The Stitcher podcast app is to close

• One of the oldest podcast apps, Stitcher is to close on Aug 29. An internal memo, seen by Podnews, says that the “scale and reach of our widely-distributed podcasts has been and remains a crucial accelerant for our advertising sales business”. In January, Stitcher was the sixth-biggest podcast app in the US, according to Podtrac - though it had lost a quarter of its users in two years, and had only 1.3% of the market.

  • This move means no job losses. Stitcher Studios will continue to operate, as part of the successful SiriusXM Podcast Network: one of the biggest in the US, it represents 5 of the top 20 podcasts in the Edison Podcast Ranker.
  • A similar podcast app from a similar company, Acast, closed in March 2022.

• Stitcher Radio, as it was once called, is one of the oldest podcast apps. It was founded before the Apple App Store even existed. We look back at the history of the sometimes controversial podcast app in a special feature today.

• Now the Stitcher app is closing, what happens now? We’d recommend you:

  • Check your podcast website for Stitcher links, icons and buttons and remove them. (“Most Stitcher website pages will be redirected to our sister app, Pandora”, the company says, though that isn’t available outside the US - nor is the SiriusXM app, which is due a refresh in the next few months).
  • If you can, consider using dynamic audio insertion to tell listeners who use Stitcher to find something else. All Stitcher podcast apps include Stitcher in the user-agent field. Use your power to promote podcast apps wisely - while Apple Podcasts might be the obvious choice for iOS, you might consider recommending AntennaPod, perhaps, for Android; or look at some newer podcast apps you’d really recommend.

• Exclusive: What’s claimed to be the world’s first AI news podcast has been launched: Reflected Ukraine is new, and designed to be an always-updating show, produced by humans and using AI, with a specially designed voice.

• Captivate has tweaked its memberships tool to let podcasters offer timed exclusives and free trials. The company also supports access from third-party subscription services.

Thank you to Niall Mackay, who has become our latest personal supporter. People like Niall are really important to us, because it means we don’t have to rely on corporate interests for our reporting: especially when sometimes it’s not that complimentary about some companies. We think he’s the same Niall Mackay who does the Smarter Podcasting podcast, and runs Seven Million Bikes Podcasts. You can be like Niall and support us here.

Podcast News

Mission Impossible fan podcast Light The Fuse is now official: the show has joined Paramount Audio, and gains the tagline “The Official Mission Impossible Podcast”. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to watch the new movie, out in cinemas on Jul 12; and listen to this the day before.

This Paranormal Life is celebrating more than 17 million listens with a “flat world tour”. The show, hosted by comedians Rory Powers and Kit Grier Mulvenna, will be in scary places like New York, Glasgow and Manchester, as well as slightly less scary places like Los Angeles, Chicago, and London. Tickets go on sale on Friday.

Supreme: The Battle for Roe is new from iHeart today: a scripted podcast that delves into the inspiring true story of the historic Roe v. Wade case.

Blum, a podcast that has dominated the Spanish podcast charts and won an Ondas Award, is released in English today. It’s a thriller set in Switzerland, and made with the special collaboration of Switzerland Tourism.

Soulbare Sessions: Where Momma At? takes a deep dive into one person’s extraordinary life story. The first season focuses on Terrance Holloway, originally from the South-Central Los Angeles district of Crenshaw, a musician and movie-maker who has overcome a challenging start in life, and been thrown some twists along the way. It’s new today from Glistening Productions.

Podcast promotion in the wild

Slate’s LGBTQ podcast Outward got the sweet Amazon Music billboard in the middle of Times Square to celebrate Pride Month.