Sounds Profitable

Today in the business of podcasting:Sport Social Podcast Network argues that sports podcasting has shifted from a complementary format to a defining part of how fans experience the 2026 FIFA World Cup, citing a new BBC Studios and NumberEight campaign that drove a 19% awareness lift for a U.S. hospitality brand.CoHost and Quill CEO Fatima Zaidi kicks off a new series by asking 10 founders what they would do differently in year one, drawing responses from industry figures including Oxford Road's Dan Granger and Sounds Profitable Partner Bryan Barletta.Tubefilter examines what the box office success of creator-led films like Backrooms and Obsession signals for YouTubers and content creators looking to make the jump to Hollywood.Nielsen's Q1 2026 edition of The Record finds U.S. consumers spend nearly four hours daily with audio, with 82% of ad-supported audio time going to radio and podcasts, and Edison Research data showing podcasts account for 30% of ad-supported audio time among adults 18 to 34.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

This year at Cannes Lions, Sounds Profitable is a sponsor of the Little Black Book Beach! Our partners will receive up to 3 tickets for access to the beach all week. Be sure to fill out this Google Form so we can register you and your team for the beach! Also, we have a custom graphic generator for those looking to announce they’re headed to France in a couple of weeks with some flair.Tom Webster argues that LLMs have advanced faster than most people realize, and that pretending otherwise is magical thinking. He traces his own journey from basic prompt use to running local models on a home server, all without a coding background, to show that these tools are accessible to anyone willing to engage. And he has some pointed advice for anyone still on the fence about embracing AI in their work.Written by Tom WebsterEdited and narrated by Gavin GaddisFind the full article here.

Today in the business of podcasting:SiriusXM has struck a non-exclusive distribution and advertising deal with Fox's free streaming service Tubi, bringing popular video podcasts including Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, Rotten Mango, and The School of Greatness to the platform starting in late June.The ANA's Q1 2026 Programmatic Transparency Benchmark finds a growing performance gap between top advertisers, who convert 54% of programmatic spend into quality impressions, and lower-performing peers who convert just 32.1%, with private marketplace transactions accounting for 85% of all programmatic spending.The IAB has filed an amicus brief in Baker v. Seattle Children's Hospital, a case before the Washington Supreme Court in which plaintiffs argue a hospital's use of Meta Pixel for marketing constitutes illegal wiretapping under 1960s-era laws — a theory the IAB's general counsel says could threaten all ad-supported media.Media, Built newsletter author Steve Raizes argues the podcasting industry is better served by confronting accurate audience metrics sooner rather than later, using Apple's iOS 17 auto-download change as a precedent and pointing to the Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting's ongoing work to establish a verified industry metric.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:CoHost Quill VP of Marketing Alison Osborne argues the podcast industry is solving the wrong measurement problem: B2B brands have moved past "how many downloads" and are now asking who is listening, whether the right audiences are finding the show, and whether those listeners are appearing in the sales funnel.Acast CEO Greg Glenday says brands are misallocating podcast ad spend by following genre assumptions rather than audience behavior, citing Acast data showing food podcasts receive roughly half of food delivery ad spend despite representing less than 1% of relevant listener conversations.Magellan AI has built an attribution platform measuring broadcast radio alongside podcasts and streaming audio, with early case studies showing radio drives far greater total sales volume while digital audio outperforms on a per-impression basis — making the case for measuring all audio together.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Grab your custom Cannes Lions attendee announcement graphic for free here!Today in the business of podcasting:A roundup of all the top stories from The Podcast Show London last week. New data from Sounds Profitable's Advertising Landscape 2025 study shows that AM/FM radio Primes and podcast Primes have only a 1.4% overlap, challenging the idea that the two formats compete for the same audience. Tom Webster argues that sellers holding both types of inventory are offering two nearly non-duplicated engaged audiences in a single buy — a stronger combined asset than the competitive framing has allowed advertisers to see.The Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting (AMP), a 12-member industry task force organized by Oxford Road and including Spotify, SiriusXM Media, BetterHelp, DraftKings, and others, has publicly emerged after meeting since July 2025 to address podcast measurement and definition challenges. The group's three focus areas are standardizing impression metrics, developing cross-platform performance measurement, and agreeing on a universal definition of a podcast.A new Signal Hill Insights Pulse Report, conducted with FlightStory, finds that 45% of monthly podcast consumers in the U.K. have used a smart TV to listen to or watch podcasts in the past month, making smart TVs the second most-used device ahead of computers. More than half of video podcast viewers in the U.K. watch during prime time (7–11 p.m.), and the data suggests video podcasting is growing podcasting's overall audience share by replacing other video consumption rather than cannibalizing audio listening.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:The Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting (AMP), a 12-member task force organized by Oxford Road, is working to standardize podcast ad measurement and establish a universal definition of "podcast." The group plans to present its framework at Oxford Road's CAO Summit in Los Angeles in July 2026.New data from Sounds Profitable shows that the most engaged AM/FM radio listeners and the most engaged podcast listeners have only 1.4% overlap, making them nearly distinct audiences. Tom Webster argues that buying both channels together offers advertisers a level of combined reach that neither medium can deliver alone.Magellan AI's new global analysis estimates total podcast ad spend reached $3.94 billion in 2025, with non-U.S. markets surging 79% year-over-year in Q1 2026, led by rapid growth in Germany, France, the U.K., and Ireland.YouTube is moving AI content labels to more prominent positions, appearing directly below long-form videos and as overlays on Shorts, with automatic detection rolling out for content creators who do not self-disclose.Canada's broadcast regulator, the CRTC, has expanded its digital media contribution framework, raising the required revenue contribution from foreign streaming and audio services including Netflix, Disney+, and Spotify from 5% to 15%.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:A new Signal Hill Insights Pulse Report, conducted in partnership with FlightStory, finds that 45% of monthly podcast consumers in the U.K. used a smart TV to listen to podcasts in the past month, making it the second most-used device behind smartphones and ahead of computers. More than half of video podcast viewers watch during prime time hours, suggesting video podcasting is becoming a living-room, prime-time television behavior in the U.K.NPR, its sponsorship subsidiary National Public Media, and podcast distributor PRX have announced a collaboration enabling NPM to sell sponsorships for station-produced podcasts hosted on PRX's Dovetail platform, with stations including Boise State Public Radio, LAist, and WWNO already participating.Podcast subscription platform Supporting Cast has launched delivery of gated, subscriber-only video on Spotify using Spotify's Distribution API, making it the first subscription platform to offer this capability. Journalist-led podcasts Libero and Legacy are the first shows to use the feature.Media writer Brian Morrissey examines how AI-driven changes to Google Search are accelerating the decline of page-view-based publisher models, and argues that the recent Vox Media sale reflects how owned podcast networks have become central to media companies' valuations.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Make your own Cannes Lions announcement graphic!Sounds Profitable Partner Tom Webster breaks down data from the 2025 Advertising Landscape study showing that AM/FM radio Primes and podcast Primes overlap by just 1.4% of U.S. adults, arguing that the two media are not competitors but complementary channels reaching almost entirely different engaged audiences, and that combined inventory is worth more than either piece alone.Written by Tom WebsterEdited and narrated by Gavin GaddisFind the full article here.

