Sounds Profitable

This week in the business of podcasting: Newsletter and blogging platform beehiiv has launched integrated podcast hosting and monetization services, with CEO Tyler Denk positioning podcasts as a core product pillar alongside its newsletter tools and IAB certification now underway. Sounds Profitable's new research report The Last Quarter finds that the 25% of Americans who have never listened to a...

This week in the business of podcasting: Ben Robins shares his takeaways from Advertising Week Europe, arguing the podcast advertising industry is data-rich but insight poor. Sounds Profitable's Tom Webster will debut the 2026 UK Advertising Landscape Study at The Podcast Show London in May. Spotify has launched interactive carousel ads and branded playlist takeovers for advertisers, adding A/B te...

Podcast holdouts aren’t missing content. They’re missing a signal strong enough to cut through the platforms they already use—and moderate voices can’t generate that signal. Why do politically moderate and center-right Americans make up a disproportionate share of podcast holdouts, even as right-leaning shows dominate the charts? Data from The Last Quarter reveals that the gap isn't about ideology...

This week in the business of podcasting: Beehiiv Enters Podcasting: Newsletter platform Beehiiv is quietly recruiting independent podcasters from Substack to join its upcoming podcast program, with a full launch expected this week. Podnews Weekly Review will feature an exclusive interview with Beehiiv CEO Tyler Denk this Friday. JAR Podcast Solutions Launches JAR Replay: JAR Replay is a new podcas...

This week in the business of podcasting: Podcast Movement Evolutions at SXSW 2026 recordings are now live: The official Podcast Movement YouTube channel has published a playlist of 25 session videos, ranging from 10-minute Discovery Track talks to full 50-minute panels. Japan podcast listenership is growing, especially among younger audiences: An annual survey by Otonal and The Asahi Shimbun found...

This week in the business of podcasting: Apple launched its new HLS video experience for Apple Podcasts with the iOS 26.4 update, bringing full video podcast support to iPhones — with hosting platforms Podspace, Riverside, Ausha, and Firstory joining the growing list of supported services. Sounds Profitable's Tom Webster debuts new research on podcasting's "last quarter" — the 25% of American adul...

Today in the business of podcasting: Apple Podcasts Video Launch: Apple released iOS 18.4 with HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) support for Apple Podcasts video, with 48 podcasts available at launch including 31 hosted on Acast, though macOS and Apple TV support is not yet available. FIFA World Cup 2026 Podcast Advertising Opportunity: With $10.5 billion in incremental global ad spend forecast during the...

Today in the business of podcasting... Podcast Audience Growth & Non-Listener Research: Tom Webster's new Podcast Landscape data reveals that the 25% of U.S. adults who have never listened to a podcast are best reached via YouTube and Facebook, and respond better to topic-driven messaging than format or technology-focused promotion. Apple Podcasts HLS Video Distribution Update: Apple's iOS 26....

Click here to read the report. A look at who makes up the 25% of U.S. adults who have never consumed a podcast.  Tom Webster examines the 25% of U.S. adults who have never listened to a podcast, drawing on data from a 5,000-person Podcast Landscape study. The holdouts skew older, female, and lower-income, with key barriers including lack of awareness, format misperceptions, and limited word-o...

Today in the business of podcasting... Spotify Layoffs Hit Podcast Division: Spotify cut 15 employees from its podcasting sector this week, with The Ringer and Spotify Studios bearing the brunt of the reductions — and New York, New York With John Jastremski being canceled. If the news has you thinking about your next move, the Sounds Profitable job board is free to use and updated daily with new p...

Today in the business of podcasting: Podcasting Outperforms Other Media for Brand Reach and Attention – A new Acast and Nielsen survey of 3,500 UK adults found that adding podcast advertising to a media mix boosts brand consideration 33% more than radio alone, with podcast ads also outperforming live TV, BVOD, and streaming video in both campaign reach and audience credibility. Goalhanger Launches...

This week in the business of podcasting: Apple Podcasts announced new HLS video hosting partners at Podcast Movement Evolutions, including Transistor, PodBean, Captivate, RSS.com and others. John Spurlock estimates the full iOS 26.4, including HLS video support, rollout should land between March 25 and March 30. Sounds Profitable Partner and Podcast Movement President Bryan Barletta recaps Evoluti...

Today in the business of podcasting: • Podnews reports Apple Podcasts' HLS video update is expected to arrive with iOS 26.4, with a release candidate already posted. John Spurlock estimates a launch window of March 25 to March 30, greeting users with a splash screen highlighting the new video podcasting features. • A new Nielsen Audio Today report finds podcasts add 5.6% incremental reach on top o...

