Spooler could change the sound of news podcasts

• A new podcast platform, Spooler, has launched. It’s founded by a who’s who of podcasting, including CEO James O. Boggs, formerly Head of Podcasts at Apple; CCO Andy Bowers, co-founder of Slate Audio and Megaphone; CTO Dan Benjamin, founder of Fireside·fm and the 5by5 podcast network, and Exec Producer Kerry Donahue, former EP at WNYC. The product claims to be a new modular content management system for audio, allowing instant edits and re-ordering of content while being compatible with RSS podcast apps. The tech also incorporates Dolby·io to smooth audio volumes and apply noise reduction. Axios has more information.

  
  Sep 12 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• The first show using Spooler is The Refresh from Insider; available as a standard podcast feed, the twelve-minute audio is rebuilt when you listen using dynamic audio insertion, enabling the show to be updated every minute. It’s presented by Rebeca Ibarra and Dave Smith; and worth listening on their website to understand how it’s been put together. Or, use the chapter feature in your podcast app to skip stories. (Perhaps that explains the release of Apple Podcasts’ guide to using chapters last month).

  
  Sep 12 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• With ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network Australia, Magellan AI has launched a new regular report showing the top podcast advertisers in Australia. You can subscribe here. The report for Q4/21 shows Amazon at #1, with the highest Australian brand - Binge, a video streaming service - at #4.

• Spotify announced the latest edition of Sound Up for the UK and Ireland. The company is “inviting aspiring podcasters who identify as Black, Brown, Asian, Minority Ethnic Woman/ Woman of Colour in the sports genre with a great idea to apply” for its training programme for aspiring podcasters. Globally, the company has highlighted the diverse voices enabled by their Sound Up program.

  
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• Podcasts are best to help listeners concentrate on the ads they hear, according to new research on media attentiveness and ad skipping from Cumulus Media and Westwood One.

• Amy Woods, Content 10x founder, will be flying the B2B podcasting flag at digital, media, tech, and marketing event, Digital City Festival, in Manchester, UK. Content 10x is sponsoring/exhibiting on 9 & 10 March and Amy will be speaking on day two. See event coverage on Twitter.

• Brooklyn magazine has five takeaways from On Air Fest.

• iZotope RX now supports Apple silicon. Good news: 60% faster. Bad news: it’s a paid upgrade.

• Remote recording tool Riverside FM has had a patent claim from competitor OpenReel dismissed. Here is the judge’s decision. OpenReel has can amend its claim until mid-March, however (and if successful, you can probably guess other similar services will be next).

• The New Yorker has published a number of articles on the proliferation of the podcast in their 'Sunday Reading’ section; including an interview with Melvyn Bragg and a question whether we can imagine a world without Spotify.

Some monthly stats

• Happy March 1st. The Podnews Ranker, which measures who we talk about, says (surprise!) that Rogan and Spotify both inhabit the #1 slot for February. Rob Greenlee is the highest climber (up from #460 to #14), and Jeff Ostroff is the highest new person, in at #16. Our gender balance was 39% female.

• Libsyn’s AdvertiseCast reports that the average CPM for podcast ads in its marketplace is up 6.3% year-on-year. February’s figure fell slightly from January’s record high, to $23.61.

Tips and tricks

• Blubrry write about using social media to locate your podcast audience

Podcast News

On The Sofa ( with my pussy ) is a new podcast from two British voiceover artists, “showbiz” Mitch Johnson and Trish Bertram. The two have often appeared as Mr and Mrs in radio commercials. The cat is Trish’s, incidentally.

Diversifying is new from CNN; host Delyanne Barros - a money expert also known as Delyanne The Money Coach on TikTok and Instagram - talks about how to make money work for you, especially if you’re Black or Brown, a woman, or single. Expect new episodes every Monday.

Hitherto unavailable in your podcast app, but available on your smart speaker, CNN Breaking News Alerts is new, and drops new stories as they happen into your podcast app. An impressive use of podcast tech, updates are very short and of most use if you sort your podcast app by “latest episode”.

CBC’s new podcast Let’s Make A Sci-Fi is an eight-part adventure through the creative process as three comedians - Ryan Beil, Maddy Kelly, and Mark Chavez — try writing a successful sci-fi pilot, with help from scientific experts and Hollywood screenwriting pros. It launched today.

Back in the 1980s, TV and films promised us everything from jetpacks to flying cars and holidays in space - so Where’s My Jetpack? Space journalist and author Sarah Cruddas and broadcaster Luke Moore take a look at some of those crazy inventions to discover if they’re actually just around the corner. It’s new today from Stak.

Ukrainecast is a new podcast from the BBC, trying to make sense of the current conflict.

CNN has launched a special open-ended season of Tug of War, using their reporters to offer us historical, political, and social context for the Russia/Ukraine conflict. New episodes drop Sunday and Wednesday.