Today in the business of podcasting:The Podcast Show 2026 wrapped up in London with a wave of industry activity, including the debut of a new UK advertising landscape study from Sounds Profitable and Sound Insights showing podcast ad recall is at near-parity with broadcast television, plus analyst presentations, an annual Podcast Standards Project meetup, and a live episode of Podnews Weekly Review recorded on stage.RAJAR's MIDAS Spring 2026 survey found that 25% of UK adults listen to podcasts weekly, a figure that has remained relatively static since Winter 2024, with podcasts accounting for 6% of adult listening hours — ahead of owned music at 5% and audiobooks at 3%.Goalhanger launched Goalhanger Ventures, a new investment and partnership arm that will back creator-led media businesses, with initial activity including an equity investment in Invisible Media and support for the podcast Backyard Cricket.Spotify announced a wave of new features: a Memberships program for creators, an AI-driven Personal Podcasts feature, and Articles — a library of over 650 narrated long-form magazine pieces available to Premium subscribers through their monthly audiobook allowance or purchasable individually for $1.99.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

This week in the business of podcasting:A new Sounds Profitable and Sound Insights study of 5,033 U.K. adults finds 43% of British adults listen to ad-supported podcasts monthly, with 79% of those listeners recalling a podcast ad in the past week at nearly equal rates across genders, offering a direct transatlantic comparison to the 2025 U.S. Advertising Landscape.Owl & Co's Global Podcast Economy Report finds the global podcast industry generated $9.2 billion in revenue in 2025, up 23% year over year, with publishers that treated video as a monetization layer seeing the fastest revenue growth.The fifth annual Podnews Report Card, based on creator feedback, finds YouTube has climbed to second place among major podcast platforms, overtaking Spotify but still trailing Apple Podcasts.Rodrigo Tigre, co-founder and president of Ozen.fm, argues that Brazil's podcast advertising market is dramatically underdeveloped relative to U.S. digital audio and identifies three structural barriers that have now matured enough to be overcome.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:Sounds Profitable and Sound Insights released The Advertising Landscape UK, the first large-scale study of how British audiences experience podcast advertising, finding that 43% of British adults listen to an ad-supported podcast monthly and 56% of those tune in daily or almost daily.Owl & Co's Global Podcast Economy Report finds the global podcast economy generated $9.2 billion in revenue in 2025, a 23% increase from 2024, with publishers who treated video as a monetization layer growing revenue the fastest.James Murdoch's Lupa Systems agreed to acquire most of Vox Media, including its podcast network, main website, and New York magazine, with CEO Jim Bankoff set to continue running the acquired assets.Data from influencer platform Upfluence shows that top-tier TikTok micro-creators saw average brand deal rates rise 125% in Q1 2026 compared to Q1 2025, as brands shift toward smaller creators and paid content boosting over big-name influencer deals.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Sounds Profitable and Sound Insights released the Advertising Landscape UK, the first large-scale study of how British audiences experience podcast advertising, benchmarked against 20+ other ad-supported platforms across 5,033 adults. Key findings include that 43% of British adults listen to ad-supported podcasts monthly, 79% recalled a podcast ad in the past week, 44% have made a purchase after hearing one, and ad-supported podcasting has outpaced broadcast TV among 18- to 24-year-olds. The UK's BBC heritage sets a higher bar for advertising acceptance than in the US, but the data suggests podcasting clears that bar more reliably than most other formats, positioning it as a strong vehicle for reaching discerning British audiences.Written by Tom WebsterEdited and narrated by Gavin Gaddis

Today in the business of podcasting:Spotify is expanding its Verified by Spotify badge to podcast shows, adding a green checkmark to identify official creator, publisher, and brand presences on the platform based on listener activity, platform standing, and audience authenticity.The 2026 Podnews Report Card collected 779 pieces of community feedback on major podcast platforms, with YouTube reaching second place in the overall rankings for the first time, just behind Apple Podcasts and ahead of Spotify.A new WARC report, The Multiplier Playbook, surveying more than 200 senior marketers finds that 60% say their C-suite does not fully understand the role of advertising, and only 21% say advertising objectives align with broader corporate goals.New Omeda research finds 70% of publishers consider audience data critical, yet only 9% of their organizations use it effectively, a gap writer Brian Morrissey links to decentralized and siloed data infrastructure.YouTube is rolling out its AI-powered likeness detection technology to all eligible creators over 18, expanding access beyond select YouTube Partner Program members and allowing users to set up protection via ID verification.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:Triton Digital's latest Podcast Report reveals that digital audio in the US has reached a market value equivalent to Brazil's entire digital ad industry, highlighting the growing scale of US podcast and streaming audiences.Global has launched a new premium video advertising format on YouTube, giving brands access to connected TV-style placements alongside the broadcaster's content, including the news podcast Up to Speed.Captivate has enabled HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) support for private podcast feeds, improving playback reliability and compatibility for subscription and members-only audio content.A new Digiday report examines the rise of agentic advertising, with survey data showing a majority of advertisers already integrating or building agentic AI capabilities into their ad workflows.Industry analysis explores how podcasting's trust advantage and audience engagement position it as an effective channel as advertisers evaluate where to place budgets in an AI-driven media landscape.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:Podcasters took center stage at the upfronts, as Amazon unveiled Oprah Winfrey's new Wondery podcast deal and YouTube's Brandcast event featured content announcements from major creators, with both platforms positioning video podcasting as a direct competitor for TV advertising budgets.Amplifi Media founder Steven Goldstein reports results from a NYU focus group study of AI-generated podcasts, which averaged a 2.3 out of 5 rating; students valued narrow-utility formats but consistently described AI hosts as flat and inauthentic, with Goldstein calling for industry-wide disclosure standards to preserve listener trust.Podcast hosting platform Flightcast has launched full support for video on Apple Podcasts and HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) video publishing, allowing users to activate video for their entire back catalog with a single click at no additional cost.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

