Sponsored by The Podglomerate. Better thumbnails. Smarter clips. More viewers. Bring your video podcast questions to The Podglomerate’s September 30 webinar featuring YouTube Podcasts’ Strategic Partner Manager. Register here. Exclusive: Inception Point AI's thousands of AI-made podcasts could just have been a publicity stunt, according to a new episode of The Lead Balloon podcast, to be released today. CEO Jeanine Wright is interviewed on the show, saying that some publicity was "a PR strategy to get attention". We learn that the Quiet Please network now only has 300 active shows, which they're no longer trying to monetise. Wright tells Podnews that "the catalog itself was never a stunt, and we never chased volume for publicity." Also in Lead Balloon she gives a definition of AI slop: folks "using AI tools to make as much content as they can with as little expense as possible, in order to be able to monetize the delta." Sounds familiar. The company is now branded as Liquid Studios, which now suggests that it "transforms existing content, not generates from a blank page". The biggest podcast advertiser is going international - BetterHelp has appointed Media Bodies to focus on international podcast advertising. Media Bodies will work alongside BetterHelp to develop, launch and scale campaigns across 10 international markets, combining global strategy and performance data with local market expertise. The Apple iPhone might not be giving your headphones the best audio quality - because it doesn't support the latest Bluetooth audio codecs. A new Bluetooth dongle from Questyle could unlock better audio quality - and also much lower latency, which might be useful for recording podcasts without the delay you get with a normal Bluetooth connection. > > > Read more of today’s

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. More downloads start with a plan. The Podglomerate's free Ultimate Guide to Podcast Marketing covers the tactics, tools, and channels to help more people discover your show. Patreon is removing a legacy "per-creation" membership, forcing creators to move to charging a per-month fee instead. A "per-creation" membership was particularly useful for some podcasters, especially audio drama producers, who don't make "always-on" material. Paolo from GrowthMasteryHub takes a closer look - and notes that the hard part isn't just choosing your new price. Congratulations to Jack Laurence, who has just passed 1.5 million downloads for his (audio-only) podcast What I Survived. He shares his download breakdown in a LinkedIn post. Apple spent thousands on a front-cover wraparound of London newspaper Metro to promote its new Apple Music Hall in London. Not to sound cranky, but we're unaware of any money spent promoting Apple Podcasts over the last five years. > > > Read more of today’s podcast industry news stories on the Podnews website: and get our free daily newsletter.Classifieds - your job or ad hereA simpler podcast rec

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. More downloads start with a plan. The Podglomerate's free Ultimate Guide to Podcast Marketing covers the tactics, tools, and channels to help more people discover your show. YouTube made a number of announcements at Made on YouTube, the company's annual event. YouTube is to add a voice likeness detection tool, to help creators sign up for deepfake detection. The company is also launching A/B video testing, where different videos can be tried to see which work better. YouTube Music premium subscribers will get a "new personalized AI-audio guide available in the YouTube Music app that delivers a quick, weekly spoken preview of recommended podcasts and digs into why you’ll like them, before jumping into the suggested episodes — completely eyes-optional and hands-free". Live video on YouTube get an update, too, with co-hosting, live reactions, and live auto-dubbing. Apple Podcasts Connect seems to have quietly tweaked its listening figures for certain dates. We understand that Apple Podcasts noticed a discrepancy and reprocessed the data. Data we screenshotted on Sep 16 appeared to claim, on average, that listeners were consuming 176% of our Jul 9 show. Now, the same data we screenshotted today suggests average consumption of that episode was 85%. Similarly, our Jul 6 show had "average consumption" of 166%; but now that number is 83%. It's notable that the number of "plays" has significantly declined on both affected episodes, as well as the consumption data. However, our Jul 1 show

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. More downloads start with a plan. The Podglomerate's free Ultimate Guide to Podcast Marketing covers the tactics, tools, and channels to help more people discover your show. "I’m not sure why we are feeding our content to one of the biggest gatekeepers in media." Sounds Profitable's Tom Webster has published an overview of his talk at Podcast Movement last week. "You can put your show on YouTube or on Spotify, promote it there, and as long as you don’t violate the terms of service, you stay there. You cannot put your show on Netflix. The podcasts that are on Netflix are, frankly, the shows that don’t need the help; they were already the upper echelon by audience, which is precisely why Netflix picked them." He adds: "We are potentially making a deal with the devil when we put our programming on Netflix, because ultimately we don’t matter to Netflix, and I’d like us to focus on the places where we do." A lot is said about the benefits of open RSS. One is that you can publish, almost anonymously, on all the big podcast players: especially if you have a story to tell. In Slip Three, the audio has been treated to disguise the voice of the host - who is somewhere at sea, hiding from the authorities, after what he calls an incident where four men died. It's an intriguing listen, with more of the mystery to discover. The shortlist has been announced for the International Women's Podcast Awards. There were almost 500 entries received this year; it was judged by over 80 people across the world. Winners will be announced on Oct 8. > > > Read more of today’s podcast industry news stories on the Podnews website: and get our free daily newsletter.Classifieds - your job or ad here

