| Here are today's top stories for podcasting: - iHeartMedia will begin experimenting with AI for podcast translations in 2024.
- Black podcast listenership is growing, according to a new study.
- Shaquille O'Neal is starting his own podcast network.
Thanks for reading all year, and we look forward to bringing you great podcasting coverage in 2024. Happy New Year! Christopher
p/chris951156 | |
| 1 | | iHeartMedia, one of the premier audio and podcast hosts today, is said to be considering utilizing AI to translate podcasts into different languages in 2024. The podcast creators will have to approve the measure, according to Conal Byrne, CEO of iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group. More: - iHeartMedia will use AI to translate, transcribe, and voice its content into different languages. This will work for not only new content but also content from its archives.
- The technology isn't quite scalable yet, according to Byrne, but iHeartMedia will start to test it out in the upcoming months with the hope of using it by the second half of 2024.
- "It's not just meaningful for the creators to be able to access audiences in the language they want, but also to actually build businesses in those territories," Byrne said.
- This will help iHeartMedia expand a podcast's reach globally and expand the listenership for a show.
Zoom Out: - Wondery says that it plans to continue to expand globally as well in 2024 by partnering with local creators in countries like Germany, Mexico, and Brazil while also taking popular shows and adapting them for different locales.
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What the data says: Black podcast listenership is growing, according to a new study released by Horowitz Research. It found that three in 10 Black podcast listeners consume podcasts daily or almost daily, compared to just two in 10 white, non-Latinx listeners. Six in 10 Black podcast listeners have shows that they listen to regularly, and four in 10 admit that podcasts have replaced another form of media that they previously consumed. Relevance: Horowitz Research released FOCUS Black: State of Media, Entertainment, and Tech: Consumer Engagement 2023, a syndicated research study that focuses on the engagement of Black podcast listeners. Two in 10 Black listeners say that podcast advertising is an effective way to reach them, but Black men ages 35-49 are even more reachable through podcast advertising. "Given that podcasts provide a platform for culturally specific voices and perspectives that aren't always heard in mainstream media, it is no surprise that Black and other diverse audiences are gravitating there," said Adriana Waterston, Executive VP and Insights & Strategy Lead for Horowitz Research. "It makes sense for advertisers to go there, too." More data: The most popular podcast genre for Black listeners age 18+ is Black content (45%). Comedy came in second with 38% of the vote, and Sports was a close third with 34%. | | | |
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| 3 | | Shaquille O'Neal has announced that he is launching his own podcast network, The Big Podcast Network. The basketball Hall of Famer is partnering with sports entertainment company Playmaker HQ to launch the network, which he hopes will serve as an incubator for athletes and online creators to launch shows about sports, business, and more. More: - The inaugural show on the network will be the rebirth of O'Neal's own podcast, The Big Podcast, which was previously produced and distributed by WBD Sports.
- The Big Podcast Network's version of the show will feature Shaq with his NBA on TNT colleague Adam Lefkoe and Playmaker HQ producer Shaine Freeman.
- New episodes of the show will run through the remainder of the NBA season on The Big Podcast Network's YouTube channel, WBD's Bleacher Report, Max, and where you get your podcasts.
- "I'm excited to work with Playmaker, a creative partner with a unique production and distribution process, to create my own podcast network," O'Neal said in a statement. "The Big Podcast Network will prioritize and uplift fresh and diverse voices that will expand the conversation beyond sports to include music, fashion, and entertainment."
- Silver Tribe Media brokered the deal between The Big Podcast Network and Playmaker HQ.
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| 4 | | Instead of just writing about podcasts you can listen to this weekend, we're highlighting some of the best podcasts of 2023 (that you can listen to this weekend). - If you're someone who fell in love with podcasts because of Serial, you've likely been looking for that high ever since. Investigative reporting and deep dives into a specific topic have helped true crime drama become one of the most popular podcast genres, and Serial Productions and The New York Times teamed up to produce a show about a sensitive topic that was heartbreaking, raw, and insightful. The Retrievals takes a look at women who went to the Yale Fertility Center and how they underwent excruciatingly painful egg retrieval processes and what led to them. It's a tough listen but well worth your time as host Susan Burton deftly navigates the discussions and questions the system that aided in the injustice these women experienced.
