Podcasts in YouTube make it to the UK

• Podcasts are launching on YouTube Music in the UK today, the second-largest podcast market in the world. We’re told there will be a podcasts destination page within the YouTube Music app (normally pre-installed on all modern Android phones). The company also reaffirmed that “Later this year, we’ll offer support for creators to directly submit their RSS feeds to YouTube to distribute their audio podcasts.” YouTube UK Lead Alison Lomax said: “We’re thrilled to be launching podcasts in the UK on YouTube Music. Podcasts have soared in popularity in recent years among all age groups, particularly Gen Z users, and there is clearly an appetite for this longer–form audio visual content.”

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  • YouTube also launched Primetime Channels within the UK, a way to watch premium content from content partners like Paramount+.

• Apple Podcasts has posted advice on producing kids-first podcast content. In selected countries, the Kids & Family page within Apple Podcasts is curated for Apple by Common Sense Media, a non-profit.

• Skye Pillsbury reports that WNYC’s Death, Sex & Money, “a juggernaut show that helped establish WNYC as a force within podcasting”, has been cancelled. Production ends in January. Anna Sale says “I am working with the company to find a new partner or home for our show long-term”.

• Somethin’Else, the podcast and radio producer bought by Sony Music Entertainment in 2021, is to pull out of making 18 different radio shows for the BBC. The Media Podcast reported that other programme producers have also pulled out, saying that BBC production budgets - at a reported £800 for a two-hour music show - are too small to be viable.

• Bloomberg has added bonus content for subscribers on Apple Podcasts.

• AppStories, a podcast about Apple apps, has discontinued its Apple Podcasts paid subscription. “We just decided we didn’t need the distraction of having that extra layer of subscriptions that might confuse some people. And not that many people were taking advantage of it through the Apple Podcasts app in any event.”

• Broadway Podcast Network has signed with Sounder for monetisation, analytics and targeting tools.

Tips and tricks - with Spotify for Podcasters

By publishing your podcast on Spotify, you’re tapping into a global audience of over 500 million listeners. With new impression analytics in Spotify for Podcasters, you can now see exclusive insights about how and where your show gets discovered. Find the total number of impressions for both your show and the individual episodes over a 30-day period, with trending data and a breakdown of where on Spotify the impressions came from. Find out how to engage new listeners, and get more in-depth data to understand your active listeners and grow your show — no matter where it’s hosted.

• Ausha walk you through how to use a RØDE Podcaster microphone.
• Headliner gives SEO advice if you want your podcast to be more visible in YouTube.

People News

• Craig Strachan has been promoted to Global Head of Podcast Industry at Amazon Music. He was Head of Podcasts for Europe/ANZ, and has been with Amazon since 2016.
• Jen Oldershaw has been hired as Lead of ABC listen, the ABC’s radio, podcast and audiobook app.
• Congratulations to Todd Cochrane, who, this week, has been podcasting for 19 years.

Podcast News

The new host of Slate’s How To! is Courtney E. Martin, an award-winning journalist and author. She also co-founded both the Solutions Journalism Network and FRESH Speakers Bureau. Courtney joins as a co-host with Carvell Wallace, who has been hosting the show since January of this year. Her first episode is out today: How To Be Single (And Still Find Love)

In Canada, The Globe and Mail has launched In Her Defence, a narrative podcast from one of Canada’s most renowned true crime writers, Jana G. Pruden. It tells the story of Helen Naslund, a woman who was sentenced in 2020 to 18 years in prison for killing her husband — a husband who violently abused her for 3 decades.

Rescue is new today from Sony Music Entertainment - a new podcast about the world’s most astonishing rescue stories. It’s hosted by survival expert Donny Dust, who guides us through stirring and life-affirming accounts of both collective and individual acts of heroism.

From The News Movement and Persephonica, Noted launched last week. Hosted by Mary Mandefield, it’s a weekly podcast series that will make sense of the biggest talking points in news and culture. It’s aimed at Gen Z audiences, and is built with an accessible tone and appropriate sound design.

Today is World Homeless Day, and homelessness charity Emmaus launches a new season of its podcast, Homelessness Matters. The new season encourages listeners to look beyond individual experiences and discover how larger factors in society can lead to people becoming homeless.

Out To Lunch came back for a new season last week - with a brand new host, Ade Edmondson. You’ll know him for The Young Ones, though he was also in a Star Wars film, it turns out. Ade takes guests like Ed Byrne, Chrissie Hynde and Reece Shearsmith, Bridget Christie, Daisy Haggard, Nigel Planer and Tony Visconti to a restaurant of his choosing, and learns more about them.