wondering what Alex has been doing since he left Gimlet and Spotify, he’s sharing his latest venture…

Second Act with Ateh Jewel is new this week from HELLO!. The podcast will feature well-known women from the HELLO! network opening up about their ‘midlife’ moment, and why the second act is often the better act. Actor Tamzin Outhwaite is Ateh’s first guest

From the Financial Times and Pushkin Industries, Hot Money: Agent of Chaos is back for a third series. The new season uncovers how Jan Marsalek, the former chief operating officer of Wirecard who once stood as a model of German corporate success, was revealed to be a Russian spy, offering a rare look into the workings of Russian power and espionage.

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