Wish your favourite show was faster?

• Podcast too long? PodFast is an upcoming service that will produce audio summaries of podcasts. It claims to use “cutting-edge AI”.

  • (How long should a podcast be, anyway?)

• Deals: Podcast producer Kast Media has signed with SoundStack … TV 2, one of Denmark’s largest media companies, has signed with Acast … and PodcastOne has renewed a number of the largest shows on its network, including The Adam Carolla Podcast, The Jordan Harbinger Show, LADYGANG, Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe, and Court Junkies.

• YouTube’s new CEO, Neal Mohan, has written a blog post on the company’s 2023 priorities. There’s a paragraph about podcasting, which reflects the announcement made last week.

• Podcast host Libsyn has slipped to #5 in new podcast episode market share. The company had been #4 since the data started in Sep 2021. It was overtaken by Omny Studio; Anchor increased its market share to 22.3% - the highest since August of last year.

  • Libsyn’s AdvertiseCast released the company’s marketplace average CPM rate for February. The average, $22.03, is down 1% m/m, and almost 5% y/y.

• The UK’s Podcast Radio has a new investor: another UK radio group. Tindle Radio is the latest to invest in the company, taking a 10% stake (and joining Nation Radio who invested last year). You can hear news from Podnews every day on the station.

• The Hollywood Reporter writes up the chat at the Hot Pod Summit.

• Auphonic has a new website; it has also enabled advanced algorithms for all users.

• Spanish-language podcast platform iVoox launched Sónar, an initiative to help emerging and independent creators. Every quarter, four podcasts will be heavily promoted throughout iVoox.

• After iHeartMedia’s financials, its stock price dropped yesterday by almost a third. JP Morgan has also downgraded the media company to “Underweight”.

• AI company Auddia has submitted a patent application for AI use in audio, including podcasting and music. The Executive Chairman of Auddia is Jeff Thramann, who has a number of patents related to audio and radio under the company’s previous name, Clip Interactive Inc.

• An interesting (and critical) read on Spotify’s financial performance.

Moves and hires

• Nick Panella has joined talent agency APA as head of a new podcast and audio group. He moves from Workhouse Media, who will have a strategic partnership with the agency.

Podcast News

Wonder Media Network’s Womanica has joined iHeartPodcasts. The daily podcast is “about a woman from history we might not know about, but should”.

The juiciest rivalries you’ve never heard of, BEEF with Bridget Todd is new this week from Next Chapter Podcasts. Bridget Todd tells the stories of legends in their fields and how they tried to stomp out their competition only to find that their enemies become the driving force behind their success, ultimately changing the world as we know it. It’s like Business Wars but for pop culture history; the first episode features advice columnists Ann Landers and Dear Abby.

Truth and Lies: The Boston Strangler is new from ABC Audio - a true-crime companion podcast to the 20th Century Studios’ film, "Boston Strangler,” which premieres on Hulu on March 17. Much remains unsettled: all but one of the murders remain unsolved.