This is sponsored by Sounds Good, from CBC. From the staff at CBC Podcasts, Sounds Good is a bi-weekly newsletter that offers the latest in news, events and industry buzz from podcast creators and producers. Subscribe now.

Visit https://podnews.net/update/ads-in-podcasts-dai for all the links, and to get our newsletter.

• Mobituaries with Mo Rocca is one of the biggest podcasts in the US, produced by CBS News and monetised by iHeart. Yet, depending where you listen, you get significantly more advertising.
  • We compared the same episode, downloaded from Brisbane, Los Angeles and New York. ca-ny-aus.png">The ads are marked here in yellow. When downloaded in Australia, you get just two 30” ads (for a gambling company); when downloaded via a VPN in California, the adload was ten minutes 29 seconds (20% of the whole show). New York listeners get even more.
  • In our second spot break, in California we were served a 2’55” break. Yet, one Podnews reader on the East US coast adbreak.mp4">heard the same episode: they were given a five minute spot break at that point. In total, they were given 18’40” of ads in the same show. Yikes. (Is our reader a desirable audience member, perhaps?)
  • Oddly, in California the second spot break was 2nd-vs-3rd.png">exactly the same as the third spot break.
• Cumulus Media, the owner of the Westwood One Podcast Network, might be delisted from NASDAQ again, after the company traded below $1 a share for more than thirty days. It’s got until the middle of next year to sort things out, though. It was last delisted in 2017.
• Happy Christmas to ART19, which certified to IAB v2.2 podcast guidelines on Dec 23. The IAB requires annual recertification, yet four companies still appearing in the IAB’s list were last certified in 2021 - three from iHeart (Omny Studio, Spreaker and Voxnest); and the German podcast host Audiorella.

📲 Overhaul FM is a NEW podcast app — for iOS and Android. Get Personalized Podcast recommendations based on your listening history and preferences to help you discover NEW podcasts. Download the app today for FREE! 🔥🎧

🎁 Holiday Sale: Save on Podcast Movement! — Celebrate the holidays with huge savings on Podcast Movement Evolutions 2025 tickets. Lock in your discounted rate now before prices increase. Give yourself the gift of savings today!

• Anycast is an “AI-powered podcast app” - which will transcribe podcasts but also allows you to “chat” with the podcast. Here is the source code for both iOS and Android. (It seems to use the Apple directory).
• We linked to this back in 2018, but it might be worthwhile linking again: A Guide to Talking to Your Family About Podcasts During the Holidays

Tips and tricks

• Got a new Chromebook for Christmas? You can install Audacity on a Chromebook. We updated these instructions yesterday.

Podcast News

• Adnan Syed, the subject of the first series of Serial, is seeking a reduction to his prison sentence, so that he isn’t sent back to jail.
• The Guardian posts the 20 best podcasts of 2024. The number one is Wondery and Novel's Kill List, which "laid bare the sinister reality of the dark web, and went where no podcast has gone before."

Gold supporters: Sounds Profitable, Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, The $100 MBA, The Podglomerate, Cohost, Podscribe, Resound, audioBoom, Steve Lack: Audio, SALT, RedCircle, Simplecast, Audiohook, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, Disctopia, Podpage websites, We Edit Podcasts, Knucklehead Media Group, Evergreen Podcasts, Libsyn

Silver supporters: Storic Media, Audacia Audio, Bumper, PodLabs - Podcast Experimentatio, Magellan AI, The Podcast Haven, PlayPodcast, Deepcast, Ausha, The Roost, Podium , Huberman Lab, Frequency, Tink Media, Storyboard, SoundStack, Gumball, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, POW PR, Cloud10, Red Seat Ventures, Jonekiri, Truefans, Gilded Audio, Voxtopica, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Zvook, Headliner, Jam Street Media, Rhapsody Voices, Ossa Collective, matchmaker.fm, Podcast Taxi, Wondery, Rephonic, Oxford Road, Diversion Podcasts, Castos, Lemonada Media, Heartcast Media50, Blubrry, Double Elvis Productions, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Optimal Living Daily, Transistor, Ad Results Media, Podcast Partnership, Content10x, StreamGuys, Hear.Here.Singapore, She Podcasts, Cleanfeed, Lower Street, Podcast Movement, Revolver Podcasts, School of Podcasting, Sonix, Adopter Media, Podigy, Edison Research, Signal Hill Insights

Our personal supporters: Eric Montgomery, Amy Woods, John, Jessica Alpert Silber, Armel, Oludotun Oyebolu, Mikel Ellcessor, Gene Monterastelli, Ed Sullivan, Neil Mody, Lindsay Graham, David Lloyd, Steven Goldstein, Matt Wade, Mirko Lagonegro, Andy Maher, tony@virtualcouch.xyz, Kara Silverman, Eric Hunley, Liz Covart, Owen Grover, Justin Jackson, Karen Jackson, CESLIE Armstrong, Søren Hugger Møller, Josh Withers, Mike R, Michael Dell, Eric Nuzum, Benjamin Masse, Brett Johnson, Mark Ramsey, Helene Pawlitzki, Steve Stewart, Pete Morgan, Jody Avirgan, Joe Stone, ShEvo (Sheila Dee & Evo Terra), Buzz Knight, Jaz Garewal, Stephanie Arakelian, Kerry Donahue, Graeme Klass, Tony Garcia, We Are Libertarians, Stew Redwine, Dave Beasing, Jeremy McCarter, Meggan Ellingboe, EarBuds Podcast Collective, Andy Bowers, Mary Dooe, Alicia Mackey Huber, Paul Vogelzang, Vanessa Harris, Rekha Murthy, Mohammad Ali, Suzanne Schultz, Joanne Phillips, Niall Mackay, Courtney Reimer, Brandon Schexnayder, Don MacKinnon, Jeremy Enns from Podcast Marketing Academy, Sam Phelps, Doug Downs, Tom Teodorczuk, Lex Friedman, Larry Rosin, Stacey Goers, Bryan Barletta, Gavin, Charles Spivey, Ken Beyer, Bubbe Ann Schockett, Darius Derakshan, Stefano Mangone, Dave Campbell, Cindy Howes, TWRS, Anastasia Violet Lipske, Chris Peterson

Readers and supporters

Support us

Image: James Cridland