Acast up; Aussie podcast ads up; Podimo go to Mexico

• Podcast hosting and monetisation company Acast published its year-end financial report. In Q4/22, Acast claims 1.3bn listens (up 22% y/y). Net sales for the quarter were up 35% y/y to SEK454mn (US $43.7mn).

• Podcast advertising in Australia in Q4/22 increased by 36% y/y, according to new data from Magellan AI and ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network Australia. Amazon, Maccas and Paramount+ were the top three advertisers.

• Podcast and audiobook subscription service Podimo is to expand to Mexico. The company says the number of users who consume podcasts in the country has increased by 70% in the last four years.

• Amazon Music has lost an exclusive podcast. Disgraceland is now available everywhere (it became an Amazon exclusive last year). The podcast is celebrating its 5-year anniversary this week, and has just released the premiere for season 11 of the show. Being available everywhere drives the download numbers: Podtrac now ranks Disgraceland as the #1 music podcast again.

• Immediate Media Co is to join the Spotify Audience Network and will switch to Megaphone. The company was with Acast.

• PodX Group has acquired a majority stake in Filt, a Swedish independent podcast company with more than a million weekly listeners. It’s the fourth acquisition for the company.

• Sports podcaster Blue Wire has added FuboTV’s podcasts to its slate for distribution and monetisation. Blue Wire will sell packages including podcast and TV advertising.

  • One of the hosts of Blue Wire’s Stay Hot, Theo Ash, was the subject of a story in the LA Times last week.
  • The most listened-to sports podcast in the US for H2/22 is The Bill Simmons Podcast, according to Edison Research, who published the top three.

• The New York Times is the latest to write about the apparent demise of the industry: Podcast Companies, Once Walking on Air, Feel the Strain of Gravity

• Popcasts is a Portuguese podcast platform, with more than 200 shows added in the past year. It’s by media company Grupo Renascença Multimédia.

• Podcast Movement Evolutions has made its eighth speaker announcement. (Podnews will be there)

  • The Podcast Hall of Fame will not hold an induction ceremony at PME this year. The event did take place last year; it’s unclear whether a lack of induction ceremony means new inductees won’t be announced at all.

• The NAB Show (Apr 15-19 in Las Vegas) will have more than 1,000 exhibitors, organisers say; more than 20% up y/y. However, in 2019, the show had 1,600. (Podnews will be there)

• Off to SXSW? Mark Miller and the team at Labelcoin are providing a podcasting studio with state-of-the-art equipment from Roland where VIPs can hold meetings, record content, and enjoy free food and drinks. If you’re interested, here’s a form to be considered.

• The shortlist for the Publisher Podcast Awards has been announced. The ceremony is on Apr 26 in London.

• You should take two minutes now to fill in the Podnews Report Card. Your feedback goes back (anonymously) to the podcast platforms, and helps them know where to improve.

Tips and tricks - with Podcast Movement Evolutions

• Listeners on podcast apps can only hear you if you’re in their list. But how do you make sure you add your podcast to every podcast directory? We list them all over here. (Thank you to Evo Terra for helping us update this page last week).

Moves and hires

• Scotty “Pitbull” Meyers has joined Gemini XIII as Vice President of Entertainment and Special Projects. He joins from Tesh Media Group.

• Tim Ackerman has been hired as CFO for Auddia, an audio AI company.

Podcast News

While Julia Louis-Dreyfus has announced a new show talking to women over 70, podcast host Sherrilynne Starkie says she might not be a famous Hollywood actor, but her independent podcast, 50 Women Over 50, is worth a listen too: and, unlike Louis-Dreyfus’s, it’s out now.

The TJ Show is new from Gemini XIII this week, and marks the launch of the company’s Personality Network. The show is being produced for radio (with many different formats), and airing a podcast. TJ was one of the co-hosts of Elvis Duran and the Z100 Morning Show.

Every Voice with Terrance McKnight is new today from New York Public Radio’s WQXR. Hosted by Terrance McKnight, it spotlights marginalized voices in Western classical music. Launching during Black History Month, the debut season explores Black representation in opera. Expect interviews with performers and educators, historical documents, archival performance recordings, and McKnight’s signature style of personal storytelling.

Stuck with Damon Young returns with more off-the-cuff conversations inspired by today’s most culturally relevant headlines and round ups of Damon-approved listener-submitted questions. In the first episode of season 2, “Girls Trip” and “Scary Movie 5” director and filmmaker Malcolm D. Lee joins Damon to recount Super Bowl weekend. It’s a Spotify exclusive from Gimlet.