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October 12Maple Media buys the indie Castro app
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Exclusive: The Castro podcast app has been bought by Maple Media, according to its Apple App Store listing. Maple Media is a company that buys apps, and acquired Player FM in April 2020; acquired Podkicker in July 2020; and acquired Breaker in Feb 2022. Castro was acquired by Dustin Bluck in Jan 2024 from its previous owners, a VC company called Tiny. We've reached out to him for comment, but on a company blog, Bluck recently posted a reflective piece about independent podcast apps, which are - in his words - "dying".
Indie podcast apps are part of what makes podcasting great; but they do appear to be in decline. For a keynote at The Podcast Show London, Podnews analysed downloads in the UK for the last three years. In 2024, 38% of downloads were to independent podcast apps; by 2025 that had fallen to 36%; and in 2026, just 31% were to indie podcast apps. A cut of podcast ad revenue in return for better analytics might help - otherwise, the only differentiator for an indie app might just be ad-skipping.
It's emerged that Apple acqui-hired some of the team behind Huxe, an AI "podcast" app, in June. Huxe has closed, but its website is still visible - the service made "podcasts" from your email, calendar and anything else you wanted, and you could ask it to generate you a personal "podcast" about anything. If you think it sounds similar to Google's NotebookLM, you'd be right: Huxe was founded by former Google developers who worked on that project. Apple's deal lets them make job offers to specific employees, and allows them a licence to use the technology.
Former Guardian journalist Marina Hyde has partnered with Goalhanger's Goalhanger X division to launch a new platform called Always On. She will host a YouTube show, and will write on Substack. While she will continue to host The Rest is Entertainment, the release doesn't mention podcasting, other than suggesting that there may be "further audio formats" in the future. It's the first launch from Goalhanger X, which describes itself as "building creator-led media businesses around distinctive personalities - spanning publishing, video, social, audio, membership, live and IP, rather than being tied to a single platform."
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9 min
October 09A warning about podcast ad load?
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Exclusive: Podcast ad load is "flashing a yellow light", suggests new research. The Podcast Study 2026 will reveal in a webinar next Tuesday that the majority of podcast listeners - 54.8% - suggest that there are already too many ads in podcasts: and only 8.6% say that they would tolerate more ads to keep shows free. The research also suggests that social media is three times more effective at helping listeners find new podcasts than ads in other shows.
Joe Rogan has renewed his agreement with Spotify. He last renewed in Feb 2024, and the show returned to open RSS and YouTube shortly after (and also, we're told, started carrying midrolls at this time). The agreement is thought to be worth $250mn, a figure denied by Spotify last time round; but someone with knowledge of Rogan's numbers and the ad revenue he attracts suggests that it's a profitable deal for Spotify. Podscribe suggests recent shows have contained 15 ads (an 8% adload).
The winners of the International Women's Podcast Awards were announced. Presented by Tink Media, Freedom Needs a Soundtrack won two awards.
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5 min
October 08Online audio ad revenue to soar to $16.6bn this year
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May we have your help? While Apple Podcasts ratings and reviews don't affect the charts, they do affect traffic estimates from other companies. Could we have a decent rating or review for our daily and/or weekly shows in Apple Podcasts? (Our weekly show is even in video now!) We'd be very grateful. Thank you.
Global ad spend is to grow by 11.9% this year, according to new data from WARC Media. Online audio should grow +9.9% to $16.6bn globally this year, and a further +7.5% next year. The market research company also says that Amazon, Alphabet and Meta will take a combined market share of 59.7% of all ad revenue (excluding China).
Spotify is to expand access to audiobooks to make then virtually global, covering more than 180 markets. Some additional countries will get twelve hours of audiobooks free; however across much of Africa and Asia, access will require a paid add-on. Users will "find books next to their music and podcasts", reports TNW.
SiriusXM has signed Serialously and 10 to Life - two true crime shows from Annie Elise. They were with Audioboom.
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5 min
October 07Apple Podcasts highlights “Creators We Love” for Australia
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Apple Podcasts has published its 2026 edition of Creators We Love in Australia. The list is made to celebrate and spotlight the trailblazing Australian voices who bring Apple Podcasts to life. Apple Podcasts describe this year’s cohort as delivering "endless entertainment, mind-expanding education and deep community for their audiences". Shows are the ABC's All In The Mind, Mamamia's Mamamia Out Loud, Dyl & Friends from Clubby Sports, Steph and Laura from Shameless, and the indie show Pop Culture Parenting.
In June this year, Apple's list in the UK was all video shows, and all by Acast: promotion for a favoured format and a favoured publisher. At a time where Apple Podcasts is dropping country-specific recommendations, in our opinion it's a relief to see that Apple's new list in Australia is not merely a thinly-disguised promotion for a podcast publisher and format, and instead appears a genuine list of creators. Only one show is in video!