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. More downloads start with a plan. The Podglomerate's free Ultimate Guide to Podcast Marketing covers the tactics, tools, and channels to help more people discover your show. 88% of podcast consumers are consuming both audio and video - up ten points from last year. And, 63% of listeners start an episode in one format and finish it in another, according to Acast's new Podcast Pulse 2026, researched across thirteen markets by research firm Differentology. “The industry spent years arguing over formats, but audiences moved on long ago,” said Greg Glenday, CEO at Acast. “A podcast fan’s decision isn’t driven by format loyalty; it’s driven by whether they’re driving at 7 AM or on the couch at 9 PM. Once you see that, the audio-versus-video debate stops being interesting, and a much better commercial opportunity takes its place.” Exclusive: Comedy continues to grow in podcasting: Drew Spears Productions has announced the launch of DSP Podcasts, the podcast production and distribution arm of DSP. Started by Drew Spears in 2021, the comedy company, which runs a studio and event space in Frog Town and runs livestreaming events, is launching a number of shows. Crossed Wires, the UK podcast festival, generated over £6.6mn (US $8.8mn) in total economic impact to its home city of Sheffield, according to results released today. Just over half of festivalgoers travelled from outside of South Yorkshire. The event was an almost even spread of ages. > > > Read more of today’s podcast industry news stories on the Podnews website: and get our free daily newsletter.Classifieds - your job or ad hereThe podcast recorder for studios — Manage clients and access their recordings. No platform nudging them towards AI editing. No paying for confusing features nobody asked for. Try SureTake now.

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. More downloads start with a plan. The Podglomerate's free Ultimate Guide to Podcast Marketing covers the tactics, tools, and channels to help more people discover your show. Far from being a friend of podcast creators, Apple and Google are making money from an ad-skipping podcast app, Podnews can reveal today. The app, called Podtastic, takes podcasts and automatically skips the ads on-device, charging $9.99 a month - none of which goes to creators, but up to 30% goes direct to Google and Apple's own app stores. Automatically skipping the ads in this way means that advertising won't work, and creators will see lower renewals and unhappier advertisers; but because the skipping takes place on-device, US case law suggests that the behaviour of the app could be considered legal, if clearly unethical. Podnews reported this app to Apple on July 22; but Apple's legal team required us to deal directly with Ben Bowler, the developer. You may remember "Adventurer and Startup Founder" Bowler, who we covered in January as the author of a similar app which we reported had closed in May. But Bowler has learnt from our reporting: his new app now spoofs the user-agent of Apple's Safari, which is apparently quite acceptable under Apple's App Store rules, to circumvent blocking by podcast hosting companies. And, because the requests come from the user's device, it's technically unblockable. Neither Apple, nor Google, have taken any action against this app - so these companies can continue collecting the 30% app fee. Never mind that creators will see less money, long-term, from their advertisers - the richest companies in the world still need to get richer. Exclusive: The ABC News Podcast Network and 20/20 have announced a new podcast series about one of the most daring jewel thefts in history - Heist at the Louvre. Hosted by James Longman, the trailer is available now, and it starts on Monday. Last week,

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. From first recording to final export. The Podglomerate's free Ultimate Guide to Podcast Production walks you through every step, with real examples and platform recommendations. At the Sounds Profitable Business Summit last week, ADOPTER Media, Right Side Up and Oxford Road announced that they will only use YouTube's Engaged Views to count YouTube impressions for buying advertising. You can watch the announcement here. YMH Studios have also made a similar statement. Oxford Road's Dan Granger said that the industry should "get a little fed up" and make our voices heard. YouTube suddenly changed the definition of a public "play" in August - with just five business days notice - to one that doubles its numbers; the "engaged views" figure is almost the older definition - worked out using an opaque, proprietary algorithm that YouTube declines to clarify. The IAB has a different definition for video plays - "50% of the pixels on for two seconds" - and, last week, appeared to reject a new framework for measurement of video/audio podcasts. Matt Shapo, Senior Director of the Measurement Center at IAB, and Jason Adamski, Director of Audio at IAB, were interviewed by PodBiz in a new episode just made available, with Adamski admitting that the industry is fragmented. In the PodBiz podcast interview, Adamski is asked for the difference between a download and a play. He suggests that "a download is th

