Sounds Profitable

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 national podcast consumption reached 18.2% in 2025, with 15-19-year-olds hitting 40.5% usage. Podcast listeners also over-index as corporate decision-makers, ranking second among seven major media types.
• HLS video podcast adoption tracker launches on Livewire Labs: Researcher John Spurlock is tracking HTTP Live Streaming video podcasts on Apple Podcasts, identifying 78 shows and 1,070 episodes as of March 29, with detailed data on hosting platforms, codecs, and video formats.
• IAB NewFronts 2026 signals a shift toward always-on ad buying: Ad Results Media reports that traditional upfront tentpole buys are fading as connected TV and creator-led media become ongoing investments, with NewFronts moving earlier in the year to reflect the new buying landscape.
• Versant is reportedly pursuing Vox Media's podcast network: The CNBC and MS NOW parent company is in talks to acquire Vox Media's podcast business, aligning with CEO Mark Lazarus's goal to diversify revenue away from pay-TV and expand Versant's existing audio footprint.

To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

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 adults who have never listened to a podcast — revealing a Spanish-language opportunity, a word-of-mouth "Bubble Problem," and a case for leading promotional efforts with topics over technology on platforms like YouTube and Facebook.
• Spotify laid off 15 employees in its podcast group on March 23, primarily from The Ringer and Spotify Studios, with the company describing the cuts as an alignment move rather than cost-cutting.
• YouTube has rebranded its BrandConnect creator monetization tool as Creator Partnerships, adding a Gemini-powered suite of influencer matching and campaign management features.

To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

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 2026 FIFA World Cup quarter, brands are expanding beyond live match broadcasts into companion media like sports podcasts, creating a major growth opportunity for podcast advertising revenue.
• Audio Advertising Spend Gap Study: Audion and WPP Media released a French-market study revealing that audio accounts for 34% of media consumption time but only 6% of advertising revenue, highlighting a significant audio advertising spend gap similar to trends seen in the U.S. market.

To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

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 26.4 update expands HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) video podcast support, adding hosting platforms Podspace, Riverside, Ausha, and Firstory to its growing list of approved Apple Podcasts distribution partners.
• Podcast Awards & Creator Recognition: As digital creators push for mainstream recognition alongside Hollywood talent, the podcast industry continues to build its own awards ecosystem — including The Ambies, the iHeartPodcast Awards, and the newly launched Indie Podcast and Creator Awards, debuted at Podcast Movement Evolutions during SXSW 2026.
• Content Strategy & Discoverability in Podcasting: Steve Raizes argues in his new Media, Built newsletter that great podcast content must be "built to travel" — integrating marketing and communication strategy from creation to distribution in order to drive audience growth and reach.
• Marketing Podcast Awards & Industry Recognition: The Marketing Podcast Network has launched the MPN Awards, an annual awards show celebrating top marketing podcasts available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, with nominations open through April 30 and a livestream ceremony planned for June.

To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

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-of-mouth in homogeneous communities. Webster identifies actionable strategies for podcast discovery and audience growth, including YouTube outreach, Facebook marketing, radio advertising, and Spanish-language content development.

• Written by Tom Webster
• Edited by Gavin Gaddis
• Text and audio edited by Gavin Gaddis

Find the full article here on Sounds Profitable.

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 podcast industry opportunities.
• Barometer and AdsWizz Bring Episode-Level Brand Suitability to Podcast Advertising: SiriusXM Media has expanded its partnership with Barometer and AdsWizz to deliver episode-level brand suitability targeting across the SiriusXM Podcast Network. Unlike keyword-blocking tools built for text, Barometer's technology analyzes tone, sentiment, and contextual intent in spoken-word audio — giving advertisers more precise, nuanced brand safety controls across AudioServe, AudioMatic, and AudioMax.
• YouTube Launches AI-Powered Creator Partnerships Suite Ahead of IAB NewFronts: YouTube has unveiled Creator Partnerships, a Gemini-powered toolkit designed to help brands discover creators and automate campaign management from matchmaking through execution. Influencer marketing experts say the platform will be a particular boon for mid-funnel creators looking to grow brand deal revenue and expand their audience reach.
• Veteran Podcasters Are Calling It Quits as the Industry Matures: A wave of established podcasters — including The Try Guys, Barstool's KFC Radio, and Celebrity Memoir Book Club — have shut down their shows in the past year, citing everything from video podcast production burnout to intensifying competition with celebrity-hosted shows.