Selected creators get promotion within Apple Podcasts in Australia, and will be featured in Apple stores across the country. There is no promotion of these shows on paid-for media outside of Apple properties, however.
Only 2% of time listening to audio in a car is to podcasts, according to Canadian research. Signal Hill Insights released Audio on the Move, research showing that streaming services are rapidly catching up to AM/FM listening. One in four minutes spent listening to audio is done in a car in Canada.
The research also shows that only a tiny minority like AI-generated content, like podcasts or music.
Ausha launched video distribution to Apple Podcasts. The podcast host also supports YouTube.
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5 min
October 06Brand suitability for Amazon Ads DVA+
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First look: Barometer announced a brand suitability solution for Amazon Ads DVA+. Advertisers can activate Barometer's pre-bid brand suitability, to check that every podcast episode meets advertiser brand guidelines.
Amazon Ads DVA+ is a new way to produce display, video and audio campaigns, all in one place. Advertisers typically require brand suitability data to avoid putting their ads next to content they don't want to be associated with.
WME launched its own "Creator Labs", described as an in-house digital operations team that helps creators build and scale their businesses on YouTube and elsewhere. There are eleven people on the team.
Tomorrow, Oxford Road will run "The Deal Room" - a podcast upfront that isn't afraid to actually sell, according to CEO Dan Granger.
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4 min
October 05Podcast network Fable and Folly is to close
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The audio fiction podcast network Fable and Folly is to close at the end of this year. The network blames a change in podcast advertising for its closure. However, the network says: "The shows you love aren't going away; they're just heading to new homes. Through the end of the year, we're helping our producers migrate their shows and connect with new hosting and advertising partners, so the series you follow can keep going strong."
After we revealed that Apple Podcasts has dropped country-specific editorial in favour of an algorithmic selection, today we carry one example that shows the difference: it was National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada last week. Unlike in March 2025, when Apple Podcasts ran a "Made in Canada" initiative, last week only one indigenous-made podcast was promoted by Apple Podcasts in Canada: from the not-entirely-unknown CBC.
Apple Podcasts might suggest that human curation remains at the heart of what they do - and that it's good news for creators since they can reach wider audiences than before because they're no longer locally-targeted. However, in our opinion, this is a loss to local producers: and belies a lack of understanding from Apple Podcasts about who pays for podcasting - since in many cases, sponsorship and branded content are sold on a country-by-country basis, where country-specific targeting is vital.
What would the happy couple like for a wedding present? How about a podcast? Will Coley produces podcasts that focus on a couple's relationship and upcoming wedding; in this piece from The New York Times, he explains how he makes the shows.
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6 min
October 02Apple Podcasts algorithm drops country-specific curation
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Apple Podcasts has always had an impressive set of region-specific editorial content, ensuring that locally-made shows, among other relevant podcasts, have been promoted to audiences. Until now. Podnews has learnt from multiple sources - amid increasing industry frustration - that Apple Podcasts is no longer showing a country-based editorially-curated view to users in the "Home" and "New" sections in the Apple Podcasts app. Instead, Apple is showing an algorithmic view for each user, designed to follow what the company calls user types: and no longer containing content that has been targeted by country.
One Podnews reader in Canada sent us a view of their signed-in Apple Podcasts "New" section, which no longer contains any Canadian-produced shows above the fold - and noting that colleagues and friends all had different shows in this view. This is in spite of threatened Canadian content laws which would require a certain percentage of Canadian-made shows to appear in podcast apps. It's not just a Canadian thing - Podnews's Editor notes that in his "new" section, there isn't a single piece of Australian content promoted to him, but instead highlighting promoted shows adjacent to what he already listens to. We understand that all Apple Podcasts users now get an algorithmic view.
The new algorithmic approach removes what Apple Podcasts was uniquely good at: locally knowledgeable teams highlighting serendipitous shows that were locally and culturally relevant. It was a unique editorial part of Apple Podcasts that benefited both listeners and content creators. One producer tells us that "with this shift, Apple becomes just another platform that serves each user's echo chamber of taste." Another producer suggested that the algorithmic suggestions are fine, but the older country-specific content was valuable. “Why not show both?”
For creators that pitch new shows for highlighting in Apple Podcasts, the changes are especially troublesome. Apple's podcast feature request form was changed in June or July - though Apple Podcasts hasn't updated the page that links to it - and it no longer contains a way to target a geographical audience. "It's all global now," says one producer to us, having confirmed this new behaviour with Apple directly. Another podcast producer in the UK tells Podnews that, due to this algorithmic view, it’s no longer possible to even know whether a show has been selected for promotion.
Apple Podcasts gave us a statement, made on background, suggesting in effect that nothing's changed, and that the company's editorial approach remains consistent. The statement is at odds with what the company has directly told producers, and what's visible in the app. It seems a curious own goal: as a podcast producer in Canada tells us, "I now get more Canadian recommendations in Spotify".
