Stephen Bartlett’s new Samsung TV Plus channel

• Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO has launched as a 24/7 streaming channel on Samsung TV Plus, the first podcast to do so. The deal is exclusive: no other podcasts can launch on Samsung TV Plus this year, and the show will not launch on any other FAST service.

• Exclusive: The podcast Ice Cold Case is getting a boost with a new partnership between Tenderfoot and QCODE. The show is hosted by Madison McGhee, who is investigating her father’s cold case to find his killer; Tenderfoot and QCODE will be offering exclusive marketing, sales and distribution partnership.

• “I’m still in shock, and I’m also very sad.” The closure by Rogers of Pacific Content is the subject of a blog post by its co-founder Steve Pratt, who says “the Pacific Content/Rogers story holds both lessons and warnings.”

• “Decisions in their best interest vs yours“: Sounds Profitable’s Bryan Barletta has written a strongly-worded article against Spotify. In it, he criticises the decision for Megaphone and Chartable to no longer be certified to IAB Podcast Measurement Guidelines; and criticises the decision to remove minimum pricing for the Spotify Ad Network. He suggests publishers call for IAB recertification, and actively investigate moving away from Megaphone for the benefit of the industry. “Walled garden solutions don’t require IAB Podcast Certification, after all.”

• PodOps has launched PodOps Studio, a new “all-in-one” podcasting platform containing real-time collaboration, remote recording, and hosting.

• Descript has a set of announcements to make on June 4: a new workflow and a new editing and collaboration tool.

• The Women in Podcasting Awards has a new sponsor. You’ll never guess who it is! (Spoiler: us. It’s us.) If you qualify, you should enter.

• Music usage is up 10% in brand marketing content; but licensed music is down by 1.5%. That’s according to the sixth annual Best Audio Brands report, which has been released by amp. Apple is at #65; there aren’t any podcast companies in the list.

• Magellan AI has released its presentation from The Podcast Show in London, looking at podcast advertising trends in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Germany and Australia so far this year.

• Kagi, a (paid) search engine that’s a great alternative to things like Google or Bing, has a podcast search tab. Even better, it links to your own podcast website; and Kagi’s next fortnightly release will contain a bug fix to a layout issue in the search. It’s worth trying it out if you’re finding Google all a bit AI-crazy these days.

Tips and tricks - with Ausha Pro 🚀

• Ausha suggests: Explore 10 top branded podcasts and what makes them succeed
• Ausha suggests: Learn to create an effective branded podcast using your existing content.

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: The History of China’s Chris Stewart says: “I’ve enjoyed a very positive partnership with Airwave. In terms of overall audience growth, revenue-sharing, and sponsorship deals, I’ve been very impressed with what they’ve done for my show.”

The New Statesman Podcast has gone daily on the run-up to the UK general election. Host Hannah Barnes is joined by journalists from the magazine, including veteran broadcaster Andrew Marr, to discuss the latest election developments including reaction from around the UK, polling analysis with expert Ben Walker, and a regular listener questions episode every Friday.

The Trawl has been acquired by Global. The politics show, hosted by political commentator Marina Purkiss, and broadcaster and writer Jemma Forte, is now to be produced by Global’s in-house production team, and sold by DAX. It was with Goalhanger.

It was the elections in South Africa yesterday - we’ll begin to know the results during the day today. NPR’s Throughline recently carried a look at Nelson Mandela. Thirty years since he was inaugurated into power, many in South Africa now see the ANC as corrupt and responsible for the country’s problems.

Kara Swisher is to interview guests live on stage for her On with Kara Swisher podcast; an AI interview series kicks-off with an interview in Washington DC with OpenAI’s Mira Murati.

AIWeb3 Careers is new from AIWeb3 Careers Accelerator, looking at various aspects of AI and Web3, including emerging trends, technologies, career pathways, and opportunities. It’s hosted by Ade Molajo.

Podcast promotion in the wild

There’s no missing this promotion for The High Note, at the CMB’s conference Momentum 2024, on right now in Orlando, Florida. (Our Editor is speaking tomorrow at 1.30pm)