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. From first recording to final export. The Podglomerate's free Ultimate Guide to Podcast Production walks you through every step, with real examples and platform recommendations. Are podcasts at the front of the store? Showing a preview of data from the upcoming Podcast Landscape 2026 study at Podcast Movement NYC, Sounds Profitable's Tom Webster revealed that, for the first time, the top three places where people have "ever" consumed podcasts are not dedicated podcast apps. YouTube, Spotify and Netflix don't show podcasts front-and-centre when using them, requiring users to dive into menus to discover any podcasts. Webster compared Netflix's podcasts category as the equivalent of the CD range in a Walmart - just the most popular titles in a small selection which is hard to find; while a real podcast app like Apple Podcasts or Pocket Casts was the equivalent of Tower Records. As for next steps, Webster suggested that we need to talk about Netflix, and its effect on podcasting; that podcasting's stars need to give back and promote the medium; and that we need to tell our story as an industry. He said that Sounds Profitable will assemble a strategic group to discuss the findings more. Speaking in a separate session, Rob Walch suggested that Netflix lists just 1 in 67,547 podcasts. (And doesn't list yours.) More than 400 people showed up for the Sounds Profitable Business Summit earlier in Podcast Week, according to organisers, including more than 200 brand and agency buyers. Here are all of the Sounds Profitable Business Summit photos - the download PIN is 8086. (And sessions are on YouTube) Here are day 1 of Podcast Movement 2026's photos - the download PIN is 2045

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. From first recording to final export. The Podglomerate's free Ultimate Guide to Podcast Production walks you through every step, with real examples and platform recommendations. At the IAB Podcast Upfront during Podcast Week, Jason Adamski of the IAB announced a new downloadable guide focusing on (among other things) the measurement of video podcasting. The IAB appears to reject a medium-agnostic measurement standard like the recently-released AMP Accords, saying "the solution is not to build a new framework from scratch", and instead suggests that we use two separate standards from the IAB Tech Lab - the "Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines v2.2" and the "Digital Video Served Impression Guidelines". It adds: "The practical challenge is not the absence of standards. It is knowing which standard applies where." The guide - and even the full press release for it - requires a registration with your email address to read. That's not how you set standards. As a service to our readers (and to protect our own business) you can download the document directly here. Missed the Sounds Profitable Business Summit? All the sessions are now available on-demand on YouTube, for free. We enjoyed Ira Glass -

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. From first recording to final export. The Podglomerate's free Ultimate Guide to Podcast Production walks you through every step, with real examples and platform recommendations. First look: The creators of the New York Times's Hard Fork, Kevin Roose and Casey Newton, are to join NPR - for a new show called Machine Gods. Starting in October, it's the first deal under new Chief Content Officer Nadine Zylstra: it will be in video, and will also be aired on NPR member stations from early next year. Zylstra and NPR CEO Katherine Maher will discuss the deal later today at the IAB Podcast Upfront, part of Podcast Week. The Podcast Study 2026 was announced at the Sounds Profitable Business Summit, as Podcast Week continues in New York City. Among the findings revealed: 45% of podcast listeners would be "at least somewhat likely" to pay for a subscription tier to remove ads; and 64% would sign up for email from their favourite podcasters. The authors of the study have announced four upcoming webinars. Speakers at the Sounds Profitable Business Summit yesterday included Don Lemon, the former CNN anchor, and a special session about YouTube's recent changes. > > > Read more of today’s podcast industry news stories on the Podnews website: and get our free daily newsletter.Classifieds - your job or ad hereGreat episodes but low discoverability? — See what a Podcast Discoverability Audit looks like, with exact Before & After fixes to make your podcast easier to find.Audiencelift = More YouTube Views + Watch Time — Audiencelift.com helps your videos reach more viewers and generate valuable watch time, not just empty clicks. Turn great content into measurable channel growth. Learn more.

