Sounds Profitable

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.

Today in the business of podcasting:
Amazon Ads and Spotify have partnered to give Australian advertisers programmatic access to Spotify's audio and video inventory through Amazon DSP, combining Amazon's shopping and streaming data with Spotify's 751 million monthly listeners for full-funnel campaign planning in a single solution.
Tom Fox argues rural podcasters are positioned to fill the civic void left by shrinking public media, with local institutions like community banks, colleges, and small businesses having a genuine stake in supporting trusted local audio platforms beyond just buying ad space.
Podcasting had a strong showing at SXSW 2026 with over 20 official sessions featuring voices like Kara Swisher, Scott Galloway, and Brené Brown, while highlights included Tiger Sisters explaining how they built Spotify's No. 1 business podcast from a kitchen-table show, TikTok and iHeartMedia announcing a new podcast network, and Rhett and Link discussing why they quietly ended Ear Biscuits.

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:
Table Read, a fiction podcast featuring award-winning actors performing unproduced film and TV scripts, completed its first-ever live recording at Podcast Movement Evolutions last week. Jack Levy has a new essay reflecting on how consistency and execution can elevate something from a tool to a medium all of its own.
AdsWizz's Dave Sosson makes the case that audio is the missing piece in CTV strategy, citing studies showing retail campaigns combining audio and CTV produced a 12-point lift in aided recall over CTV alone, and automotive dealership campaigns adding streaming audio to CTV saw a 21.8% average gain in local market share.
Media consulting firm Madison and Wall has revised its 2026 U.S. ad spend forecast up to 8.1% growth year-over-year, with digital audio projected to grow 4%.

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.