A look at podcasting in Lebanon and Levant

• Exclusive: Podio, the “Middle East’s Leading Podcasting Platform”, has released a report into the podcast industry in Lebanon and Levant. The report says that fewer than 100 podcasts are being produced in the region; and 48% of listeners want to listen to local content, but don’t do so. Fewer than 6% of independent podcasters in the area have generated revenue from their podcast: but there is sudden hype for podcasting there, and marketing spend is expected to rise significantly. You can download the report here.

• Nominations have been announced for the 2019 Scripps Howard Awards. The “Radio/Podcast” category has Uprooted, an episode from APM’s APM Reports podcast; Amazon: Behind The Smiles, an episode from The Center for Investigative Reporting’s Reveal; and a series of radio reports from The Public’s Radio (Rhode Island) – A 911 Emergency.

• Registration is now open for The People’s Choice Podcast Awards, the longest-running podcast award ceremony. Voting starts on Jul 1, but you have to be in to win. Podnews is a sponsor of the awards for the third year running.

• Acast has launched in Mexico. Sergio Domínguez, former Corporate Sales Director for newspaper company Publimetro, has been hired as Acast Mexico’s Managing Director.

• Podomatic has launched a podcast recording app for iOS, joining an Android version which they’ve had since mid-2019. It’s on the App Store, and lets you record, publish and analyse your podcast’s stats.

  
  Aug 21 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Headed to Podfest? Buzzsprout is throwing a kick-off party Thursday before Podfest. They’ll be taking over Splitsville in Disney Springs from 4-8 PM for bowling, billiards, food, and drinks. Tickets are limited, but we’ve got 50 tickets for Podnews readers.

• Radiodays Europe, a large conference for radio and podcasting in Lisbon, Portugal, is going ahead at the end of March. It has announced a number of keynote speakers, including Entale’s Wil Harris; and has covid-19 information on its website.

• Jamin Brazil has launched a consumer insights podcast network, “a podcast network that offers the market a one-stop-shop for market research, customer experience, and user experience podcasts”. The Market Research Mafia Podcast Network is looking for additional podcasts to take part.

• Here are thirteen tools to record audio on a Chromebook.

• Our podcast pages now check whether your podcast host has let you finish your podcast name with a trailing space. While invisible, you’d be surprised how many issues this can create. (Podcast hosts? The trim function is your friend. Don’t make us come over there.)

Podcast News

Got an idea for a new TV show or movie? Because You Watched explores new ideas based on obscure Netflix categories like “Deep Sea Creature Features” or “Gory Mad Scientist Horror Movies”. It’s new from Warner Bros. UK, and is also filmed for YouTube. (knit)

A new podcast from Gimlet, Conviction: American Panic, was launched yesterday. It explores the story of John Quinney and investigates crimes some claim never happened – otherwise known as the “Satanic Panic.” There’s a video trailer here. (Megaphone)

Westwood One and Prologue Projects, the company owned by Slow Burn’s Leon Neyfakh, has released 5-4, a look at the US Supreme Court’s most questionable and misguided decisions. (Megaphone)

Rhode Island Commerce have launched the Blue Economy Podcast (Buzzsprout)