Sounds Profitable

This week in the business of podcasting:
Tom Webster makes the case that a podcast newsletter is the one channel where creators gather unmediated audience feedback, separating the work of promotion from the work of understanding what listeners actually need.
The industry reacts to The AMP Accords, which define a podcast, a play, and an ad impression, with Bryan Barletta, Dan Granger, James Cridland, and Steve Goldstein weighing in on adoption, economics, and whether Apple Podcasts and Overcast will share exposure data.
Nick Cicero of Mondo Metrics argues podcasters undervalue social clips, and that sports teams solved this a decade ago by packaging clip distribution alongside full-episode integrations in a single sponsorship deal.
Ofcom's Media Nations 2026 report details U.K. podcast and speech-audio listening, with 53% of adults tuning in to speech audio and YouTube leading as the most-used audio platform.
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:
Tom Webster closes out The Podcast Atlas series by arguing the email newsletter is the only piece of real estate a podcast creator actually owns, giving shows a direct line to listeners that survives algorithm changes.
Mondo Metrics founder Nick Cicero explains what podcasters can learn from the sports social industry about selling social clips as sponsorship inventory rather than giving them away.
Ofcom's Media Nations 2026 report finds 53% of U.K. adults listen to speech audio, YouTube is now the most-used platform for any audio content, and only 45% of listeners think podcasts carry too many adverts.
Steve Goldstein writes for RAIN News that the download is an obsolete metric that can inflate audience figures by up to 50%, and that verified impression metrics could unlock $1 billion to $2 billion in new ad revenue.
SiriusXM launches a $5-per-month Sports Pass on September 1, bundling NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL games with local Audacy stations, ESPN Radio, and hundreds of sports podcasts.
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:
Signal Hill Insights' new Audio on the Move study finds podcasts account for 9% of ad-supported audio listening time in Canada, while YouTube and YouTube Music together hold 25% and rank as the top podcast discovery platform. AM/FM radio still leads all ad-supported audio at 39%.
Richard Fawal argues mission-driven podcasts underestimate their reach, using Sounds Profitable Podcast Atlas data to make the case that audience loyalty follows the host, not the platform. He lays out a federation model that treats audio, video, clips, social, and newsletters as one asset instead of five separate channels.
NBCUniversal will bundle Peacock Premium with YouTube Premium starting in early 2027, a move The Streaming Wars reads as media companies handing the customer relationship to YouTube for cheaper distribution. The same discovery-driven dynamic is reshaping podcasting, where YouTube already leads as the platform for finding new 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.

In the final stop on The Podcast Atlas article series, Tom Webster makes the case that a podcast newsletter is the most valuable piece of owned media a creator can build, and the one channel no platform or host can take away. Drawing on Sounds Profitable research, he unpacks why 61% of listeners still haven't subscribed, why existing subscribers convert to listening at 87%, and why the real prize isn't promotion but permission and a feedback loop that makes your show better every week. If you care about podcast audience growth, email newsletters, and turning first-party audience data into episodes people actually want, this is the best real estate to own in podcasting.
Download The Podcast Atlas
Written by Tom Webster
Edited and narrated by Gavin Gaddis"

Find the full article here.

Today in the business of podcasting:
Five podcast industry leaders from Audioboom, Sounds Profitable, Octave, The Times, and Bauer Media weigh in on the future of AI and audio measurement, with a growing consensus that podcasting already has adequate measurement tools and the real opportunity is smarter use of existing data and attribution.
RedCircle extends its AI-powered Mic Check tool to programmatic advertising, transcribing and verifying each ad's metadata, advertiser identity, and category to keep mislabeled political, gambling, tobacco, and sexual ads out of podcast inventory.
Steve Raizes breaks down Netflix's decision to cut its What We Watched report to once a year starting in 2027, the 7% stock drop that followed, and what it signals about transparent measurement as podcasting pushes standardized metrics through the AMP Accords.
AdExchanger reports on the fight over programmatic transparency as ad tech watchdog Check My Ads is denied DSP access by multiple platforms, exposing the tension between the industry's public embrace of transparency and its resistance to giving watchdogs real access.
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.