Blubrry partners with BackBeat for premium host-read ads

• BackBeat Media and Blubrry are working together for premium host-read ads. Blubrry will offer its users access to premium, personalized advertising opportunities through the BackBeat Media network.

• TWiT is to close its studios in Petaluma in the next six months, Leo Laporte said in Macbreak Weekly. “Every little bit counts,” he said, referencing the environmental benefits. ”Our 15 employees won’t be driving all the way to Petaluma anymore. They will be staying home.” TWiT made staff layoffs late last year.

• The New York Times looks at “the crisis at NPR”. The growth of NPR’s podcast business is cited as a source of tension with member stations.

  • Boston’s NPR station WBUR is to reduce its staffing levels by 30, the station’s CEO announced.

• Podchaser has launched a new section of the site called Podcast Charts & Rankings, which shows the Apple and Spotify podcast charts from across the world.

• In The Dark London and Transmission Roundhouse are looking for submissions for a listening event to be held in London in August. They’re looking for “new” - new creators and producers, or new styles from established producers. There’s a small payment, and the chance to get your audio heard by new and interesting people. Submissions close on May 17.

• Is RSS good for the environment? Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music are, according to Earth Notes, particularly bad at polling podcast RSS feeds very often, just in case someone’s published a new episode. (Our own RSS stats also show the size of the problem).

Moves and hires

• Chris Baughen has been appointed as Head of Podcasts for Wondery UK. He joins from Spotify UK, where he was Head of Studios.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• Live captions and transcripts might be in Apple Podcasts, but here’s how to enable them on Android and your desktop computer.

• Should your podcast have the word “Podcast” in it? We’d suggest not.

Podcast News - with Fill your podcast player with new podcasts

The Beef And Dairy Network - an award-winning, partially-improvised, British comedy podcast, has a special guest in the latest episode. A running joke in the show concerns “actor Ted Danson” who, the podcast claims, lent the host a lot of grain to get the podcast started, and has a loud bell he rings when he gets angry. The guest is… Ted Danson, playing the slightly more absurd Ted Danson in the show.

Podcast Perspectives has Wonder Media’s Head of Development, Emily Rudder, as a guest today. The company creates award-winning originals and branded series for clients.

Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs’ Podcast has hit 2,000 episodes. The show, hosted on Blubrry, started in 2015.

The Podnews Weekly Review this week includes an interview with Ross Adams on Acast’s tenth birthday; and a chat with Kathryn Musilek from Shark Party Media on podcast guesting.