June's top podcasters, will analytics change podcasting, and Everyone Else

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This article is at least a year old

  • June’s Podtrac “top podcast publishers” list is out. A strong debut for ESPN, and in total, June was 13% larger than May. Their release focuses on US numbers, but globally, the list is:


    Jul 24 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.
      1. NPR (97.1m downloads/streams)
      1. HowStuffWorks (35.4m)
      1. WNYC Studios (34.1m)
      1. ESPN (30.3m)
      1. This American Life / Serial (22.7m)
  • 5 myths about podcasting attempts to debunk myths including podcasting’s discovery problem, and whether it has no measurement.

  • Pocket Casts gets an update on Android. Notably in the excellent release notes: “Podcast title sort now ignores 'The’. You might think that’s meh but wow you people wouldn’t stop emailing us about it!”

  • Here’s what happened the last time audio producers got better data - a piece from NiemenLab about radio ratings and the PPM, and the changes in radio that they were directly responsible for. “It’s not clear what a clickbait podcast might sound like, but if there’s money to be had in making it, we’ll probably find out soon.”

  • Will data make podcasts better: or will it stifle the creative process asks Fred Jacobs. “Great user data could be the catalyst that vaults podcasting into the mainstream”.

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  • Do I need a mixer for my podcast? asks Ascetic Productions. As the piece acknowledges, it depends what you’re actually making: but it’s a worthwhile read.

  • In the UK, the rules around what the BBC can make have changed: they can now make podcasts that aren’t just a rehashed radio show. Production house WiseBuddah has made a true crime podcast for them. “Listeners liked it … but said some of the episodes were too short (17-20 minutes) so we changed them to make them longer”

  • The British Radio Times magazine (a TV and radio listing) publishes a “podcast of the week” feature. This week it’s Everyone Else, a twenty-minute “human experience” podcast.

Companies mentioned above:
ESPN logoESPNNPR logoNPRPocket Casts logoPocket CastsPodtrac logoPodtracWNYC Studios

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