This week in the business of podcasting:New data from the 2026 U.K. Advertising Landscape Study, conducted by Sound Insights for Sounds Profitable, finds that 79% of U.K. podcast listeners recall a podcast ad from the past week — a striking result in a country shaped by decades of ad-free BBC broadcasting, with recall essentially equal across men and women.A Reuters Institute report finds video is reshaping news podcasting at every level, from how shows are produced and discovered to how they make money, with publishers increasingly building around personalities and layering in revenue from events, subscriptions, and merchandise.Amazon Music has launched video podcasts for U.S. iOS and Android users using HLS video within an open RSS ecosystem, starting with ART19-hosted content and expanding to more hosting partners later this summer.Spotify is expanding its video distribution network through five new hosting platform integrations and announcing forthcoming support for Apple Podcasts' HLS video technology, giving creators a path to distribute and monetize video across both platforms simultaneously.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:Spotify has officially integrated five new hosting platforms into its video distribution ecosystem and announced that Spotify-hosted podcasts will gain support for Apple Podcasts' HLS video technology, enabling video distribution to Apple Podcasts without changing existing setups.New research from Sound Insights finds that 79% of U.K. podcast listeners recall an ad heard in the past week, outperforming most media in a country where nearly half of adults cannot recall any brand advertising, with podcast ad recall among 18-to-34-year-olds surpassing broadcast TV.RAJAR Q1 2026 data shows U.K. radio weekly reach growing slightly year over year at 87% of the population, with 27% of adults listening to podcasts each week and 11% of podcast listeners reporting no traditional radio consumption.Streamonomics reports the top eight U.S. streamers posted a combined $9.8 billion in Q1 2026 profits, a 54% increase from 2025, while the Attention 20 index of top global attention economy companies reached $20 trillion in enterprise value.Japan's inaugural PODCAST EXPO 2026 drew 12,713 attendees across two days in Tokyo, bringing together podcast creators, listeners, and industry professionals in what organizers describe as Japan's largest podcast festival to date.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:Amazon Music has launched video podcasts for U.S. users on iOS and Android, starting with its ART19 platform and using HLS video delivered via the open alternate enclosure RSS tag. Amazon is not charging creators or networks for access, with plans to expand to additional partners later this summer.Magellan AI and Signal Hill Insights have partnered to deliver full-funnel podcast measurement by combining ad exposure data with brand lift studies, enabling more precise audience matching and a clearer read on how campaigns drive awareness, favorability, and purchase intent.BBC Sounds reported a record Q1 2026, with 718 million total plays of radio, podcast, and music content — up 5% year over year — along with 265 million on-demand radio and podcast plays and 11 million signed-in accounts.Streaming services including Prime Video, Netflix, Paramount+, and Disney+ have launched short-form video clip feeds that serve as recommendation engines for their longform content, in contrast to social platforms where short-form video tends to be original programming.Heading into Upfronts week, ad buyers say the focus has shifted toward performance measurement and lower-funnel outcomes over reach and premium content, with brands expecting media buys to demonstrate concrete business results.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

The upcoming 2026 UK Advertising Landscape Study finds podcasting breaks through baked-in ad avoidance in U.K. audiences.Register here for the Trust and Attention: Why Sports Media Wins (And How Brands Prove It) webinar this afternoon!A new Sounds Profitable UK Advertising Landscape Study finds that 47% of UK adults cannot recall a single brand from advertising they encountered in the past week, compared to 31% in the US, a gap the researchers attribute to the BBC's century-long commercial-free baseline shaping British listeners' expectations. Despite that structural resistance, 79% of UK podcast listeners recall an ad heard in the past week, a result the study frames as especially significant given how skeptical the UK audience is of advertising broadly. Among 18-34 year olds, podcast ad recall in the UK reaches 86%, edging ahead of broadcast TV's 83% for the same age group, a crossover the study says UK media plans have not yet caught up to. Podcast ad recall is also effectively gender-equal in the UK at 79% male and 80% female, a pattern the researchers describe as structural to the medium rather than a regional quirk.Written by Ben RobinsEdited and narrated by Gavin GaddisText and audio edited by Tom WebsterFind the full article here on Sounds Profitable.

Register here for tomorrow's Sounds Profitable and Locked On webinar!Today in the business of podcasting:PRX's 2025 annual report shows the nonprofit leaning deeper into podcasting to navigate federal public media funding cuts, with Radiotopia launching 18 seasons and specials and drawing 47.3 million downloads across the network.A new PodSEO analysis of 11 million keyword-ranking pairs on Apple Podcasts and Spotify finds both platforms still search like record stores, over-weighting keyword-stuffed show titles and fresh episodes in a pattern that disadvantages evergreen, host-driven content.iHeartMedia's Q1 2026 earnings show podcast revenue up 26.9% year over year to $147 million, beating the company's guidance, while digital revenue excluding podcasting grew 12% to $180 million.Media, Built examines two recent newsletter deals, Puck acquiring Air Mail and The Ankler moving from Substack to Passport, to argue that audience ownership rather than audience size is the defining asset in newsletter monetization.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:Register for Trust and Attention: Why Sports Media Wins (And How Brands Prove It)A new report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism finds that news podcast publishers are pivoting to video in response to audience demand and platform changes, while audience research shows that video and audio podcast consumers largely overlap. Publishers are also experimenting with hybrid revenue models — including live events, merchandise, and subscriptions — to supplement advertising income.WARC's The Future of Measurement 2026 identifies three major trends reshaping advertising measurement: a shift toward outcomes-based approaches, the expanding role of AI in campaign analysis and planning, and the rise of "creative intelligence" tools that aim to predict ad performance before campaigns launch.The IAB projects creator ad spend will reach around $44 billion this year, but the form of creator promotion is shifting — sponsored content is giving way to paid ads featuring creators directly, and third-party clipping networks are emerging as a new paid distribution strategy.The New York Times reported Q1 2026 digital advertising revenue grew 31.6% year over year, with CEO Meredith Kopit Levien crediting the company's expanding content portfolio and identifying video as a key area of strategic investment.The UK government has confirmed that podcasting and audio will be formally recognized within the Standard Industrial Classification 2026 framework, a milestone AudioUK says will reshape how podcast and audio businesses are defined, measured, and supported in the British economy.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

