YouTube rolls out podcast tab, as Headliner generates 1.7mn

• YouTube’s “podcast” tab, which we reported on Monday, appears to have globally rolled out as promised in its apps (iOS and Android). Here’s what it looks like. Meanwhile, Headliner has now generated more than 1.7mn full episode audiograms to places like YouTube. The company produces audiograms including automated uploading.

• Podtrac’s ranker is out for March. iHeartPodcasts is still “#1 for podcasts”, though total downloads are down 8.3% total downloads are up 8.3%. Wondery at #2 is up 8.1%; and NPR at #3 is up 9.3%. (March has 10% more days in it than February - three more weekdays this year).

  • The highest new entry in Podtrac’s top podcast list, for US audiences, is the Murdaugh Murders Podcast from Luna Shark, at #16
  • Podtrac measures participating publishers only, and doesn’t measure either Spotify’s podcast studios nor SiriusXM.

(Edit: We do apologise for reading the maths wrong.)

• Data: Vividata has released the Spring 2023 SCC | Study of the Canadian Consumer. The data claims 29% of Canadians (8.9mn) listen to podcasts each week, up from 22% in 2021; and listeners spend nearly an hour listening to podcasts per day. (Canadian radio? 78% reach, 1.8 hours a day).

• Comedy podcast network Starburns Audio has closed, reports Ashley Carman in Soundbite. A “significant drop in advertising revenue” was to blame.

• The IAB has announced the agenda for the 2023 IAB Podcast Upfront. It’s on May 11, in New York NY, USA and virtual.

Moves and hires

• Gavin Gaddis has been promoted to Head of Content at Sounds Profitable. They have worked for the company since Feb 2022.

Podcast News

After winning many awards as a radio series on the BBC World Service until 2019, Catherine Carr’s Where Are You Going? is back with creators Loftus Media for a new season of the show with a simple premise: asking people one question and seeing where it goes. Catherine explained how the show works in 2019 in a short, ten minute presentation in London’s Next Radio.

The Podnews Weekly Review this week has interviews with Acast’s Lizzy Pollott and the Birmingham Podcast Festival’s Nina Robinson, as well as a look into the week’s podcast news.

From Glassbox Media, Mega launches this Sunday - a satirical and humorous take on religious critique for both believers and non-believers. If you enjoyed the original series of “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill”, this should be a perfect listen.

The hosts of The Book Case, Kate and Charlie Gibson, were live on Good Morning America yesterday talking about their latest season and how this week they’re exploring the business boom of audiobooks.

In Dutch, Door de ogen van de Koning - “Through the eyes of the King” - is a ten-episode podcast on Acast that looks back at King Willem-Alexander’s ten years on the throne of The Netherlands.

If the podcasts we mention here have trailers, then New Podcast Trailers is where to find them: updated every day with new and interesting shows to listen to. If you have a long weekend this weekend, snuggle down with a new podcast - you never know, you might find a new favourite.