Sounds Profitable

Today in the business of podcasting:Sounds Profitable and Veritonic launched a free preview of Veritonic Instant Insights, a tool that tests audio and video ad creative before launch and returns awareness and intent signals across podcast, YouTube, CTV, social, and streaming, benchmarked against more than a decade of testing data.A new joint study from Radiocentre, the Radio Advertising Bureau, and Commercial Radio & Audio Australia, spanning 1,262 campaigns over 17 years, found that adding audio to the marketing mix delivers a 75% profit uplift, an 81% increase in consumer trust, and a 19% gain in customer acquisition.Prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket are moving into podcasting, with Kalshi backing the Men in Blazers World Cup recap show Night Cup and Polymarket launching the weekly pop culture show What Are the Odds? with Dear Media.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 Mattia Verzella explains why publishers should stop comparing ad revenue by CPM alone, arguing that programmatic, direct, and backfill demand each play a different strategic role in a healthy audio marketplace.Amazon is launching a Creator Hub on Fire TV this summer, bringing videos and podcasts from over 120 creators, including MrBeast and Dude Perfect, into one discoverable place on connected TVs.Magellan AI's first Podcast Measurement Benchmark Report finds podcast ads drive clicks, leads, and sales, with video podcasts and host-read ads outperforming other formats on response and conversion.YouGov's U.S. Podcast Advertising Report 2026 shows podcast ads are the most-skipped yet least-annoying format, with 60% of listeners taking action after an ad despite low trust scores.Kirby Grines breaks down the new content model that is cheaper, faster, and less Hollywood, with video podcasts and interface control reshaping how streaming platforms compete.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:Podcast Movement 2026 tickets are now on sale for $199, with the New York City conference set for September 17 and 18 at Terminal 5. The open call for speakers runs through June 30, with half of all sessions selected by popular vote.Tubefilter, in partnership with Comscore, the Whalar Group, and Gospel Stats, publishes "The Creators List," a guide to the content creators attending this year's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.Apple announces OS 27, bringing upgraded video podcast playback, a fully redesigned Apple TV Podcasts app, and a smart downloads system ahead of a July 2026 public beta.Substack is actively working on distributing video podcasts to Apple Podcasts via HLS, according to comments from Substack product manager Zach Taylor.Point-To-Point Marketing's Tim Bronsil makes the case that YouTube is the most overlooked revenue stream in audio, as audiences follow trusted personalities and content rather than platforms.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 Edison Research Podcast Metrics data shows Netflix and Tubi are gaining traction as video podcast platforms, with 14% of U.S. weekly podcast consumers using Netflix and 4% using Tubi, while YouTube leads at 64% and Spotify follows at 42%.A reported $100 million deal has taken Jay Shetty's podcast On Purpose into exclusivity with Spotify and Netflix, with Spotify handling global ad sales and Netflix securing the video rights, raising questions about whether major exclusivity deals can successfully pull audiences off YouTube.Several new podcasts are launching in connection with the U.S. 250th anniversary, including Reconstruction: The Unfinished Promise with President Barack Obama, First America from Pushkin Industries and Critical Frequency, and The Indigenous Setlist from Indigenous House and Little Bear Audio.YouTube is hosting a free live webinar on June 17 to help podcasters set up Channel Memberships, covering perks, pricing tiers, and strategies for converting casual viewers into paying members.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:SXSW 2027's PanelPicker application period opens June 23, with live AMAs scheduled and Podcast Movement Evolutions confirmed to return Monday through Wednesday of the event.The Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting unveiled its first unified impression framework for audio and video podcasting, ratifying four cross-platform exposure definitions to give advertisers and publishers a shared basis for measuring podcast inventory across audio and video.Tom Webster's latest Sounds Profitable article reflects on a year of deepening AI use, arguing that the real question for creators is not whether AI was involved but whether they are proud of what they made.Both Sport Social Network and Quill + CoHost have new articles this week in the Sounds Profitable thought leadership article series. 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: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.

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.

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: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.

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.

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.

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: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.