Video attracted the radio star

• Freakonomics Radio has announced a new YouTube channel with its podcasts. The network also plans to experiment with short- and long-form video, and animation. It claims the partnership will help with searchability for their shows, and will make the content more accessible, with captions and transcripts.

  • Podnews is also on YouTube

• Google tells us that Google Podcasts carousel links in Google Search (which the company said will go away at the end of this week) are being replaced with a new feature. A spokesperson told us: “We are always working to make it as easy as possible to find helpful information in Search, regardless of the form that content takes. Our existing podcast features will gradually be replaced with a new, single feature, What to Podcast (currently live on mobile for English users in the US.) This feature provides detailed information about podcasts, links to listen to shows on different platforms, and links to podcasters’ own websites, where available.”

  • We’re not in the US, but, using a US VPN, we think this is the thing being referred to. It seems to link to Spotify and to Google Podcasts; and here’s a short video.

• Our series on podcasting in East and South East Asia has been expanded today with a look at the Philippines - where true crime isn’t a thing for one very good reason - and Indonesia and Vietnam, two different countries with the same kind of habits.

• Podcast host Ausha has launched a “smartlink” - a player for sharing that is intended to increase your conversion rate and downloads.

• A podcast studio in Scottsdale AZ, US, is now open 24-hours because of demand. Podpopuli was covered by local TV news.

• Podcast host RSS·com now supports multiple podcasts under the same account and supports uploads in a wider variety of file extensions.

• Libsyn’s The Feed podcast has added a podcast:soundbite audio clip from the new podcast namespace into their RSS feed: we think that is the first use of the new podcast namespace for the show. You’ll see the clip appear in this compatible podcast player. The audio, “there is no cliff”, agrees with Podnews’s analysis about the “big decrease of new podcasts”.

People News

• Matt Mise has been appointed as Director, Podcasting & Head of Pacific Content at Rogers Sports & Media. He’s been with Rogers for more than four years, leading branded content and commercial integrations.

Tips and tricks - with Podcast Movement Evolutions

• Should you set up your podcast profile on IMDB? The Podcast Host takes you through the process. (We’re there!)

Podcast News

This week, ex-Spotify exec Lauren Jarvis is the guest at economics podcast Bubble Trouble, being asked whether podcasting is currently suffering a blip or a bubble. She suggests the important thing is consumption rather than creation. (transcript)

Courtney Kocak’s Podcast Bestie newsletter is to also have a podcast. “I will be sprinkling in some podcast interviews amid the regular newsletter content to dive deeper into craft and marketing topics,” she says.

Richard Wiseman’s On Your Mind is new today from Podimo and TellTale Industries. Professor Richard Wiseman holds the UK’s only professorship in the public understanding of psychology. The series starts with criminal barrister and broadcaster Rob Rinder asking if there’s a secret to becoming a human lie detector.
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