To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

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 Creator Fund to Grow UK Podcast Talent – Gary Lineker's podcast production company Goalhanger is launching The Accelerator, a content creator fund offering select UK podcasters up to £10,000 in funding plus mentorship and production support, as the company continues scaling its hybrid revenue model of podcast advertising and premium subscriptions.
• Why Attention-Based Advertising Could Be Podcasting's Next Big Opportunity – Media strategist Kirby Grines argues that traditional reach-and-frequency advertising fails to account for audience attention quality, pointing to the rise of branded narrative content like microdramas as a model that podcast producers could adapt through affordable branded audio fiction to drive deeper listener engagement.
• 4 Million Books Published in 2025 — So Why Do People Say There Are Too Many Podcasts? – New Bowker data shows book publishing surged 32.5% year-over-year in 2025, topping four million titles with zero cultural controversy, prompting podcast industry observers to push back on the tired "too many podcasts" narrative given that fewer than 208,000 new podcast feeds launched globally that same year.

To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

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 Evolutions' debut as a fully integrated SXSW event, highlighted by keynotes from Apple and YouTube, live recordings from Table Read, Scalable, and Broken Record, the inaugural Indie PaC Awards hosted by Killer Mike, and the iHeartPodcast Awards at ACL Live — with Podcast Movement already confirming a 2027 return to SXSW.
• YMH Studios is partnering with Magellan AI to make full multi-platform attribution free for all advertisers and agencies across its network. This includes audio, Spotify streaming, and YouTube video without minimum spend or category restrictions.
• Amazon Ads and Spotify have partnered to give Australian advertisers programmatic access to Spotify's audio and video inventory through Amazon DSP.
• IAB Australia has named the Future of Measurement a 2026 strategic priority, with intentions to announce findings at the MeasureUp conference in Sydney on September 2.
• A new Australian Communications and Media Authority report finds 52% of Australian adults consumed podcasts or non-music audio weekly via online services in 2025, up from 49% in 2022.

To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode of the Recap, click here. You can also subscribe to Sounds Profitable's newsletters, including the daily edition of The Download to get news straight to your inbox Monday through Thursday.

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 of radio's 88.8% among 18- to 34-year-olds, yet Nielsen says marketers are still undervaluing podcast ROI despite performance comparable to TV and digital display.

• Sounds Profitable Partner and Podcast Movement President Bryan Barletta reflects on Evolutions' debut as a fully integrated SXSW event, framing Podcast Movement and Sounds Profitable as connective tissue providing the podcast industry with opportunity, research, and visibility within the wider media ecosystem.

• IAB Australia has named the Future of Measurement a 2026 strategic focus area, launching an industry research initiative accepting participants across media owners, agencies, and brands ahead of the MeasureUp conference in Sydney on September 2.

• California Attorney General Rob Bonta appeared on Scalable this week to discuss the ongoing social media addiction trial against Meta and YouTube, AI regulation, and the planned Paramount acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. A special episode filmed on location at Podcast Movement Evolutions during SXSW.

To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

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 indie podcast awards to industry research reveals, the event proved that podcasting is driving the future of the creator industry — and Sounds Profitable and Podcast Movement are the connective tissue making it all happen."

• Written by Bryan Barletta
• Edited by Molly DeMillier and Gavin Gaddis
• Text and audio edited by Gavin Gaddis

Learn more about partnership with Sounds Profitable.

Read the full Business of Podcasting stage session schedule for Advertising Week Europe here.

Find the full article here on Sounds Profitable.