Sounds Profitable

This week in the business of podcasting:
Tom Webster walks through Podcast Movement's five-day takeover of Terminal 5 in New York City, from the inaugural Sounds Profitable Business Summit to a creator conference spanning more than 80 sessions across five stages.
Sport Social's Ryan Barker makes the case that official club podcasts are the natural landing spot for betting sponsorship money as the Premier League phases out front-of-shirt gambling deals in 2026/27.
Quill and CoHost CEO Fatima Zaidi explains why branded podcasts get cut, and lays out the named audience, defined behavior change, and single accountable owner that lasting shows share.
Nielsen agreed to acquire media verification company DoubleVerify in a $2.15 billion all-cash deal, pairing audience data with verification tooling across a stack that explicitly includes audio.
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 details Sounds Profitable's five-day takeover of New York City's Terminal 5 in September, spanning the partner-only Business Summit, the IAB Podcast Upfront after party, and Podcast Movement NYC.
Quill and CoHost CEO Fatima Zaidi argues brand podcasts fail from unclear purpose rather than small budgets, and offers a three-part test for building shows that survive budget cuts.
Alex Cooper's Unwell takes its first outside investment from Patrick Whitesell's firm WTSL at a $500 million valuation, signaling continued investor appetite for podcast creator IP.
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:
Acast acquires Backyard Ventures for $20 million, adding more than 200 premium creators across podcasts, YouTube, newsletters, and social to accelerate omnichannel monetization.
Spotify asks artists to disclose AI-generated music and will label AI artist identities as "AI Personas," excluding them from editorial and algorithmic recommendations beginning in mid-September.
The Media Leader asks seven industry specialists whether podcasting has hit saturation, and the consensus is that the medium is maturing, with ad spend still lagging consumption and discovery shifting to social platforms.
Signal Hill Insights analyzes how 4,819 Americans define the word "podcast," finding that only about 33 to 38% mention audio or listening while just 7% of listeners describe podcasts as video only.
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.

Register for Podcast Movement 2026
In this week's Sounds Profitable newsletter, Tom Webster breaks down the company's most ambitious week yet: five days taking over Terminal 5 in New York this September, running three different events for three different audiences under one roof. He walks through the Business Summit bringing the buy side and sell side of podcasting into one room, the official IAB Podcast Upfront after party, and the reimagined Podcast Movement creator days at just $199 for two full days in Manhattan. Along the way he makes the case for why not a single minute of stage time is for sale, how the partners underwrite it all, and the small idea he's proudest of, a four o'clock block built for the person who doesn't already know everyone in the room.
Written by Tom Webster
Edited and narrated by Gavin Gaddis"

Find the full article here.

Today in the business of podcasting:
With the Premier League banning front-of-shirt gambling sponsorships from the 2026/27 season, Sport Social's Ryan Barker argues official team and fan podcasts are the natural landing spot for betting brands, pointing to a Sky Bet partnership across 20 football podcasts that reached more than one million listeners.
Bumper co-founder Dan Misener explains why Apple Podcasts play counts are inflated: Apple counts every tap of the play button, not every listener, making the metric impossible to compare with Spotify plays or YouTube views.
iHeartMedia reported Q2 2026 podcast revenue up 20.7% year over year to $162 million, now 16.5% of total company revenue, alongside a new video podcast deal bringing shows to Disney+ and Hulu.
Magellan AI's Q2 2026 Podcast Advertising Quarterly Benchmark Report finds podcast ad revenue up 23% year over year, with average ad load rising to 8.75% of runtime, or roughly five and a half minutes of ads per hour.
YouTube is doubling its Partner Program requirements effective February 1, 2027, raising qualified watch hours from 4,000 to 8,000 and Shorts views from 10 million to 20 million, raising the cost of entry for podcasters leaning on video.
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.