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. From first recording to final export. The Podglomerate's free Ultimate Guide to Podcast Production walks you through every step, with real examples and platform recommendations. In the opening Sounds Profitable Business Summit session, with plenty of ear-catching audio, Ira Glass from This American Life highlighted "what podcasts do better". Podcasts go so much deeper than what most influencers are putting out there, he said - and that means a deeper connection - which also means that the ads work harder. The Business Summit kicks off Podcast Week in New York City; with buyers and networks in one room, the summit included a number of well-attended talks and plenty of networking time. TYT has named Airwave as exclusive advertising sales partner, in a seven-figure deal. Airwave is expanding its in-house sales operation; the company will represent premium advertising opportunities across TYT’s podcast, digital video and live programming. Krystina Rubino from Right Side Up and Greg Glenday from Acast spoke about the Spotify skip button at the Sounds Profitable Business Summit. Glenday said that he spoke to a number of creators who pulled their shows off Spotify as a result. However, "digital display has already had a similar reckoning," Rubino said, highlighting the viewability metrics that are now used for display advertising, following ad-blockers. "If your ads suck," she said, "maybe you should do better." She added: "We have ruined many websites with ad banners." "If you're afraid of sharing consumption data with your advertisers, you have a deeper problem." > > > Read more of today’s podcast industry news stories on the Podnews website: and get our free daily newsletter.Classifieds - your job or ad hereBook Time with John Wordock at Podcast Movement — Attending Podcast Movement? Multimedia consultant John Wordock is avai

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. Ready to turn your downloads into dollars? Get The Podglomerate’s free guide to podcast monetization, including ad revenue calculations, sponsorship strategy, subscriptions, and more. Podcast Week kicks off in New York NY, USA, today - a week of events focusing on podcasting. Today and tomorrow, the Sounds Profitable Business Summit brings together the business of podcasting with those that buy it - a one-stage event with an emphasis on networking. Then, the 2026 IAB Podcast Upfront takes place on Wednesday, unveiling the content coming up for brands to work with; and finally, Podcast Movement on Thursday and Friday, where creators come to refine the craft they have already built. Podnews will be in New York throughout Podcast Week. AI replicas of the voices of podcast hosts outperform human announcer-read ads by +26%, according to a new study. The data shows that an AI cloned voice of the podcast host works +26% better than an ad that has been read by a different (and human) pre-recorded voice. An ad actually read by the real podcast host works +9% better still, though. Podnews readers can download the case study here. Broadcast-ready AI-voice production tool AudioStack has been upgraded to use a multi-agent system "that reasons through a brief before producing anything". > > > Read more of today’s podcast industry news stories on the Podnews website: and get our free daily newsletter.Classifieds -

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. Ready to turn your downloads into dollars? Get The Podglomerate’s free guide to podcast monetization, including ad revenue calculations, sponsorship strategy, subscriptions, and more. Substack has launched a new podcast tab in its app: "a dedicated space where you can easily reach your existing listeners, and help new listeners find you". The tab lists shows from Substack creators. The company tells Podnews that "creators publishing podcasts collectively earn over $200 million per year on Substack" - here's a list of the most popular. Substack has also published download and view numbers from the Organizing Things podcast, which launched last week on the platform. The first week got 10,385 downloads - "entirely organic, no paid promotion or ad spend". What's the secret of its success? The show's co-host Shea Serrano is a five-time NYT best-seller, and was previously with Amazon and Wondery; and already had 128,000 subscribers to his newsletter: so that might be a factor. Are you measuring the success of podcast ads too soon? Magellan AI released its Q2 2026 Podcast Measurement Benchmark Report - and in it, we learn that 41% of site visits happen in the first week, and 76% by the end of the first month: so if you judge campaigns after just one week, the figures will be less than half of what the ads are really delivering. Spotify's Megaphone has made another unannounced change - this time, the qualification process for new shows to join SPAN, the Spotify Audience Network. As of Sep 8, a show needs at least three published epis

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. Ready to turn your downloads into dollars? Get The Podglomerate’s free guide to podcast monetization, including ad revenue calculations, sponsorship strategy, subscriptions, and more. A new "cinematic podcast studio" has opened in Los Angeles. Goldmine Podcast Studio features an adaptable set, an engineer on-site and same-day ready-for-edit files. It's in the heart of the Hollywood Media District in Seward St. YouTube's changes to views are concerning, suggests Glenn Rubenstein from ADOPTER Media. The changes were seemingly rushed through in August, with creators given less than a week to prepare. "Sure, now it makes it look like every video has more views, but each counted view now means less," Rubenstein says, calling on all networks to commit to using the older "engaged views" metric (despite YouTube never actually explaining what that is). "Spotify testing a “skip ad” button and YouTube’s lowering of the bar are counterproductive to the growth of this industry. We need to improve measurement, not loosen it," he adds. AudienceLift has launched a new service, "preferred apps & players", which is designed to give podcast networks control over where their audiences grow: driving listeners to the apps driven by creator strategic choices. > > > Read more of today’s podcast industry news stories on the Podnews website: and get our free daily newsletter.Classifieds - your job or ad hereThis Simple Episode Structure Drives Sales — Grab the free case study breaking down how 3 specific episode segments drive more than $2,500/ep in client acquisiti

