The Download

Netflix has hired Steve Wilson, a fifteen-year Apple Podcasts veteran, to lead podcast content acquisition, starting as a consultant. The hire arrives alongside a reported layoff of roughly six percent at Netflix. This episode looks at what the move signals about Netflix's podcast strategy and what it could mean for the people who make and sell shows. Host Reid Mercer works through two questions:...

Spotify is launching paid podcast memberships, and creators reportedly keep 90 percent of the revenue. In this episode, host Reid Mercer looks past the headline to ask what that split leaves out, starting with what Spotify actually launched: memberships that let creators sell exclusive content and perks for recurring payments, including ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content. The episo...

This episode revisits the reported Jay Shetty deal with Netflix and Spotify, which Forbes, citing Bloomberg, said was worth up to $100M, and asks what a buyer is actually paying for when a video podcast moves into an exclusive window. Host Reid Mercer treats it as a briefing rather than breaking news, built around two questions: what is being bought, and whether the benchmark used to price these d...

Amazon Ads is adding Barometer's episode-level brand suitability technology to its DVA+ platform, as reported by Insideradio on October 6. This episode of The Download, hosted by Reid Mercer, reads past the headline to look at what Amazon is assembling in podcast advertising: audio supply, creator networks, video distribution and a suitability layer that may decide which inventory gets bought. For...

U.S. podcast advertising hit $2.86 billion in 2025, up 17.6% year over year according to the IAB and PwC's Internet Advertising Revenue Report. Host Reid Mercer digs beneath that headline number to ask whether the growth is spread evenly across the market or concentrated in a small slice of premium inventory while everyone else competes for what's left. This episode breaks down the CPM split betwe...

This episode of The Download examines three separate deals that reveal where new capital is entering podcast audio right now, and why they point to two very different buyers with two very different motives. Host Reid Mercer breaks down James Murdoch's acquisition of a legacy podcast and media bundle, OpenAI's emergence as a serious podcast advertiser, and a fresh round of talent deals that suggest...

This episode breaks down the nine-figure deal that moved Jay Shetty's "On Purpose" off iHeartMedia and into a new home, and what it signals about the shifting economics of premium podcast talent. Host Reid Mercer walks through the audience and revenue trends behind the bidding war, reveals who actually won the deal, and unpacks a separate ownership dispute that shows what happens when talent agree...

SiriusXM's Q1 2026 numbers look strong on the surface: net income up 20% to $245 million, podcast ad revenue surging 37%, and a new YouTube ad-rep deal positioned as a structural edge over Spotify. This episode digs into why a company with results like these would still need a defensive play, and uncovers the bigger story sitting underneath the earnings headline. Listeners will get the details on...

Three unrelated headlines turn out to be one story. This episode connects James Murdoch's Lupa Systems acquisition of New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network, SiriusXM's Q2 revenue report, and Audacy's new exclusive sales deal with MeidasTouch Network to reveal what's really driving value in audio right now: the ad server infrastructure underneath the content. Host Reid Mercer breaks d...

This week on The Download, Reid Mercer follows the money behind four stories that look like culture headlines but read like balance-sheet decisions. The episode breaks down Martha Stewart's move to Netflix, Gary Neville's Disney+ pickup, and Netflix's Rest is Football renewal as variations on the same licensing pattern, then turns to SXSW's new 2027 Podcast Festival, a midterm-driven surge in poli...

This week on The Download, Reid Mercer follows the money behind podcasting's fast-moving headlines. He breaks down Magellan AI's Q2 numbers showing a record ad load and a 23% jump in podcast ad spend, then questions whether iHeart's revenue surge is really a podcast story or a video business wearing a podcast label. From there, he examines a quiet change to how YouTube counts a "view" and what it...

This week on The Download, Reid Mercer breaks down Spotify's new Premium ad-skip test, iHeartMedia's licensing deal with Disney+ and Hulu, and a wave of high-profile podcast launches from Obama, Joe Budden, and Joe Rogan. He closes with a look at July's ad-spend data and what it signals for the rest of 2026. Listeners will learn why the skip-button controversy is really a measurement problem for h...