This week in the business of podcasting:Register here for the upcoming Trust and Attention: Why Sports Media Wins (And How Brands Prove It) webinar.New data from the 2026 UK Advertising Landscape Study shows that podcasting reaches 60% of UK adults aged 18 to 34 monthly, surpassing broadcast TV's 57% reach in that demographic. Sound Insights' Ben Robins argues that for media planners targeting UK adults under 45 at scale, podcasting is no longer a niche option.A case study from Transistor.fm co-founder Justin Jackson shows that Primary Technology, the first Transistor-hosted podcast to add Apple Podcasts HLS video, saw per-episode plays roughly double and engaged listeners climb from 707 to 1,072 after the switch, with no loss on YouTube or other audio platforms.It was a busy week for Apple Podcasts HLS video adoption, with Buzzsprout bringing its video distribution out of beta for all users, Podigee launching one-upload video distribution across YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify for every plan tier, and Captivate announcing official Apple Podcasts HLS video support.Starting in mid-July 2026, Megaphone will transfer campaign management to the Spotify Ad Server, enabling new ad formats including video while removing third-party VAST serving entirely. Pre-booking on the new system opens May 15, 2026.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Register here for the Trust and Attention: Why Sports Media Wins (And How Brands Prove It) webinar!Today in the business of podcasting:New data from the 2026 UK Advertising Landscape Study shows podcasting already reaches more 18-to-34 year olds in the UK than broadcast TV, challenging the assumption that podcasting is a niche channel for media planners targeting younger audiences.A case study from Primary Technology shows that publishing video episodes on Apple Podcasts roughly doubled plays and grew engaged listeners from 707 to 1,072, with no measurable cannibalization of the show's YouTube or audio-only audiences.Radio station groups once expanded into local CTV sales by leveraging their existing relationships and advertiser trust — a move that never happened for digital audio, despite targeting and measurement that now rival video in quality.The IAB projects U.S. digital video ad spending will reach $81.9 billion in 2026, an 11% year-over-year increase, with 54% of marketers shifting budget away from broadcast TV and 23% pulling from digital audio.A new white paper from Magellan AI and True Native Media argues that adding podcasting to a broader audio plan extends reach into audiences that streaming audio alone cannot capture, because the two formats serve fundamentally different listening contexts.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:New Sounds Profitable research finds 86% of podcast listeners consume clips on at least one platform, raising questions about paid clipping strategies and whether flooding social feeds with short-form content helps or hurts long-term audience growth.Signal Hill Insights' Paul Riismandel examines what it actually means to have a "hit" podcast, finding that even The Joe Rogan Experience — the #1 show on reach-based charts — reached only 20% of the U.S. podcast audience in a given month.AdExchanger Senior Editor Alyssa Boyle analyzes YouTube's NewFronts presentation, where creators blurred the traditional line between talent pitches and publisher sales decks, as advertisers increasingly demand outcome-based commitments over broad reach.Consultant Steve Raizes explores how the weekly podcast production cycle traps creators on a content hamster wheel with no time for strategic growth, using Audiochuck's operational infrastructure as a model for sustainable scale.Tribeca Festival 2026 announces its most ambitious podcast lineup to date for its June run in New York City, featuring live events with Radiolab, The New Yorker Radio Hour, and Lemme Say This, with guests including Peter Dinklage, Adam Scott, and Laurie Anderson.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Guest writer Ben Robins analyzes new data from The 2026 UK Advertising Landscape Study.Register here for the Pod-Tails and Cocktails waitlist.A new study from Sounds Profitable and Sound Insights finds that podcasting reaches 60% of UK adults aged 18 to 34 monthly, outpacing broadcast TV's 57% reach in the same demographic. The 2026 UK Advertising Landscape Study, fielded with more than 5,000 UK adults and weighted to census, also finds that 35 to 54 year olds have the highest rate of "Prime" podcast usage of any age group, at 16%. The findings challenge the conventional UK media planning framework that treats podcasting as a supplementary buy, suggesting it is already the primary option for brands targeting audiences under 45.Written by Ben RobinsEdited and narrated by Gavin GaddisText and audio edited by Tom WebsterFind the full article here on Sounds Profitable.

Today in the business of podcasting:Podigee has launched video podcast distribution across YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify, making the feature available on every plan with no waitlist.Acast reported its first-ever profitable Q1, with 20% net sales growth overall and 43% organic growth in North America.Megaphone is transitioning its campaign management to the Spotify Ad Server starting July 15, 2026, enabling new video ad formats while removing third-party VAST serving.Radio Ink contributor Steve Allen draws on Tom Webster's analysis of the SiriusXM/iHeart deal to argue that local radio's most underleveraged asset is the quality of its advertising creative.Nielsen data shows 77% of U.S. soccer fans use radio and podcasts for soccer content, with Millennials 41% more likely to consume World Cup coverage via podcasts than any other medium.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Podcast DescriptionToday in the business of podcasting:Bloomberg's Ashley Carman surveys the growing landscape of AI-generated podcasts, examining how hosting platforms like RSS.com are setting monetization guardrails and how Spotify is rolling out a new badge to authenticate real music artists.John Spurlock's HLS Podcast Radar tracks video podcasts using the alternate enclosure tag, which several hosting platforms support but Apple Podcasts does not, as Buzzsprout announces that its video distribution to Apple Podcasts is out of beta and available to all users.New PQ Media data shows digital audio recorded the fastest consumer spending growth rate among all media categories in 2025, even as audio overall ranks last in total spending out of the $2.4 trillion consumers spent on media content and technology.A Scalable report examines the scale of creator-led media companies, including Beast Industries, which employs around 750 people and ranks among the less than 1% of U.S. companies with over 500 employees.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

