iHeart posts podcast revenue increase

• iHeartMedia released its Q2/23 financials. Podcast revenue was $97mn, up 12.9% y/y, or 25% q/q. Podcasting contributed a record 10.5% to the business’s revenue.

• Nielsen will collect diary data on podcast listening, reports the iHeart-owned Inside Radio. An “electronic diary” will ask respondents about all the audio listening they do, not just AM/FM radio. Online diaries have been in use in the UK since 2011; Nielsen’s electronic diary will be fully deployed in 200 US markets by the second half of 2025.

• Interview Valet has bought Podchaser Connect, a database used to book guests on podcasts, from Acast. Interview Valet will integrate Podchaser Connect into its service. Podchaser launched its guest placement platform in 2020.

• CoHost has announced Advanced Audience Demographics, a tool to offer data on audience age, gender, household income, interests & hobbies, family members, and social media consumption & habits.

• Castos has launched Castos Commerce, a “fully hosted, native listener donation experience”. Unlike competitors, Castos offers this tool for free.

• Spotify announced five NextGen Scholarship Recipients from Spelman College in Atlanta.

• Listen Notes suggests that the number of new podcasts launched last month was 11,119 - around a third fewer than a year ago.

• Coming to Podcast Movement? The Podcast Academy is happy to offer all in-person Podcast Movement attendees the opportunity to have a 15-minute 1-to-1 with a leading voice in podcasting at booth #607. You can sign up for a time here - guests include Jaime Albright from Tenderfoot TV, Arielle Nissenblatt from Squadcast, Jeremy Enns from The Podcast Marketing Academy, and James Cridland, our Editor.

• Further reading: JAR Audio has updated its ultimate guide to branded podcast ROI … Eric Nuzum asks “What do all successful podcast hosts have in common? And what is necessary for someone to succeed as a podcast host?” … and Jonas Woost from Bumper writes: don’t confuse listeners with downloaders. He points out that both Spotify and Apple (which for most podcasters is the majority of their traffic) give actual listener numbers in their dashboard, since you have to sign in to use those apps.

Tips and tricks - with Pod Predictor by Coleman Insights

• Interview Valet, in the news for buying Podchaser Connect, posted eleven tips for a successful podcast interview. “Listen to the show beforehand” is one of them.

• Podcastle writes an ultimate guide to podcast cover art. Consistent branding across episodes and seasons is one of the important things to know, it suggests.

• Is Threads any good for podcast promotion? The Podcast Host looks into it.

Podcast News - with Airwave

Part of the Airwave podcast network: The Explorers Podcast looks at great explorers from history - some of the most extraordinary people the world has ever seen. Matt Breen looks at people like John McDouall Stuart, a social misfit and a heavy drinker, who led six expeditions into the Australian interior and was perhaps the greatest explorer of the Australian bush in history.

In The Cards is an existential romantic comedy about “a born loser” who takes on fate and changes his destiny in order to win the heart of his tarot card reader. The cast includes household names like Chukwudi Iwuji (Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy), Tony Award nominee Steven Boyer, Laila Robins (The Walking Dead), and many more; it’s produced by Next Chapter Podcasts, and launches today.

Podcast Perspectives is a new weekly podcast from The Podglomerate, focused on discussing ways to build the next generation of podcasting. Premiering today, the debut episode explores the state of podcast tech with Sharon Taylor, Triton Digital’s SVP of Podcast Strategy and Product Operations (and formerly CEO of Omny Studio).

Podcast host and journalist Amelia Oberhardt thought she knew her mum - until she died. At her mum’s wake, Oberhardt discovered a photo of her mother as a teenager, wearing a wedding ring, standing beside her apparent husband and cuddling an unknown baby. Secrets We Keep dives into the hidden histories of secret pregnancies, shotgun marriages, forced adoptions, and the challenges faced by young women in impossible situations. It’s new this week from LiSTNR.