Sounds Profitable

Today in the business of podcasting:
Podigee has launched video podcast distribution across YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify, making the feature available on every plan with no waitlist.
Acast reported its first-ever profitable Q1, with 20% net sales growth overall and 43% organic growth in North America.
Megaphone is transitioning its campaign management to the Spotify Ad Server starting July 15, 2026, enabling new video ad formats while removing third-party VAST serving.
Radio Ink contributor Steve Allen draws on Tom Webster's analysis of the SiriusXM/iHeart deal to argue that local radio's most underleveraged asset is the quality of its advertising creative.
Nielsen data shows 77% of U.S. soccer fans use radio and podcasts for soccer content, with Millennials 41% more likely to consume World Cup coverage via podcasts than any other medium.
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.

Podcast Description
Today in the business of podcasting:
Bloomberg's Ashley Carman surveys the growing landscape of AI-generated podcasts, examining how hosting platforms like RSS.com are setting monetization guardrails and how Spotify is rolling out a new badge to authenticate real music artists.
John Spurlock's HLS Podcast Radar tracks video podcasts using the alternate enclosure tag, which several hosting platforms support but Apple Podcasts does not, as Buzzsprout announces that its video distribution to Apple Podcasts is out of beta and available to all users.
New PQ Media data shows digital audio recorded the fastest consumer spending growth rate among all media categories in 2025, even as audio overall ranks last in total spending out of the $2.4 trillion consumers spent on media content and technology.
A Scalable report examines the scale of creator-led media companies, including Beast Industries, which employs around 750 people and ranks among the less than 1% of U.S. companies with over 500 employees.
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:
Tom Webster of Sounds Profitable audited iHeartMedia radio stations across three mid-size U.S. markets and found that less than 4% of weekday airtime in Pittsburgh features locally produced content, while Indianapolis registers effectively zero. The research challenges the premise that a SiriusXM acquisition would meaningfully reduce local programming that, by most measures, has already disappeared.
New S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows podcast listening among U.S. online adults grew 10 percentage points in early 2026, reaching nearly 60% — a figure that aligns with Sounds Profitable's own Podcast Landscape 2025 research when video-only listeners are factored in.
Nielsen has integrated Triton Digital's Podcast Metrics Demos+ data into its Nielsen Media Impact planning platform, giving ad buyers a more complete picture of the podcast audience alongside other media channels for more precise campaign planning.
A new report from the Nigerian Podcast Index examines 329 shows across more than 20 hosting platforms and finds that while English-language content gives Nigerian podcasting global reach, the absence of local measurement infrastructure keeps the market largely invisible to international advertisers and investors.

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 audits iHeartMedia station clusters in Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Salt Lake City and finds that locally originating programming makes up a tiny fraction of weekday airtime, while local advertising load remains far higher, reframing what a SiriusXM acquisition would actually affect.
Amplitude Media Partners' Reggie Risseeuw breaks down recent Megaphone ad server updates, including new Priority Pre-Book campaign tools and a mandatory geotargeting requirement taking effect July 14, 2026.
WARC projects advertisers will spend over $10.5 billion during the four weeks of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, reversing a spending decline from the 2022 Qatar edition, with Spotify expecting the tournament to drive significant content consumption across its platform.
Kirby Grines examines how the most valuable ad inventory is shifting away from exposure-based outcomes toward measurable results, with creators and rights holders building vertically integrated businesses to capture that value directly.

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:
Libsyn has announced that video functionality is now available across all its hosting plans, with direct video distribution to Spotify — powered by the Spotify Distribution API — starting at $25 per month.
Marketing firm JoneKiri is offering brand sponsorship opportunities for a live performance of Hanging with Doctor Z at Netflix Is a Joke Fest, with options ranging from organic product placement to full season four title sponsorship.
Patreon has launched a redesigned Home feed featuring Quips, recommended creators, and collaboration posts, with the company reporting that creator interactions boost fan engagement more than five times above baseline.
Bauer Media and Elevate Consultancy's Sound Check Europe 2026 study finds 86% of European advertisers now consider audio a core part of their media strategy, with 82% saying podcasts reach highly engaged audiences and 47% planning to increase podcast investment.
A new study from iHeartMedia and Omnicom finds audio advertising drives measurable lift across brand metrics, with long-form host-read ads delivering up to twice the recall of shorter spots.

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.