Reid Mercer breaks down the 2026 Forbes highest-paid podcasters list and argues the real story isn't the paycheck but who owns the audience. From Kelce's training-camp timing to Jay Shetty's nine-figure deal and Joe Budden's independent bet, this episode follows the money through talent economics, owned distribution land grabs, and a video ad market that may not add up the way it's reported. Liste...

On this episode of The Download, Reid Mercer follows four stories that all trace back to where money is moving in podcasting. He opens with Comscore's new transcript-intelligence integration across Spotify, Acast, Sirius, and Triton, stress-testing the claim that podcast ads can finally buy like CTV against past standardization promises that fell short. From there, Reid connects Podium's rebrand a...

This week on The Download, Reid Mercer examines what the audio and podcasting industry is revealing through its actions rather than its talking points. The episode covers Netflix's carefully worded enthusiasm for video podcasts, the celebrity-driven talent rush reshaping the space, the concentration risk hiding behind steady podcast ad spend numbers, and a major shift in how audiences discover new...

Reid Mercer flies solo this week to follow the money across podcasting's biggest stories. He breaks down Prince William's surprise New Heights appearance timed to Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift's wedding, questions Shopify's third straight month atop the podcast ad spend rankings, and reframes Mel Robbins' Cannes AI talk around the real story of audience-data ownership. He also digs into new Edison...

This episode of The Download covers the business and strategic implications behind the week's biggest podcast industry moves—from distribution deals and ad tech data to AI-driven discovery and network liability exposure. Reid cuts through the surface-level headlines to identify what each development actually means for network executives, ad buyers, and creators. Whether you run a podcast portfolio...

This episode of The Download works through four major stories shaping the podcast industry right now: audience discovery data, Netflix's expanding content partnerships, the state of podcast advertising, and what a decade of vertical-focused network building actually produces. Host Reid Mercer cuts through the optimistic framing on each story to surface what the numbers actually suggest for network...

This episode breaks down four intersecting stories shaping the business of podcasting: the Netflix and iHeartMedia celebrity deal expansion, competing models in talent dealmaking, Spotify's redefinition of what counts as a play, and the arrival of AI-driven production tools that could reprice the entire industry. Reid Mercer examines each story through a structural lens rather than a headline one....

This episode of The Download examines four developments reshaping podcast business models, all converging on a single question: what is a podcast audience actually worth in 2026? Host Reid Mercer works through the week's most consequential stories for anyone in podcast media, advertising, or content strategy. From new measurement standards to platform video deals to talent announcements, Reid cuts...

This episode of The Download covers four of the most consequential stories shaping the podcast industry right now: James Murdoch's reported $300 million move on Vox Media's podcast unit and New York Magazine, the accelerating rise of AI-generated content in podcast catalogs, iHeart's Q1 earnings and the structural measurement gap undermining advertiser confidence, and new research from the Reuters...

This week on The Download, host Reid Mercer breaks down four stories that, taken together, reveal a podcast industry under real structural pressure. The episode covers the unprecedented Netflix-Spotify joint acquisition of Jay Shetty's On Purpose, YouTube's crossing of one billion monthly podcast viewers, a 79% surge in non-US podcast ad spending, and the formation of an industry taskforce to defi...

This episode covers the biggest business stories shaping the podcast industry right now: a $9.2 billion global revenue milestone, James Murdoch's reported $300 million acquisition of the Vox Media Podcast Network and New York Magazine, simultaneous AI podcast launches from Spotify and Amazon, and two very different celebrity audio plays from the Jonas Brothers and LeBron James. Rather than taking...

This episode covers the wave of platform and infrastructure moves reshaping the podcast industry, from Amazon turning Alexa+ into an on-demand AI podcast generator to Paramount and HBO Max entering serious talks about podcast acquisitions as a streaming retention strategy. Listeners will come away with a clearer read on which industry moves are structural and which are cosmetic, including why iHea...

This week on The Download, host Reid Mercer breaks down a packed news cycle that signals the audio industry is growing in scale and maturing as a prestige medium — all at the same time. From SiriusXM's Q1 earnings to a historic Pulitzer Prize win, from video podcast infrastructure to AI-generated content flooding the feed, Reid connects the dots between headlines and what they mean for advertisers...