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- Apr 16: Audioboom released a trading update for Q1/26. Revenue is up +30% year-on-year to another record of $22.5mn; the company made $4.8mn profit (up +41%). However, Audioboom describes video - up +70% in views - as "lower-yield"; revenue per thousand downloads is down from $60.83 to $45.10 as a result of more video and more downloads within the UK, which historically monetises less well than the US. The company recently signed Crooked Media and true-crime show RedHanded.
- Apr 15: Inception Point AI added twenty wellness shows yesterday, marked "WELLNS", in less than 75 minutes. The shows offer AI-generated advice about Codependency, Mental Health, Vaccinations, gambling addiction, anger management, panic attacks, and more. They're all hosted by "Julia Cartwright" or "Dr. Mara Lennox", and start by saying things like: "I want you to know that I'm an AI host, which means I can engage with sensitive, deeply personal material without judgment, agenda or projection." When we interviewed Inception Point AI's CEO Jeanine Wright in 2025, she told us that for health and wellness advice, "somebody is involved in listening and reviewing the content before it’s released".
- Apr 14:
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net/reportcard - and thank you. - Apr 13: A new podcast studio, Light Knot Studios, is copying the names and designs of 75 successful history podcasts to confuse listeners and attract ad revenue. It was first spotted over the weekend by Dirk from the History of the Germans podcast (using PodSEO, who advertised with us a few weeks ago). He told Podnews: "We all have competition. But, if listeners look for History of the Germans and they stumble on this [visual copy] instead, they'll be confused and will think it's not worth listening to. We're all struggling hard for the first listen. It's very irritating."
- Apr 10: There’s really only one runaway success on Netflix for now - it’s The Breakfast Club, which is responsible for 40% of all podcast views on the platform, and has 3x the views of the #2 title, a Netflix companion podcast for Bridgerton. Almost half of Breakfast Club viewers watch the show within 48 hours of an episode’s release.
Data credits: Podnews newsletter