Bryan Barletta reflects on Podcast Movement Evolutions’ first year at SXSW and what it means for the industry going forward. Podcast Movement Evolutions made its debut at SXSW in Austin, bringing the podcast industry to the center of the global creator economy conversation with keynotes from YouTube and Apple, live recordings, and top creators like Steven Bartlett, Tim Ferriss, and Hala Taha. From...

Today in the business of podcasting: Amazon Ads and Spotify have partnered to give Australian advertisers programmatic access to Spotify's audio and video inventory through Amazon DSP, combining Amazon's shopping and streaming data with Spotify's 751 million monthly listeners for full-funnel campaign planning in a single solution. Tom Fox argues rural podcasters are positioned to fill the civic vo...

Today in the business of podcasting: Table Read, a fiction podcast featuring award-winning actors performing unproduced film and TV scripts, completed its first-ever live recording at Podcast Movement Evolutions last week. Jack Levy has a new essay reflecting on how consistency and execution can elevate something from a tool to a medium all of its own. AdsWizz's Dave Sosson makes the case that aud...

Today in the business of podcasting: Apple Podcasts announced new HLS video hosting partners at Podcast Movement Evolutions, including Transistor, PodBean, Captivate, RSS.com and others, and marked its first ever official appearance at a North American podcast conference with a keynote from executives Stacey Goers and Jake Shapiro. Podcast Movement confirmed Evolutions will return to SXSW in 2027,...

This week in the business of podcasting: Podcast Movement Evolutions has taken over SKYBOX on 6th at SXSW 2026 through Sunday, with no badge or ticket required, featuring live tapings tonight from Table Read, Scalable Podcast, and Broken Record with special guest Maya Hawke, and tomorrow night's Companion Presents: In Good Company event with Penn Badgley and a headliner set from Andy Grammer. Soun...

Today in the business of podcasting: Sounds Profitable's Bryan Barletta argues the big picture of Apple Podcasts' HLS announcement. It's less about video podcasting and more about what happens when an open standard connects a public app to multiple distribution hubs, potentially opening the door for rights holders in other industries to consider similar RSS-inspired methods. A new Acast Podcast Pu...

Today in the business of podcasting: Podcast Movement Evolutions kicks off this Friday at SKYBOX on 6th in Austin, a free three-day event with 400-person capacity plus overflow, featuring curated panels, live performances (inclduing live Scalable podcast recording on Friday at 7:15 p.m). Libsyn reports 2025 as a record year for creator payouts, with ad impressions up 46% year over year to 4.5 bill...

Let’s look at what upgrading video on Apple Podcasts means for podcasting as an industry. Apple Podcasts is rolling out support for HTTP Live Streaming (HLS). Bryan Barletta breaks down what HLS actually is, how it handles video, audio, and dynamic ad delivery through HLS Interstitials, and what it means to have early buy-in from hosting platforms like  Acast, Amazon’s ART19, Triton’s Omny St...

Today in the business of podcasting: Podbean has pulled its dynamic ad insertion tool PodAds from the U.K., Europe, and EEA, citing evolving global privacy regulations and a shift in internal product focus. Bumper's Jonas Woost shares data from over 100,000 podcast episodes, showing audiences on Apple Podcasts and Spotify listen to 76% of a podcast episode on average. Elis James and John Robins is...

Today in the business of podcasting: Digiday examines long-form creator content's push onto television screens, highlighting Spotter's New York upfront event and moves by Audiochuck and Universal's UCP to develop podcast IP for TV — with brands still needing convincing to shift ad budgets to match audience engagement. RSS.com co-founder Alberto Betella argues the real issue with AI in podcasting i...

Today in the business of podcasting: Podcast Movement Evolutions at SXSW adds Penn Badgley and SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin to its lineup, with Oxford Road and founding sponsor Libsyn hosting the inaugural Indie PaC Awards on Sunday, and Spotify marking its 20th birthday with keynotes and a star-studded concert hosted at Stubb's BBQ. Tom Webster argues that coverage of a new Edison Research Shar...

Today in the business of podcasting: Sounds Profitable's Tom Webster pushes back on the idea podcasting has "finally" caught AM/FM radio in spoken-word listening share, arguing the milestone already passed. Share of Ear's audio-focused methodology leaves out the many hours of spoke-word consumed as podcasts people primarily watch. Frequency and Flightpath announce a partnership integrating Flightp...