Podcasts now listened to by over 100m Americans every month

• 37% of US adults - over 104m people - now listen every month to podcasts, according to the newly-released Infinite Dial 2020 survey from Edison Research and Triton Digital. The figure has grown markedly from 32% a year ago. The data also shows podcasting continuing to head toward gender parity, and increased use of smart speakers. In other news, the research says that almost a third of all Americans no longer own an AM/FM radio.

• Podcasting in the Dominican Republic in 2019 is analysed by Robert Sasuke. The Caribbean nation has seen a more than 400% growth in podcasting, mostly driven by Anchor (who host two-thirds of all podcasts there). 40% of podcasts from the country are inactive, though this is better than the global figure of 57%.

• PRX’s Privacy Symposium took place late last month in a rather different-feeling New York NY, USA. While much of the privacy symposium was held in private, video of the first four sessions has been released. “We need inspiration, we need experiments, we actually need to fail a little bit more and not crucify those failures, but really learn from them. We need to create standards”, said PRX’s CEO Kerri Hoffman.

  • Opinion: We’d hope that The Podcast Academy is the industry’s place to create those standards - if podcast hosts and app developers are represented in that organisation, and if it isn’t just made up of representatives from the US, a country that has a lamentable record in privacy protection.

• The Apple Podcasts iOS app has been updated with specific Coronavirus information in the US, reports AppleInsider. Visible in the screenshots are promotion for CNN’s Coronavirus: Fact vs Fiction, NPR’s Coronavirus Daily, and the BBC’s Coronavirus Daily Update. Other new sections include “Cultivating Calm” and “Boredom Busters”. (No change is visible in Australia).

• YouTube is warning that more videos than normal may be removed from the service: content moderation on YouTube, and many other platforms, is now being done by algorithms rather than human beings. This may impact podcasters, many of whom use the service for posting video versions of their show.

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• In The Startup, a Medium publication, Fab Giovanetti writes that monetising your podcast doesn’t have to be hard, giving three ways to do so.

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Aug 22 2023

• The award ceremony for the Webby Awards has been cancelled.

  
  Aug 22 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• How are your downloads doing? We’re seeing a small drop of about 10%. Do let us know how it is for you - we’d like to give an overview on Monday. Do hit reply and let us know - you’re welcome to stay anonymous.

Podcast News

The Women is focusing on women on the front lines of the coronavirus. This week, Dr Antoinette Ward, leading testing for COVID-19 at a major hospital in Atlanta GA, on why she sings Stevie Wonder to her patients and the strain to her family. (iHeartRadio)

Economy and tech podcast Make Me Smart is adding a short daily show. It’ll be posted at 5pm PST in addition to the normal weekly show. (Marketplace)

Tech podcast Mobycast has focused on how they make the podcast, as some tips and tricks for new podcasters.

Staying In with Emily & Kumail is a podcast for charity about making the best of living life under quarantine. Oscar-nominated film The Big Sick was based on Emily Gordon’s chronic illness that forces her to stay indoors for long periods of time. (Hyperobject Industries / Three Uncanny Four Productions / Megaphone)

CNN’s The Boss Files with Poppy Harlow is to bring listeners conversations with CEOs, executives and founders who are navigating the coronavirus crisis in real-time. The first interviewee is Sheryl Sandberg from Facebook, who says the company is finding and removing false information about the virus from the platform, and that they are continuing to pay employees and contractors to ease their financial stresses during this period of uncertainty. (knit)

For something different, Dog Save The People has uplifting stories of how dogs have impacted their lives for the better. This week’s guest is Simon Doonan, an author and TV reality judge. (Squarespace)
More of a cat person? Cat People focuses on cats: but big ones. Fascinating fact: there are more captive tigers in the US than there are left in the wild. Wow. This podcast, launched earlier this week, focuses on people that keep lions, tigers and other dangerous cats. Here, kitty. (Libsyn)