Sounds Profitable

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.
Sounds Profitable founder Bryan Barletta argues Apple Podcasts' HLS announcement returns control to hosting platforms and opens the door for rights holders across music, film, and other industries to adopt RSS-inspired distribution.
Bumper's Jonas Woost shares data built from over 100,000 podcast episode listener retention data. He finds listeners complete 76% of an average podcast episode, with retention trending downward the longer an episode lasts.
A new Acast Podcast Pulse report from Singapore finds 97% of local listeners say a podcast has changed their mind on a topic versus a global median of 84%, with podcasters rating higher on credibility than journalists, Youtubers, and social-first talent.

To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode of the Recap, 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:
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 Pulse report from Singapore finds 97% of local listeners say a podcast has changed their mind on a topic versus a global median of 84%, with 52% rating podcasters more credible than journalists and 69% saying they've considered a brand for the first time because of a podcast.
An Axios op-ed argues the impression that Americans are more divided than ever is being cast through the lens of overly-online social media users. An article that happens to be relevant to A.J. Feliciano's Companion panel at Podcast Movement Evolutions this week.
Financial research firm MoffettNathanson estimates YouTube hit $62 billion in 2025 revenue, edging out Disney's $60.9 billion and making it the world's largest media company, with the platform also crossing $100 billion paid out to creators since 2021.

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 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 billion and monetizing creators growing more than 2.5 times after the platform removed download minimums for Automatic Podcast Ads.
PAVE Studios founder Max Cutler argues Netflix should use its $2.8 billion Paramount windfall to invest in habitual, returning-audience content like video podcasts and creator licensing rather than one-time prestige releases.
Publish Press announces The Hollywood Creator Summit on May 28 in Los Angeles, featuring on-stage conversations with creators and industry leaders alongside a live episode of The Colin and Samir Show.

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.

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 Studio, and SiriusXM Media.
Written by Bryan Barletta
Edited by Molly DeMillier, Tom Webster, and Gavin Gaddis
Text and audio edited by Gavin Gaddis

Register for Evolutions by Podcast Movement @ SXSW
Find the full article here on Sounds Profitable.

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 set to be the first BBC podcast to accept outside sponsorship now that it is no longer funded with license fees. Also, BBC Studios taps Bauer Media Audio as its exclusive podcast ad sales partner across seven European markets.
Creator-first studio Companion announces its first slate of 14 audio and video podcasts, previewing the lineup at Podcast Movement Evolutions at SXSW on March 14 with live performances and a headlining set from Andy Grammer.
Voxtopica has extended the discounted submission deadline for The Timbre Awards to March 20, with the final deadline on April 17 and winners announced June 15.

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.