True crime is the top-ranked podcast category

• In the US, the most top-ranked podcasts are about true crime, according to data from Pew Research published yesterday. It also reports 31% of top-ranking shows are independently produced; and that 51% also release video content. Almost a third have paid subscriptions; only 8% of top-ranking podcasts are exclusive to one platform. The full report is a free download.

• Gen Z podcast listeners discover shows through social media, according to a new study from Edison Research and SXM Media. The study also discovers that those who started listening as kids are consuming 10.6 hours of podcasts a week.

• Indie UK production studio Mags Creative has signed with CAA. CAA will work with Mags Creative to identify adaptations across film, TV, publishing and live entertainment based on the studio’s podcast IP.

• Triton Digital released the May Podcast Ranker for the US. Wondery has grown to be the #2 sales network. The data doesn’t measure iHeart nor Spotify, however, and lists participating publishers only.

  • The New Zealand Podcast Ranker was released earlier this week. iHeartRadio is #1 for podcasts in that one.

• Libsyn’s AdvertiseCast has signed an exclusive ad partnership with The Roseanne Barr Podcast. The show launched yesterday.

• SCPR, the owner of LAist Studios, is to make 21 people, 10% of the staff, redundant in a cost-cutting strategy. The station blamed softness in the advertising business, and “a pullback of promotional efforts by Hollywood studios amid the writers’ strike”.

• Businesswise has raised $150,000 to further build their podcast ad marketplace focused on B2B marketing. The company also owns ad agency Podmuse … meanwhile, Auddia Inc, which owns radio and podcast app Faidr, has closed a stock offering raising $3.1mn.

• Remote recording tool Riverside now allows you to add an intro and outro, inside the editor.

• Magellan AI now supports measurement of the performance of streaming audio campaigns alongside podcasts.

• The London Podcast Festival returns from Sep 7-17. The eleven-day Festival will bring together some of the biggest names in podcasting alongside new talent, with live shows, workshops, meet and greets, and panels.

Moves and hires

• Bari Finkel and Je-Anne Berry have been promoted to Co-Heads of Pineapple Street Studios. Pineapple Street Co-Founder Max Linsky has been named Senior Podcast Strategist for Audacy’s podcast division.

Podcast News

In The Podcast Accelerator, Mark Asquith reviews Podnews Live in Salford, our networking event.

The Podnews Weekly Review has a special guest host of Skye Pillsbury, Editor of The Squeeze. Skye and James discuss the week’s podcasting news, and we’re all treated to Skye’s “British Accent”.

In some parts of the world it’s Father’s Day this weekend. Paternal is a podcast that features conversations with notable men about the complexities of fatherhood, manhood, and masculinity. It’s hosted by Nick Firchau, a journalist and father of two children; the show is more than six years old and has released more than 80 episodes.

How do women navigate a dream career and have a family? If She Can, I Can is hosted by Olivia Brafman is a thought provoking, weekly podcast talking to inspiring and successful women and their climb to the top in their chosen careers and as leaders while concurrently navigating the pressures and expectations of being a mother. It’s just launched its second season.