This week in the business of podcasting:Tom Webster of Sounds Profitable audited iHeartMedia radio stations across three mid-size U.S. markets and found that less than 4% of weekday airtime in Pittsburgh features locally produced content, while Indianapolis registers effectively zero. The research challenges the premise that a SiriusXM acquisition would meaningfully reduce local programming that, by most measures, has already disappeared.New S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows podcast listening among U.S. online adults grew 10 percentage points in early 2026, reaching nearly 60% — a figure that aligns with Sounds Profitable's own Podcast Landscape 2025 research when video-only listeners are factored in.Nielsen has integrated Triton Digital's Podcast Metrics Demos+ data into its Nielsen Media Impact planning platform, giving ad buyers a more complete picture of the podcast audience alongside other media channels for more precise campaign planning.A new report from the Nigerian Podcast Index examines 329 shows across more than 20 hosting platforms and finds that while English-language content gives Nigerian podcasting global reach, the absence of local measurement infrastructure keeps the market largely invisible to international advertisers and investors.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:Tom Webster audits iHeartMedia station clusters in Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Salt Lake City and finds that locally originating programming makes up a tiny fraction of weekday airtime, while local advertising load remains far higher, reframing what a SiriusXM acquisition would actually affect.Amplitude Media Partners' Reggie Risseeuw breaks down recent Megaphone ad server updates, including new Priority Pre-Book campaign tools and a mandatory geotargeting requirement taking effect July 14, 2026.WARC projects advertisers will spend over $10.5 billion during the four weeks of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, reversing a spending decline from the 2022 Qatar edition, with Spotify expecting the tournament to drive significant content consumption across its platform.Kirby Grines examines how the most valuable ad inventory is shifting away from exposure-based outcomes toward measurable results, with creators and rights holders building vertically integrated businesses to capture that value directly.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:Libsyn has announced that video functionality is now available across all its hosting plans, with direct video distribution to Spotify — powered by the Spotify Distribution API — starting at $25 per month.Marketing firm JoneKiri is offering brand sponsorship opportunities for a live performance of Hanging with Doctor Z at Netflix Is a Joke Fest, with options ranging from organic product placement to full season four title sponsorship.Patreon has launched a redesigned Home feed featuring Quips, recommended creators, and collaboration posts, with the company reporting that creator interactions boost fan engagement more than five times above baseline.Bauer Media and Elevate Consultancy's Sound Check Europe 2026 study finds 86% of European advertisers now consider audio a core part of their media strategy, with 82% saying podcasts reach highly engaged audiences and 47% planning to increase podcast investment.A new study from iHeartMedia and Omnicom finds audio advertising drives measurable lift across brand metrics, with long-form host-read ads delivering up to twice the recall of shorter spots.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:Nielsen has integrated Triton Digital's Podcast Metrics Demos+ data into its Nielsen Media Impact planning platform, making it easier for advertisers to evaluate podcasts alongside other media channels with the same precision and comparability. Nielsen also launched Predictive Sales Lift, a new outcomes-based capability to help media buyers forecast sales lift for video ad campaigns on Nielsen One Ads.Spotify's Q1 2026 earnings show continued growth across the board, with Premium subscribers up 9% year over year to 293 million, Monthly Active Users up 12% to 761 million, and total revenue reaching €4.5 billion — a 14% constant currency increase over 2025.A new Precisify survey of 1,000 U.S. teens and Millennials finds YouTube is the one platform both generations share, reaching 83% of Gen Z respondents and 78% of Millennials, with nearly 45% of each group spending at least 30 minutes to an hour on the platform daily.The Nigerian Podcast Index 2025 Report surveys 329 shows to map Africa's largest English-language audio market, finding the ecosystem heavily reliant on Spotify for Creators at 58% of indexed shows, with a persistent lack of audience data identified as the industry's key challenge.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:iHeartMedia and Sirius XM are in preliminary talks about a potential merger that would combine the largest radio station owner and the largest satellite radio service in the United States, creating a company with more than $12 billion in combined annual sales.S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows U.S. podcast listening grew 10 percentage points from Q1 2025 to Q1 2026, with nearly 60% of online adults now reporting they listen, a figure that aligns with Sounds Profitable's Podcast Landscape 2025 research when video-only listeners are factored in.Spotify has launched new fitness features for free and Premium subscribers, including curated workout playlists and access to more than 1,400 on-demand Peloton classes, alongside a new Claude AI integration that delivers personalized recommendations based on users' listening data.Spanish-language podcast platform iVoox has debuted what may be the first formal television ad campaign for a dedicated podcast app, developed by agency Drop&Vase and airing on Mediaset España channels in Spain.European audio platform Audion has raised $15 million to fund its expansion into the United States, with investment going toward go-to-market operations, partnerships, and product development.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