- You may not have expected it, especially for someone who has made a living on our TV sets for decades being funny, but Julia Louis-Dreyfus proved with Wiser Than Me that she is an endearing and great interviewer. Louis-Dreyfus had funny and heartfelt discussions with numerous guests in the first season of her hit podcast, and the show highlights older women and how they've lived full lives. Episodes with Carol Burnett and Fran Lebowitz were special offerings from Lemonada Media this year.
- What's it like to not believe in something but have it be presented to you in a way that would make it hard for you to at least consider it as a possibility? That's what happened to Tristan Redman, the host of Wondery's Ghost Story. Redman is forced to look deep into his childhood home's past but also his wife's family history and see if there's a connection between his wife's great-grandmother, who was murdered, and a ghost that was said to be seen by multiple people in his childhood bedroom (which was next door to where the great-grandmother lived). There's so much going on here, and it's very fun to follow along as he unpacks different mysteries along the way. It's a puzzle you're going to be interested in seeing solved.
- The SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes were some of the biggest stories in Hollywood this year, with thousands of actors, writers, and crew members striking. To raise money for their out-of-work staffers, late-night hosts John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers combined for Strike Force Five on Spotify, a podcast that showed that you can be rivals for ratings and also hilarious to hang out with. Each of the five episodes provided hilarious segments and musings from your favorite late-night hosts and are still worth listening to.
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| 5 | | Edison Research's final Share of Ear Weekly Insight for 2023 showed that Americans spend over four hours per day with audio. The amount of time for 2023 was four hours and 11 minutes, six minutes less than in 2022. More: - For the 10th straight year, Edison Research asked listeners 13 and older about their listening habits in Q3. It has ebbed and flowed a bit each year and was only slightly different this year than last.
- It has gone up from 2020, when listeners were consuming three hours and 44 minutes each day, but has been more or less unchanged since 2014, when the average time was four hours and 17 minutes.
- The study hints that advertisers in 2024 will be able to consider spending more on podcast advertising because the interest in audio consumption remains high.
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| 6 | | The podcasts of BiggerPockets, the leading network of real estate investing news, are joining the Cumulus Podcast Network. Cumulus Podcast Network will monetize and distribute six shows, including the top show from BiggerPockets, BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast. More: - The lineup of six podcasts garner more than four million downloads each month.
- The other five shows include Real Estate Rookie, Bigger Pockets Money, The Real Estate InvestHER Show, On the Market, and Bigger Pockets Daily Real Estate Podcast.
- BiggerPockets has over 2.5 million members in its community and focuses on the real estate investing space while providing help to those interested in finding financial freedom.
- Two of the shows have Top 20 podcast rankings, and BiggerPockets will look to expand its podcasting reach in 2024.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - 2024 is the year your startup gets funded. Make it happen with Foundersuite. Over 50k global startups have raised $15B+ with our investor DB, CRM, data room, and more.*
- Mind Set Win, Red Bull's podcast that features elite athletes talking about the psychological techniques they use, is releasing six bite-sized episodes for a New Year's Special binge today that will help listeners make resolutions for the new year.
- The New York Times highlighted 11 employees who were hired in the Audio division in 2023 with a statement.
- Sports radio personality and podcaster Jeff Thurn was indicted on wire fraud charges, as documents say he ran a scheme featuring a fictional ticket-buying business, took investments from investors, and spent them on himself.
- One innovation in 2023 that really impressed us was Pix, which comes from Likewise. It is a personal entertainment companion that will give you personalized picks for podcasts to listen to, movies and TV shows to watch, and more. Try it out!
- Frec Direct Indexing delivers the benefits of passive index investing with supercharged tax savings — up to 38% of your portfolio over 5 years in tax deductions.*
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 | Freelance Editor | | Christopher Hachey is a freelance writer and editor based in the New York City area. He has spent most of the past 15 years in newsrooms covering all kinds of topics like sports, tech, business, finance, and commerce. He's now returning to his broadcast journalism roots by diving into podcasting news. Reach out to him at chris@inside.com | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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