Podcasting in Egypt: data, and PodFest Cairo

• Podcasting in Egypt started in 2016, and overwhelmingly uses free hosts (and earns little money). But the Egyptian industry is expanding, according to a report from podcast producer Arcast.

• Also in Egypt, PodFest Cairo has been announced. The event, on Mar 7, is the first podcast festival in the country. Entry is 150 LE (US $10); sessions are in Arabic and English.

• Deloitte published its Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Predictions 2020 report at the end of last year, and has additionally published an Australian focussed study. Australian podcast revenue will grow this year to US$31m, it predicts. The global report also predicts 2020 will be the year when the global podcast market hits US$1.1bn (and compares this to radio’s revenue, at US$42bn)

• NPR is not publishing many of its podcasts outside the US in Spotify. The full NPR catalog is available in other podcast apps, and “on all of NPR’s platforms”. “This isn’t new”, a spokesperson tells us.

• Podcast Pingback has announced that it’s to stop development. It was a proposal for a light, standards-compliant, method of measuring playback, similar (but different) to NPR’s RAD proposal.

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• A podcast studio in Edinburgh, Scotland, The Wel has opened a new larger recording studio.

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

• Spotify is trying to become podcasting’s gatekeeper. We mustn’t let them, says Adam Tinworth, arguing that “We should do everything in our combined power as journalists and publishers to stop that happening, lest we find ourselves saddled with another Facebook.”

• A named possible suspect in the Serial podcast has been linked to a different case in South Carolina.

Thank you to our many personal supporters, including Karin Hoegh, for your ongoing support. You helped us fix a bug with our 'link direct to an episode’ page if - as in this case - the podcast isn’t on Google Podcasts.

Podcast News

On BBC Radio 4's The Media Show, The Big Money Bet On Podcasting focused on the “podcasting gold rush”, with a number of industry commentators including Steve Ackerman from Somethin’Else and Caroline Crampton from Hot Pod. (BBC)

What Shall We Do About, a solutions-based podcast “to improve and perhaps even solve some of the world’s less pressing issues”, has Podnews Editor James Cridland as a guest in the latest edition - talking about what to do about radio. “We discuss the way in which radio has changed and will change, and what it is able to achieve that music streaming and podcasts cannot.” (Whooshkaa)

The hosts of Thirst Aid Kit are “disappointed to see a lack of acknowledgement” from the British Film Institute, who have launched a season called, um, Thirst, using similar artwork. The BFI say they are “are giving this our full attention and taking it very seriously”. (Slate)