This week in the business of podcasting:SiriusXM Media has become the exclusive audio advertising representative for YouTube in the United States, giving advertisers the ability to buy guaranteed audio ad impressions against YouTube audiences at scale for the first time through SiriusXM's combined ad technology stack.Sounds Profitable's new Audio Primes report, drawn from The Podcast Landscape 2025, identifies the 22% of podcast consumers who listen to 75% or more of their shows as audio, and examines the measurement gap that arises when platforms track video while listeners are consuming audio.Bumper co-founder Jonas Woost launched Bumper Score, a new third-party audience verification metric that rates podcast ad delivery on a scale of 0 to 200, aiming to give media buyers a standardized, comparable measure of whether ads are reaching real, verified listeners.Content platform beehiiv has surpassed its Q2 goal for podcast signups by more than 10x and is expanding its feature set with a new AI-powered podcast data tool and a webinar hosting feature supporting up to 10,000 attendees.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:Sounds Profitable's new Audio Primes report finds that 22% of podcast consumers listen to 75% or more of their episodes as audio-only — and 90% of them use YouTube, making them heavier consumers of video platforms than the average podcast listener while still choosing audio for podcasts.Beehiiv is expanding its creator platform with MCP-powered AI podcast analytics and a new webinar product that supports up to 10,000 attendees, positioning the platform as a full-stack destination for content creators beyond newsletters.Bumper has launched Bumper Score, an independent audience verification tool designed to bring transparency and consistency to podcast advertising, with clients already directing over $500,000 toward ad buys enabled by the new metric.A Barrett Media column uses Sounds Profitable's Podcast Landscape 2025 data to argue that podcasting's most engaged listeners tolerate high ad volume but will leave over irrelevant ads, making hyper-targeted and programmatic advertising essential to avoiding broadcast radio's mistakes.Streamonomics author Hernan Lopez examines Netflix's $670 billion total addressable market estimate and compares it to the creator economy's projected TAM, which may exceed Netflix's figure when all creator platforms and direct creator revenue are included.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting: SiriusXM Media has become the exclusive audio advertising representative for YouTube in the United States, giving advertisers access to guaranteed impressions against YouTube's audio audiences at scale for the first time. The deal connects YouTube to SiriusXM's broad ad sales infrastructure, which already spans Pandora and a wide network of podcast and streaming inventory.A new Radiocentre report, High Gain Audio, analyzed by WPP Media, finds that multiplatform audio advertising outperforms the all-media ROI average in both short-term and long-term campaigns. The report recommends that brands allocate up to 25% of total media spend to audio to maximize overall campaign ROI.The IAB Tech Lab has launched the Programmatic Governance Council, a new industry body designed to align business expectations and technical standards across programmatic advertising. Founding participants include major buy- and sell-side organizations such as Dentsu, Omnicom Media Group, WPP, Disney, The Trade Desk, and Mediavine.A growing number of content creators are launching their own in-house ad agencies, positioning them as faster and more platform-native alternatives to traditional intermediaries. Recent launches include Natalie Marshall's Expand Co-Lab and Max Reisinger's Camp Agency, part of a trend that Scalable traces back to Dhar Mann's Fifth Quarter in 2022.David's Bridal has invested in a creator ambassador program called Style Squad, which enlists both external influencers and internal employees to produce shoppable content across social platforms. The program, launched in January 2026, allows participants to earn commission on sales they drive rather than receiving flat fees.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

What platforms record and what podcast consumers are actually doing can be two different things.New research from Edison Research introduces "Audio Primes" — the 22% of podcast consumers who listen to 75% or more of their podcasts as audio — finding that this segment skews younger, more educated, and higher-earning than the average podcast listener, upending common assumptions about who chooses audio-first consumption. Ninety percent of Audio Primes use YouTube for podcast listening, but predominantly as audio infrastructure with screens off or minimized, revealing a significant gap between video platform metrics and actual podcast listening behavior. Written by Tom WebsterEdited and narrated by Gavin GaddisText and audio edited by Gavin GaddisFind the full article here on Sounds Profitable.

Today in the business of podcasting:Netflix Co-CEO, President and Director Ted Sarandos called out podcasting as a bright spot in the company's Q1 2026 earnings, noting that internal data shows video podcasts are driving incremental engagement, with particular strength in daytime viewing and on mobile devices.Adobe has deepened its partnership with Speechmatics by adding on-device speech-to-text transcription to its Premiere video editing suite, processing an hour of audio in about 55 seconds at near-cloud accuracy while keeping all audio local to the device.Bumper co-founder Jonas Woost introduced the Bumper Score, a third-party audience verification metric that measures how well a podcast delivers ads to a verified audience on a 0-to-200 scale, drawing on hosting provider data, platform audience data, and episode-level retention data.The top 15 podcast advertisers spent an estimated $58 million in March 2026, down from $61.4 million in February, with sports podcasts dominating genre preferences across most of the top spenders, according to Magellan AI tracking data.Podnews compiled the podcasting-relevant winners from the 30th Annual Webby Awards, which this year featured expanded podcast categories, with a winners ceremony set for May 11.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:The IAB, in partnership with PwC, reports that digital audio ad spend reached a record $8.4 billion in 2025, a 10.2% year-over-year increase, with podcast advertising revenue climbing to $2.9 billion on 17.6% growth that outpaced the broader digital audio market.A Scalable newsletter analysis examines how Netflix's early video podcasting push has stalled, with the YouTube presence of major Netflix-exclusive shows beginning to atrophy as the platform makes no new big-ticket acquisitions, while YouTube says it has no plans to counter with exclusivity deals and is instead developing AI tools to help creators generate short clips automatically.Barrett Media's Garrett Searight argues that YouTube's new Shorts daily time-cap feature is less a crisis for podcast discovery than a prompt for independent creators to diversify their short-form video strategy and prioritize content quality across platforms like Instagram Reels and TikTok.Acast's 2025 year-end report shows full-year net sales growth of 29% year-over-year, with North American net sales up 50% in Q4, and the company closing the year with 429 full-time employees, up from 364 in 2024.A new Sounds Profitable study, Audio Primes: The Podcast Industry's Most Valuable Audience, profiles the segment of podcast consumers who listen to at least 75% of their content as audio, finding they skew younger, more educated, and higher-income than the broader podcast audience, with a webinar presentation from Tom Webster and Alberto Betella now available on Sounds Profitable's site and YouTube channel.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

