Podcast ad revenue smashes through $2bn

• Podcasting is now a $2bn ad industry in the US - earning a total of $2.4bn in US podcast ad revenue, in 2024. “This rebound is driven by continued expansion of podcast networks, deeper brand integrations, and advancements in audience targeting,” said the IAB / PwC Internet Ad Revenue Report. In total, internet advertising revenue hit $258.6 billion in 2024, its highest since 2021. The report is a free download.

• The theme music from Noiser’s Titanic - Ship of Dreams is, like all Noiser podcasts, crafted by the company’s in-house music team. Noiser has published a behind-the-scenes video of how it all worked - including a wheelbarrow, an oil heater, and some hammers. The show started to be released earlier this month, and has topped the charts in various countries. You can get ad-free listening and early access to new episodes here.

• Video podcasts got a mention in Netflix’s earnings call by Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, says John Wordock. Here’s the clip.

• Magellan AI has published a new case study featuring Mynt Agency, an independent media agency focused on smarter podcast buying strategies.

• Steven Bartlett of The Diary of a CEO has revealed that he turned down two $100mn podcast deals, because they would have tripled the ads on his show.

• iHeart-owned Inside Radio reports that iHeart-owned Triton Digital says that iHeart is the #1 US podcast sales network for March. The ranker measures participating publishers.

• Sonoday is a new “podcast contact platform”, helping people find contact information for shows, and add their responses for podcast marketing.

• You can do amazing things with sound. Centuries of Sound, apart from making mixes of recorded sound from specific years (he’s up to 1950), also produces soundscapes like this one from various protests across the UK. Works best in headphones, he says.

• Further reading: Julia Barton writes about how video has always competed with audio … Eurowaves interviews Sam Sethi from the Podnews Weekly Review on AI …

The Tech Stuff - with RSS.com

• Faster feed updates and a more reliable, performant podcast app - the new owner of Castro has posted a report looking back on a full year of owning the popular iOS app.

• MetaBlogger is “ a hybrid audio content platform where human creators establish channels but use AI technology to deliver their content instead of their own voices or faces.”

• Metacast, a podcast app, has documented the work behind podcast chapters, bookmarks and transcript search.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• PodWritten says that it took just one interview on a podcast to get 450 new followers

Podcast News - with New Podcasts

As news about Pope Francis’s death spreads across the world, White Smoke - The Path to a New Pope explains what happens next. It was released at the end of February by Caloroga Shark Media.

At a time when more women are listening to podcasts than ever before, Share, Strategize, & Shine is the go-to show for women who are ready to step behind the mic themselves. You’ll hear heartfelt strategies for creating a soul-led podcast that doesn’t just sound good — it grows your business, too. If you’ve ever dreamed of using your voice to create more impact and income, this podcast will show you how — and remind you that when women speak, the world listens.

In The End of the World, Valentine, after being pushed from the nest by his parents, experiences a violent encounter in the big city and somehow finds himself in the kitchen of a strange, otherworldly bed and breakfast establishment named, rather ominously, The End of the World. An eleven part audio drama from Mind’s Eye Podcasts, it’s a tale of life, death… and what comes next.

Like A Muse: Madonna Remixes Culture recently rebranded to include “remixes culture” in the title to reflect the dynamic remix culture it explores and uncovers. The podcast, which was nominated for a 50 over 50 award, is currently charting globally, with impressive rankings for the episode “Ten Pivotal Moments in Madonna Remixes History,” including #77 in the USA, #2 in Brazil, #2 in Italy, and #3 in Colombia.