A new radio and podcast conference for Asia

• A new radio and podcast conference has been announced: Radiodays Asia will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in August. From the same people who work on Radiodays Europe and Podcast Day, the two-day conference will contain items of interest for radio broadcasters and podcasters. Podnews is a media partner (and we’ll be there).

• Why is the Google Podcasts app failing so hard? Steven Goldstein asks some industry pros; nobody is very polite about it. (Earlier this year, our Editor published how it could grow faster - not much has changed).

  
  Aug 8 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Rebel Base Media have launched Poductivity, with a long blog post explaining what it is - in short, “interaction technology [that] gives you the opportunity to set multiple, time-bound calls to action and interaction opportunities within each episode of your podcast.”

• In a tweet, Michael Barbaro notes that The Daily appears to be the most downloaded show of 2018 (in the US), according to Apple. Pod Save America’s John Lovett responds “It’s cheating to do a show every day”, which is a point worth making. The full US list is on Apple’s website; there’s a different list for every country, of course. Here’s reporting on Australia’s.

• Podtrac have posted their top 10 new podcasts of 2018, based on US downloads. iHeartRadio has two in the top ten, and one in the top three, which (in alphabetical order) are Dr Death (Wondery), Gladiator (Wondery), and Happy Face (iHeartRadio).

  
  Aug 8 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Deezer has signed an agreement with Triton Digital for programmatic ads within their music and podcast app.

• Swedish podcast company Acast has raised $35m in a funding round. Its total funding now stands at more than $67m. The company pioneered dynamic ad insertion, and - among many other clients - monetises BBC podcasts outside the UK.

• Australian podcast host Whooshkaa’s chief technology officer Semin Nurkic covers the growth of the company in an interview for Startup Daily.

• American actress Jana Kramer recorded a podcast while giving birth.

• Blubrry report enhancements to their “pro podcast statistics”, with hourly reporting, regional breakdowns for more countries, and reporting for US by DMA (“Designated Market Area”).

• Have trouble remembering your passwords for all those podcast stats websites you use? We think a bear will help. Remembear remembers all your passwords, is simple, secure and handsome, works on everything, and there’s nothing better to keep intruders out than a bloody big bear. Go get it. (Affiliate)

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Aug 8 2023

• In case you missed it: Google Play Music Podcasts isn’t the same as Google Podcasts. We wrote a big FAQ all about Google Podcasts a while ago, and how to make sure you’re listed (you probably are). We’ve responded to five confused posts on Facebook groups over the last couple of days: you’d have thought Google might have sorted this out by now.

Podcasts

Straight Up Parenting helps parents of Ages 8-18 years navigate uncertainty with practical, experienced advice from other parents, counsellors, teachers, authors and experts. Created and hosted by two first generation immigrant moms, the goal is to bridge the gap between parents and children, and between schools and parents. (Powerpress)

You can now binge the full first season of The Sugar Baby Confessionals, focusing on Ruby, a self-confessed “sugar baby”. The podcast is “thought-provoking, charming, funny and candid” according to reviews. (Fable Gazers / Libsyn)