This week in the business of podcasting:Tom Webster previews the new Audio Primes 2026 report from Sounds Profitable, showing that audio-first podcast listeners are nearly twice as likely as video-first viewers to reject AI-generated voices in their favorite shows. The split suggests a widening gap in how synthetic audio is received across listening modes.Samba TV VP of Measurement Science Alyson Sprague debuts the company's first Netflix Podcast Ranker, drawn from smart-TV viewing data across tens of millions of U.S. households. The Breakfast Club led Q1 2026 with 44% of Samba-tracked views, followed by Bridgerton: The Official Podcast at 16%.YouTube rolls out two livestream ad changes designed to protect creator-audience moments: ads will pause for viewers who send paid items like Super Chats, and automated ads will be held back when Live Chat engagement peaks. The update has clear implications for live podcast productions that rely on real-time chat.Steve Raizes argues the current wave of podcast M&A — OpenAI acquiring TBPN, The Chernin Group backing Goalhanger and Audiochuck, Fox Entertainment buying Red Seat Ventures — is being driven by audience density and convertibility rather than raw reach, a shift from the Spotify-Gimlet and SiriusXM-Stitcher era.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:Tom Webster's new Sounds Profitable piece previews the Audio Primes report, which finds audio-first podcast listeners are notably less receptive to AI-generated voices in their favorite shows than their video-first counterparts, with Video Primes twice as likely to keep listening.YouTube is rolling out two new livestream ad behaviors: pausing ads for viewers who send Super Chats or virtual gifts, and automatically delaying ad breaks during peak chat activity to help creators protect engagement moments.Audioboom reported Q1 2026 revenue of $22.5 million, up 30% year-over-year, alongside a 118% jump in adjusted EBITDA and a 79% increase in downloads and video views, crediting its Adelicious acquisition and new Creator Network signings of Crooked Media and RedHanded.A new Reuters Institute report finds 18-to-24-year-olds are more engaged with podcasts than older audiences, but are getting their news from chat shows, comedy podcasts, and short-form video rather than traditional news publishers.A new All About Cookies survey of 1,000 U.S. adults finds only 24% of viewers pay attention to streaming ads, and 67% would prefer a single longer ad break at the top of a show over multiple midroll interruptions.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

A look at how audiences that consume media differently feel about AI generated voices.Sounds Profitable's new Audio Primes study reveals that podcast listeners who consume at least 75% of their content through audio are significantly more resistant to AI-generated voices than their video-first counterparts, with 48% of Audio Primes saying they would be less likely to continue listening compared to only 40% of Video Primes. The research, drawn from The Podcast Landscape 2025, introduces a new mindset-based framework for understanding podcast audiences and its implications for creators, platforms, and podcast advertisers.Written by Tom WebsterEdited and narrated by Gavin GaddisText and audio edited by Gavin GaddisClick here to register for the Audio Primes webinar.Find the full article here on Sounds Profitable.

Today in the business of podcasting:Magellan AI has published a case study with American Public Media showing how podcast attribution data transformed APM's advertiser conversations and helped the organization achieve its strongest digital sales performance since 2021. The study makes the case for treating podcasts and streaming audio as measurable, accountable components of the media mix rather than discretionary brand-spend.Ad Results Media has released a new Playbook on navigating the Netflix video podcast migration, examining how the shift to video and streaming distribution is creating both opportunities and measurement challenges for brands. The playbook addresses ad buying strategies, cross-platform tracking, and how to measure reach and frequency across RSS and streaming ecosystems.Syracuse University is launching a Center for the Creator Economy this fall, offering education, research, industry partnerships, and an accredited minor focused on digital content creation and entrepreneurship. The announcement comes as IAB data puts the U.S. creator workforce at more than 1.5 million full-time equivalents — surpassing the number of licensed physicians and active lawyers.Signal Hill Insights has announced Audio On the Move, Canada's first holistic share-of-audio research study, tracking how and when Canadians listen across digital audio, radio, streaming, satellite, podcasting, and emerging platforms. Pattison Media and Spotify have signed on as inaugural subscribers, with the first edition expected in late spring 2026.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:The podcast industry is in another M&A cycle, but today's buyers look different from those who drove acquisitions in the pre-pandemic era. Rather than investing in podcasting infrastructure, companies like OpenAI, The Chernin Group, and Fox Entertainment are acquiring shows that have proven they can leverage their audiences — reflecting the medium's shift from speculative asset to established media property.Oxford Road's ORBIT data shows 80% of the top 15 performing podcasts for advertisers in March 2026 were independent shows, not network titles. Ben Robins argues that publishers and platforms best positioned for podcasting's next phase will be those who invest in polished content without sacrificing the niche specificity that makes podcasting work for advertisers.A podcast company called Light Knot Studios was found publishing AI-generated audio that cloned the names, artwork, and formats of more than 75 history podcasts, monetizing each with programmatic ads through RSS.com's PAID platform. Podcast lawyer Lindsay Bowen identified potential grounds for copyright and trademark infringement suits, and flagged that hosting platforms and directories without a registered DMCA agent cannot claim safe harbor protections.AdsWizz, Barometer, and NPR are hosting a webinar on April 23 to address the misconception that podcasting lacks scale for brand advertisers. Presenters will cover how content filtering and evaluation practices are driving that perception, and what a more audio-native approach to targeting looks like in practice.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:Register for Audio Primes: The People Who Listen to Podcasts.The Podcast Show London 2026 will take place May 20 and 21 at the Business Design Centre in Islington, with Global and iHeartPodcasts returning as headline partners. Global's presence will spotlight its newly launched Global Studios division, focused on premium podcast and digital content creation.Samba TV has published its first Netflix Podcast Ranker, revealing that 13% of U.S. Netflix households watched at least one minute of a podcast in Q1 2026. The Breakfast Club led all shows with over 40% of total views, followed by Bridgerton: The Official Podcast at 16%.Amplifi Media founder and CEO Steven Goldstein argues that the podcast industry has been optimizing for downloads, a distribution metric that does not reliably measure actual listening or audience engagement.Digiday's Michael Bürgi reports on how media buyers responded to this year's NewFronts, where improved measurement capabilities were the standout positive trend. Heading into upfront negotiations, buyers are demanding flexibility in long-term commitments, while automotive and spirits budgets face slight downward pressure.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting...Sounds Profitable's Bryan Barletta reflects on the company's two-day Business of Podcasting space at Advertising Week Europe, where nearly 450 attendees gathered across 16 panels, arguing that podcasting has earned its place in mainstream media conversations and must now show up in the rooms where broader advertising decisions are made.Sport Social Podcast Network's Jim Salveson makes the case for sports podcasting as a commercial and editorial extension of live broadcasting, citing Edison Research data showing that sports podcast listeners are significantly more likely than general sports fans to follow an athlete after a trade.YouTube has announced several new TV-focused features, including Stations, a 24/7 programming channel format debuting with Coachella coverage, a voice-controlled AI chatbot called Ask coming to smart TVs, and TV Companion, a phone-based tool that lets viewers interact with content without taking their eyes off the screen.Independent Australian podcast What I Survived, from Queensland-based Mashed Pumpkin Productions, reached #31 on the U.S. Apple Podcasts overall chart and #1 in Documentary within its first 47 days, with host Jack Laurence crediting an Apple Podcasts editorial homepage feature for driving over 440,000 downloads.OpenAI has acquired Silicon Valley tech podcast TBPN in a deal the Financial Times values in the low hundreds of millions of dollars, making the show ad-free while including an editorial independence covenant, with commentators debating whether the real asset was the podcast itself or the talent behind it.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting...Sounds Profitable's Bryan Barletta reports that the Business of Podcasting programming track at Advertising Week Europe drew nearly 450 unique attendees across 16 panels, a signal that mainstream advertisers are actively seeking out podcasting expertise on their own. Barletta argues that podcasting's reach, with 55% of Americans listening monthly per Sounds Profitable's Podcast Landscape 2025 report, now warrants a commensurate presence in the rooms where major advertising decisions are made.American Public Media and Streamguys have partnered to launch the Inform Media Network, a new digital audio advertising marketplace connecting 30 or more public media and prestige audio publishers with national advertisers. The network aggregates more than 55 million monthly impressions and more than six million unique listeners across podcast and livestream inventory.Spotify has rolled out new video control settings as of April 9, 2026, giving Family Plan managers the ability to toggle video content on or off for any plan member and allowing all subscribers to disable music videos, Canvas looping visuals, and other video formats directly within the app.Patreon's podcast category generated $629 million in revenue in 2025, a 33% year-over-year increase, driven by more than 47,000 podcaster accounts and 7.6 million paid memberships. Top creators like Joe Budden reportedly average $1 million in monthly income through the platform from the Joe Budden Network's 70,000 or more subscribers.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.Updated todo

