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The South African Podcast Guild is a vibrant community of over 300 independent podcasters in South Africa. Founded by Paolo Diaz, the Guild aims to help local podcasters gain exposure and grow their shows through partnerships, collaboration, and shared resources. With a focus on accessibility and inclusivity, the Guild offers both free and low-cost membership tiers, making it open to creators of all backgrounds.

Beyond just providing a supportive network, the Guild is also working to address key challenges facing the South African podcasting landscape. This includes exploring ways to monetize shows, tapping into local language and niche content opportunities, and leveraging partnerships with larger media companies. With rapid growth in its first year, the South African Podcast Guild is positioning itself as a driving force for the continued development of the local podcasting industry.

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Sam Sethi is joined by Sandy Wilheim from YouTube to discuss how podcasts are being integrated and consumed on the platform. They cover topics like the unique storytelling format of podcasts, the growing preference for video-based podcasts among younger audiences, the importance of data and analytics for creators, and the various monetization opportunities available to podcasters on YouTube. 

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The Ambies are the premier awards for excellence in audio, celebrating the best in podcasting. Hosted by the Podcast Academy, the Ambies are open to submissions from podcasters around the world, with categories spanning fiction, non-fiction, and more. The 2025 Ambies ceremony will take place on March 31st in Chicago, in conjunction with Podcast Movement. Podcasters are encouraged to submit their best work before the November 22nd deadline, with members of the Podcast Academy receiving discounts on submissions. The awards aim to recognize outstanding talent and creativity in the rapidly growing podcast industry, regardless of the size or location of the production.

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Gautam Raj Anand announces the launch of the fourth edition of the HupHopper Podcast Awards. The awards aim to recognize and shed light on podcast creators, especially from emerging markets that often receive less recognition. The awards will have eight categories, and entries are free for any podcast that has released at least one episode in the past year and has a minimum of five published episodes. This year, the awards are expanding beyond the Indian market to include other Asian regions, and they are also accepting YouTube and video podcasts in addition to audio podcasts. Anand explains the history and motivation behind the awards, which started in 2020 to support creators during the COVID-19 pandemic when many were struggling to monetize their shows. He also discusses the current state of the podcast industry in India, including the recent closure of the Wynk Music platform, the role of Amazon and YouTube, and the challenges around the evolving definition of what constitutes a "podcast."

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Ross Adams, the CEO of Acast, takes Sam Sethi through the company's recent international consumption report.

Press Release: https://podnews.net/press-release/consumerism  

The podcast industry is experiencing continued growth, with emerging markets like India, Brazil, and Singapore seeing particularly high engagement and time spent with podcasts. Podcast hosts are building strong relationships with their audiences, leading to higher purchasing rates from podcast listeners compared to other media. While younger audiences are gravitating towards video podcasts and short-form content on platforms like YouTube, the transcript suggests that podcasting is becoming a new "radio" for Gen Z, with listeners consuming long-form audio content in the background. The report from Acast, a podcast hosting and advertising company, highlights the importance of cross-platform, omnichannel strategies to reach diverse podcast audiences, as well as the value of contextual advertising based on transcribed podcast content. Overall, the podcast industry appears poised for further expansion, with opportunities for creators and advertisers to capitalize on growing global listenership.

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Mark Asquith, the CEO and co-founder of Captivate, discusses the company's new AI tool called Spark AI. Spark AI is integrated into the Captivate platform and aims to be the most useful podcasting AI assistant available. It offers features like episode title suggestions, show note generation, transcript creation, and ad placement recommendations. Spark AI also allows users to customize personas and generate fresh episode ideas based on the user's analytics and industry trends. Asquith emphasizes that Spark AI is designed to be a complementary tool for creators, not a replacement for human input. The tool is priced affordably, with only a charge for the transcription service, and is available to all Captivate users.

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In this conversation, Carl Fridsjö, the co-founder and CEO of the Swedish podcasting platform Podspace, discusses the company's focus on revenue optimization and workflow efficiency for large enterprise publishers. Podspace has been growing rapidly, having raised 10 million Swedish krona in funding last year and recently hiring a trio of high-profile executives from Spotify to lead its expansion efforts. While Podspace is currently focused on audio, it is monitoring the development of video podcasting and is open to incorporating it if the market demands it. The conversation also touches on the thriving entrepreneurial environment in Sweden, which has produced successful tech companies like Spotify and Klarna, and how Podspace aims to capitalize on this by expanding to new markets, particularly the United States. Overall, the discussion highlights Podspace's ambitious growth plans and its unique positioning in the competitive podcasting platform landscape.

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We asked Google's Notebook LM - https://blog.google/technology/ai/notebooklm-audio-overviews/ - to read our article on how to understand podcast stats - https://podnews.net/article/understanding-podcast-statistics - and make a "lively deep-dive discussion" on it.

It's (whisper it) quite good. And weird.

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Steve Pratt, author of the new book "Earn It: Unconventional Strategies for Brave Marketers", joins Sam Sethi of the Podnews Weekly Review to discuss the importance of earning attention in the modern digital landscape. Pratt argues that traditional interruption-based marketing tactics no longer work, and that brands must create unique, valuable content that audiences actively want to engage with. He shares insights on measuring audience attention through metrics like completion rates and first-minute effectiveness, and provides examples of companies like Oatly and Red Bull that have successfully captured attention through innovative, branded content. Pratt emphasizes the need for a mindset shift, where marketers and creators focus on delivering value and building long-term relationships with their audience, rather than short-term reach and impressions.

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Russell Harrower, the CEO of PodToo, has announced the launch of the "Pod Fund" - an initiative to support independent podcast app developers who are implementing Podcast 2.0 features. The goal is to provide financial assistance to these developers, as many are struggling to sustain their work due to a lack of revenue, while the major platforms like Spotify and Apple are not investing in the open podcast ecosystem. Harrower explains that the Pod Fund will be funded by a small percentage contribution from participating podcast hosting providers, with the funds distributed to eligible app developers based on the number of Podcast 2.0 features they have implemented. The hosts and app developers aim to work together to support the growth of the open podcast ecosystem, in contrast to the walled gardens created by large tech companies. The discussion highlights the challenges facing the independent podcast community and the need for collaborative solutions to sustain innovation in this space.

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