#podcasts

#podcasts

Tencent's profit jumping 19% on AI gains, and 58% of UK households holding fewer than three streaming services. ITV is rewriting the rules of broadcast advertising with Live Addressable +, unveiled at its Palooza event. For the first time, advertisers can target audiences on ITV's linear TV channels with precision. And while ITV sharpens its targeting game, it's also stepping into the social spotlight by joining TikTok's Pulse Premiere, giving brands prime placement alongside trending content.

Nearly a third of all Americans listen to or watch podcasts every week but far more often than not, it's men's voices that they're hearing. According to a new study from researchers at the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, podcast hosts skew heavily male, and so do their guests. The researchers dug into data from over 600 of the most popular podcasts of 2024, using data from Spotify. They found that within the top 100, nearly two-thirds were hosted by men and nearly three-quarters of all guests were male, too.

"The goal is to create a robust international forum that supports the sustainable development of podcast markets worldwide, ensuring a fair, diverse, and independent podcast and audio ecosystem." - IPA

Tickets go on sale at 10 am unless otherwise noted. MUSIC Alan Doyle Aladdin Theater (May 16, 2026) On sale at noon Alice Phoebe Lou - Oblivion Tour Aladdin Theater (Apr 27, 2026) Atmosphere: Winter Carnival Tour Roseland Theater (Feb 16, 2026) Berner Hawthorne Theatre (Feb 19, 2026) Colony House - The 77 Tour Aladdin Theater (Mar 18, 2026) Del Water Gap - Chasing the Chimera World Tour Crystal Ballroom (Feb 11, 2026)

If we listen to many mainstream climate stories, then time has run out. Right? This thoughtful series hosted by Laurie Laybourn explores what happens now that we are on track for the world's temperature to rise by more than 1.5C. Its first episode is tough but crucial listening, full of talk about how scientists have underestimated the risks, listing potential outcomes including the UK being unable to grow food. It's time to draw up new plans to cope. Alexi Duggins Widely available, episodes weekly

This week, I've been reading about Intel factories and Nobel Prize winners and ATM thieves, watching this pop-punk "Defying Gravity" cover on repeat, reliving my teenage music taste now that The Format is back, catching up on the new Critical Role campaign, taking all my calls with the delightful Pop Phone handset, watching more Love Is Blind than I'm proud of, sending this deep dive on RSS readers to anyone who hasn't blocked me,

Now that sketch did have a glaring omission: audio. Time to take another look and add audio into the mix. Audio is one of the most overlooked channels in data-driven marketing. Sure, it has measurement issues and can't compete with the last-click attribution "goalhangers", taking all the glory and reward for handy conversion tap-in (Google, Meta, Amazon et al). But that will be fixed, as we build AI powered attribution.

People hunt for shortcuts - some podcast episode that dials in confidence and charisma overnight. Spoiler: not happening. What actually works are the small, compounding habits any of us can pick up if we pause long enough to listen and apply. I've made rent hustling side projects, missed on others, and learned the same lesson every time: leadership doesn't come as inspiration; it comes as repetition.

He said the "whole concept of brand safety" is a "problem." "That's just subjective," he said onstage in conversation with measurement giant Nielsen. "You look at somebody and you look at their audience and you say they're not necessarily safe. What does that mean? There was a time a couple of years ago they were saying Judy Blume books weren't safe - Judy Blume!

If the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election could be summed up in the style of Dustin Hoffman learning about plastics in The Graduate, it would be: Podcasts. ("One word, Benjamin: Manosphere.") Donald Trump went on every show he could; Kamala Harris didn't. And in the contemporary " attention economy," as lab-grown paid-media sound bites lose their potency, Trump won decisively with the part of the electorate whose last-minute votes are guided by vibes and auras-also known as the most important part of the electorate.

As entrepreneurs, we're constantly bombarded with recommendations for the same big-name podcasts (How I Built This, The Tim Ferriss Show or Masters of Scale). They're good, but they've become the mainstream playlists of the entrepreneurial world. The real edge comes from discovering voices that are flying under the radar - podcasts that don't just regurgitate clichés but dig into gritty lessons, unconventional strategies and the realities most entrepreneurs are too busy or too cautious to discuss openly.

After graduation, I scrambled to get my real estate license because I literally had no idea what else to do. I could pass the state exams, and broker tests... But I felt like a complete fraud trying to advise people on the biggest financial decision of their lives when the biggest financial decision of my new career was the exam filing fees.

And remember when we used to talk on the phone? Actually answer calls? Speak to humans? Luckily, the mailbox saved us, at least for a while, until it started telling us not to leave voicemails but to text instead. Voice notes came next. Great for the lazy typers, less so for the unlucky listener trying to find the right "environment" to hit play. We traded ringtones for vibrations, calls for texts... and now suddenly we're all excited because GenAI has voice mode.

When directly asked by Speedy Morman who his close friends are from the show, Ace names Chelley, Olandria, Taylor, and Bryan. But what about Nic?! "Me and Nic are cool, but to say we are super, super close like we were in the Villa, that's not the case," Ace explains, implying that he was unhappy that Nic wasn't defending him publicly like how he did privately - it's unclear if he's talking about the Jeremiah vote, as Nic told Andy Cohen he voted for Austin.

Jottings of note: Speed Test Podcast the fastest growing audio medium, listening is highest among young people, driven by young people trending toward daily listening. Those are key takeaways of the PodPoll Report 25 reports, produced by audio strategy and production firm Deadset Studios. All of this pertains to the Australian consumer sudience, where younger listeners over-index as podcast onsumers.

He said he wants to give the audience an inside look at his program and share his thoughts on college football, professional sports and pop culture, among other things.

Podtrac released its Top Podcasts By Country list, showcasing the #1 podcast in 48 countries, highlighting the publisher and topical category of each podcast.

Amazon is executing a separation of teams within Wondery to better integrate into Amazon and support creators in monetizing their content across multiple channels.

Tyler Childers’ album, Snipe Hunter, captures raw emotions and anger, resembling the music of artists like Zach Bryan and Jason Isbell, while Indigo De Souza's Precipice is celebrated for its triumph and artistry.

Michelle Obama stated, "There hasn't been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quittin' on my man. And we've had some really hard times."

This podcast dedicated to the untold tales behind history's so-called sidechicks features a tongue-in-cheek approach, highlighting the stories of figures like Madame de Montespan.

Emily Henry's first podcast appearance alongside director Yulin Kuang is set to explore romance themes, providing fun insights for fans of her novels.

Food might be the quickest way to understand Southern culture. My first encounter with cheese grits changed everything.

Podcasts provide engaging storytelling ideal for summer road trips, sparking spirited discussions among friends and family during long hours on the road.

But is this anything anybody really asked for? Having two fake podcast hosts rant about a subject you're researching - likely with a smattering of hallucinations - sounds like an incredibly counterintuitive and needlessly obtuse way to get quick access to information.

"This year, I've particularly enjoyed 'The Last Archive', where historians unravel the complexities of truth and memory through immersive storytelling. It resonates deeply in today's information age."