The winners of the British Podcast Awards were announced. The industry’s top prize, Podcast of the Year, was awarded to Prison Radio Association’s Hold or Fold, which also took home Best Factual Podcast. Bill Nighy was crowned Best Host.
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5 min
October 01Reach of podcasts stays steady: The Podcast Landscape 2026
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Sounds Profitable's Podcast Landscape 2026 was released. Overall reach of podcasts remains steady at 74% of all Americans; but 34% of podcast consumers say they started consuming podcasts within the past year, up from 28% in 2025. As we heard at Podcast Movement a few weeks ago, in its first year carrying podcasts, Netflix was named by 21% of podcast consumers as a platform they had used in the past 12 months, placing it third behind YouTube (63%) and Spotify (33%), and ahead of Apple Podcasts (15%).
The winners of the Black Podcasting Awards were announced. The special occasion celebrated 66 award wins across 57 categories, earned by 44 podcasts, spanning comedy, true crime, business, faith, and everything in between. The Legend Award was won by Kevin Y Brown; we've a full list of the winners.
Oxford Road published the top performing shows for B2B advertising campaigns. It reminds us that listeners don't just listen to business podcasts - and that you need to find them based on what they listen to, rather than merely the subject of the podcast.
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4 min
September 30Podcast Movement NYC puts all sessions online
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Happy International Podcast Day! Podigee has shared a short film, The Voice Carries to celebrate podcasts, the people who make them, and to everyone who listens.
Just in time for International Podcast Day, Podcast Movement has posted the sessions from Podcast Movement NYC, now available for free. There are 82 different sessions to watch, from every stage at the event. Next year, Podcast Week NYC will be held Sep 13-17; Podcast Movement Evolutions is Mar 15-16 at SXSW.
Podcast hosting company Podigee released what it calls a "fundamentally redesigned platform" to celebrate International Podcast Day, with audio and video recording, full video distribution, and advanced analytics. The company is wholly based in the EU, and follows European privacy rules.
In the UK, Radiocentre released Sounds Profits, a piece of research showing that by diverting a small amount of existing adspend away from PPC or paid social towards audio, you can increase your total campaign ROI significantly. The research also shows that audio can increase brand trust, so other parts of campaigns work better.
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Image: Podcast Movement 2026
6 min
September 29Was Inception Point AI just a PR stunt?
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Exclusive: Inception Point AI's thousands of AI-made podcasts could just have been a publicity stunt, according to a new episode of The Lead Balloon podcast, to be released today. CEO Jeanine Wright is interviewed on the show, saying that some publicity was "a PR strategy to get attention". We learn that the Quiet Please network now only has 300 active shows, which they're no longer trying to monetise. Wright tells Podnews that "the catalog itself was never a stunt, and we never chased volume for publicity." Also in Lead Balloon she gives a definition of AI slop: folks "using AI tools to make as much content as they can with as little expense as possible, in order to be able to monetize the delta." Sounds familiar. The company is now branded as Liquid Studios, which now suggests that it "transforms existing content, not generates from a blank page".
The biggest podcast advertiser is going international - BetterHelp has appointed Media Bodies to focus on international podcast advertising. Media Bodies will work alongside BetterHelp to develop, launch and scale campaigns across 10 international markets, combining global strategy and performance data with local market expertise.
The Apple iPhone might not be giving your headphones the best audio quality - because it doesn't support the latest Bluetooth audio codecs. A new Bluetooth dongle from Questyle could unlock better audio quality - and also much lower latency, which might be useful for recording podcasts without the delay you get with a normal Bluetooth connection.
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Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Beehiiv, Podbean, The $100 MBA, Cloud10, The Podglomerate, audioBoom, Sounds Profitable, The Content Creator's Accountant, RedCircle, Magid, Audiohook, Podscribe, Scicomm Media, Libsyn, Simplecast, PAVE Studios, Cohost, Jar Podcast Solutions, Awesound, We Edit Podcasts, Podpage websites, Acast
Silver supporters: Audacia Audio, Gamut Podcast Network, Bumper, Sounds Debatable, True Native Media, Nomono, Magellan AI, Castbox, Podium, iono.fm, Locked On Podcast Network, Blubrry, Red Seat Ventures, PodAnalyst, Podium , Jonekiri, Hypecast, SoundStack, Companion Arts, Voxtopica, Tink Media, Frequency, Compliance Podcast Network, Truefans, POW PR, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Ausha, The Podcast Haven, Podcast Movement, Health Podcast Library, Diversion Podcasts, Jam Street Media, Lemonada Media, Transistor, Double Elvis Productions, Rhapsody Voices, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Headliner, CreatorX, Rephonic, Content10x, Podcast Partnership, Cleanfeed, Lower Street, School of Podcasting, Podigy, Adopter Media, Revolver Podcasts, Signal Hill Insights
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Image: Podcast Show London 2026
5 min

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