The shows manipulating the Apple Podcast Charts

Two days ago, we reported that the Apple Podcast Charts was being manipulated. Today, we show five podcasts in the top ten that we suspect of having gamed the charts.

Yesterday, we reported that Audioboom had called off its acquisition of Triton Digital. We’re being told by some Audioboom publishers that they have not been paid by the company since February. Audioboom’s COO, Stuart Last, says that any non-payment is “not good enough”, and in an email to Podnews, he says the company is working hard to get back to normal after the failure of the Triton Digital acquisition. He’s also bullish about the future. Read his comments in full.

In The Word from Mouth this week: monetization models in podcasting, why a $40M investment was made in a subscription service, why public radio stations banded together to buy an open platform, and an interview with Hilda Labrada Gore of the Wise Traditions podcast on how she crossed the 1 million download milestone.

A new kids podcast from the makers of Brains On!: Smash Boom Best shows kids 'the critical thinking skills they need to take facts and use them to develop well-informed opinions’.

Texan podcast network Gameday Media has acquired Hoofnest Recording, and plans to expand the GME network to include medical, education, technology and audio drama productions.

Podcasting in the Czech Republic: Dan Tržil posts a piece (in Czech) about the state of the industry there, which includes branded podcasts for Red Bull, and points to the public service radio broadcaster having a good presence in podcasting. He’s also a podcaster himself, making Proti Proudu.

Pacific Content’s Dan Misener posts How to build a website for your podcast. We plan to update our podcast subscribe pages accordingly, to make them easier to use.

Wenbin Fang from Listen Notes posts why his platform doesn’t allow users to review podcasts.

Listicle: 7 Tips to Market Your Podcast on Instagram (We Edit Podcasts). 'I’m a hard core podcast listener. I don’t recall a time that I ever read those reviews on iTunes or on any podcast player app’.