With podcasting having arrived at the mainstream, it’s time for the industry to be in the rooms where decisions are made.Podcasting has reached mainstream status, with 55% of Americans consuming a podcast monthly, and industry leaders are now expanding their presence beyond podcast-specific events into major global advertising and marketing conferences. Sounds Profitable is driving this growth by placing podcasting content at high-profile venues like SXSW, Advertising Week Europe, and Cannes Lions to attract brand strategists, media buyers, and agency decision-makers. A key opportunity remains the roughly 25% of American adults who have never tried podcasting, representing a significant untapped audience for podcast content creators and advertisers.Written by Tom WebsterEdited and narrated by Gavin GaddisText and audio edited by Gavin GaddisClick here to register for the Audio Primes webinar.Find the full article here on Sounds Profitable.

Today in the business of podcasting:Soros Fund Management is leading an investment round in MeidasTouch Network, the progressive media company behind The MeidasTouch Podcast. The move follows prior Soros investments in podcast-related companies including Audacy and Crooked Media.Marketing agency Right Side Up has published a newsletter revisiting its generative engine optimization (GEO) framework, outlining how brands can improve their visibility in AI-generated answers from tools like ChatGPT and Google. The framework emphasizes content structure, technical foundations, and third-party brand mentions across the web.Independent Australian podcast network Mashed Pumpkin Productions saw its show What I Survived reach number 31 on the overall U.S. Apple Podcasts chart, number one in Documentary Podcasts, and number four in Society and Culture within 47 days of launch. Host Jack Laurence credits an Apple Podcasts editorial feature on the platform's U.S. homepage for driving over 440,000 cumulative downloads.An anonymous podcast producer who worked on multiple hit narrative shows during the podcast boom recounts being laid off from two major companies as narrative podcast opportunities contracted around 2023. Published in The Hollywood Reporter, the piece examines the high cost of narrative podcast production and the industry's shift toward celebrity and influencer-hosted formats.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting: YouTube is rolling out new TV features including Stations (a FAST-style 24/7 channel hub), TV Companion (phone-to-TV interactivity), and voice-enabled Ask chatbot support on smart TVs.Despite sports podcasting's success in the U.S., sports podcasts barely register in Latin America's Spotify charts, but Genuina Media's David R. González sees the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a major growth opportunity for LatAm sports podcasters and advertisers.Spotify has launched a beta Prompted Playlist feature for podcasts, letting Premium users in seven markets use generative AI to build and auto-update personalized podcast playlists.Podcast strategist Steve Raizes shares how two structural changes, cold opens and episode callbacks, helped a struggling show achieve a 264% increase in cumulative downloads and views.Audacy is cutting jobs across its broadcast radio division and consolidating around a regional leadership structure, with the podcasting side of the business appearing unaffected.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting: Red Seat Ventures has launched Speakeasy, an all-in-one podcast hosting, distribution, and monetization platform supporting RSS, HLS, and video formats. CEO Chris Balfe says the platform addresses the growing complexity of podcast distribution beyond the traditional RSS feed.Sports podcast audiences show stronger athlete loyalty than general sports fans, with 76% of sports podcast listeners continuing to follow traded athletes versus 51% of general fans, per Edison Research. Sport Social Podcast Network Director of Sport Jim Salveson argues broadcasters can use podcasting to reach younger, mobile-first, and international audiences.OpenAI has acquired Silicon Valley tech podcast TBPN in a deal valued in the low hundreds of millions of dollars, with an editorial independence covenant and an ad-free model in place. Industry observers are divided on whether the acquisition makes financial sense or represents a long-term investment in AI-friendly media reach.The TuneIn broadcaster portal has reopened after closing in February 2024, following Stingray Group's acquisition of the platform in November 2025. TuneIn remains a key podcast directory for listeners on Tesla and Sonos, making it a worthwhile submission target for podcast publishers.Spotify's new "Sound-On Era" report, developed with Bold Insight and based on surveys of 5,000 consumers and 105 media buyers across multiple markets, finds 86% of Spotify users mute other platforms to listen to audio. The report positions audio advertising as a high-recall, high-attention alternative to digital and social video ads, with 75% of consumers reporting stronger memory of audio content over social media content.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.