Apple Podcasts responsible for 58% of podcast downloads

• In the latest episode of The Feed, Libsyn report which mobile apps downloaded podcasts from them in October. Apple Podcasts is the highest, at 58%. Of note: only around 40% of Libsyn shows are published on Spotify (so the app will be under-represented in these figures). Libsyn won’t publish any numbers next month, because of work they’re doing on Spotify passthrough.

  • Pocket Casts was 1.14% in August 2019. The app went free in mid September. It now accounts for 1.3% of all podcast downloads. In December 2018, it accounted for 1.4%. The move to free does not seem to have paid-off: yet.
  • Google Podcasts has more than doubled in the past year, up from 0.91% last December. (Google Play Music Podcasts, an unconnected and competing Google-branded podcast player, is still confusingly available).

• Is the Apple Podcasts app coming to Windows? Apple has been advertising for a “Senior Software Engineer - Windows Media Apps”: “The Media Apps team is looking for a creative Senior Software Engineer to work on the next generation of media apps for Windows.”

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Aug 19 2023

• A staffer at The Late Show with Steven Colbert, Aaron Nemo, has made a weird and slightly dark The Daily Remix. Stay for the end.

• Triton Digital has integrated Voxnest into their Podcast Metrics platform. The tool allows podcast advertising buyers to have an independent view of download data, designed to improve the trustworthiness of analytics. Both Podcast Metrics and Voxnest are IAB Certified.

• Locked On Podcast Network has concluded its first $750,000 funding round. The company claims it’s the #1 producer of daily, local sports podcasts, and produces over 140 unique sports podcasts across 60 US and Canadian markets.

• Podcasting needs a new standard, says Ollie Judge: a reverse feed for the user. “If listeners could maintain their own database generated by their favourite app it would extend the potential of each show they listen to.”

  
  Aug 19 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.
  • Along the same lines, What’s New In Publishing also highlight why it’s so hard to scale paid podcast subscriptions. (Our Editor has a solution for that).

• A Motley Fool writer has realised that Netflix is making podcasts now. Had he been reading Podnews, he’d have seen reporting of Netflix-made podcasts on Nov 18, Nov 1, Jul 5, Feb 13, Oct 29 2018, Apr 25 2018, and Dec 27 2017…

• How I make… The Freenoter details the microphones and tools that Tom and Tamsen Webster use to make their new podcast.

• How I make… Podnews is the same thing, but for this newsletter and our podcast.

A programming note - we’re here as normal over Thanksgiving, but we’re very much enjoying reading your out-of-office replies. Can we get a mention in yours?

Tips and tricks - with Acast Open

• Lifehacker posts how to make your podcasts sound like NPR. It’s all about the audio quality (and nothing to do with strange intonation or out-of-the-blue blasts of jazz).
• Evo Terra says you need just three links on your website to promote your podcast.

Podcast News - with Spreaker Prime

Spreaker Prime: Junkfood Cinema is a shame-free celebration of cult cinema hosted by critic Brian Salisbury and Marvel Studios screenwriter C. Robert Cargill. They’re using Spreaker Prime to make hosting and advertising easier.

Let us make you an offer you can’t refuse: the secrets of a real-life Mafia hitman, The Enforcer follows gangster Anthony Salvatore Luciano Raimondi, who served as a top enforcer to the Colombo family for more than three decades. (Podular / Carpe VM / 360 DMG / Acast)