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. Ready to turn your downloads into dollars? Get The Podglomerate’s free guide to podcast monetization, including ad revenue calculations, sponsorship strategy, subscriptions, and more. Podcast monetisation company Acast has made a new and significant senior hire - Liv Sandberg will become EVP, Europe from early 2027. She joins from TikTok, Facebook and Starcom, and has served on the IAB Sweden board since 2019. She also won Role Model of the Year at the Nordic Women in Tech Awards in 2024. It means that all of Acast's businesses in Europe now have a single regional leader. Acast also held its first creator event in Brazil last week. Can AI help with your podcast production? Caloroga Media has launched a new AI production studio called Linnet. The tool, born out of the company's own production workflow, is a scriptwriting tool, an audio and video editor and a publishing tool that uploads finished shows directly to podcast hosting companies. "In an industry flooded with AI-generated content designed to be ignored, Linnet puts creators back in control of what gets made and how it sounds." It's in limited-access beta. We notice that the company has also jumped the shark - at least, removed the word from the company name. First look: Flightcast has added video advertising capabilities - allowing video ads to be delivered across Spotify, Apple Podcasts and RSS. The tool gives publishers a more unified way to deliver video advertising. > > > Read more of today’s podcast industry news stories on the Podnews website: and get our free daily newsletter.Classifieds - your job or ad here

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. Ready to turn your downloads into dollars? Get The Podglomerate’s free guide to podcast monetization, including ad revenue calculations, sponsorship strategy, subscriptions, and more. Bobby Bones is celebrating ten years of The BobbyCast. The show now has over 92 million monthly social media impressions and 5.4 million social media followers. His show, with iHeartPodcasts, spawned the Nashville Podcast Network; and is now also available on Netflix. The oldest podcast host? 95 year-old Dominic Chianese, who played Corrado "Junior" Soprano on The Sopranos, just launched a new show called Dominic & Junior with his son Dominic Chianese Jr. We're promised some of the biggest names in Hollywood as guests to talk about their craft. Back in 2022, we discovered the age of the oldest podcast guest - 105, since you ask - but could Chianese be the oldest podcast host? Hit reply if you know of an older one. We're going on a bear hunt. We're going to catch a big one. UK podcast producer Goalhanger launches its first show under the Goalhanger Drama brand on Thursday: Bear Hunt is a major new ten-part original audio drama following a fictional mission to assassinate one of the world’s most powerful and heavily protected leaders. > > > Read more of today’s podcast industry news stories on the Podnews website: and get our free daily newsletter.Classifieds - your job or ad here🎤 Get Booked to SPEAK with Your Podcast — Turn your podcast into speaking opportunities, client conversations, and increase download numbers. Listen to the Public Speaking Monetization Tips series.📈 Effective Audience Growth — Drive more plays and subscribers with campaigns tailore

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. Get YouTube podcast strategy straight from the source. Join The Podglomerate for a free webinar featuring YouTube Podcasts’ Strategic Partner Manager on video production, marketing, and monetization. Register here What can fill the whole of London's Southbank Centre for three days, and sell 26,000 tickets? Podcasting. Goalhanger's The Rest Is Fest took place over the weekend, with 22 shows and live podcasting from the Goalhanger stable of podcasts. We've tons of pictures to show how big podcasting can be. Fyyd, a German-language podcast directory, is to close - after receiving a copyright claim for unauthorised use of podcast artwork. Its owner wrote: "I have received a cease and desist letter from (news agency) the dpa regarding the graphics of an NDR podcast. I just don't have the strength for it right now. Because I am neither wealthy nor healthy, I am going to minimise the risk for the future and close fyyd." Opinion: We've covered companies sending these sorts of things before. Where a photograph for a thumbnail has been used under licence from a publisher, then our legal advice (and the advice of stock image libraries that we asked) is that this use should be covered by the publisher's licence: even if a resized/cached copy of an image by a directory is made for privacy or technical purposes; there is some US case law to that effect. But - a slow hand-clap to the German dpa, who i

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. Get YouTube podcast strategy straight from the source. Join The Podglomerate for a free webinar featuring YouTube Podcasts’ Strategic Partner Manager on video production, marketing, and monetization. Register here Apple Podcasts has updated its embedded player for websites - which allows you to embed episodes or your show. The player supports video and trailers. While plays from the Apple Podcasts web embed are not displayed in Apple Podcasts Connect Analytics, they'll be in your podcast host, and it's a great way to make it easy for new listeners. Podcasts you love, from people you trust - from January, the TWiT podcast network is to host on DAX US, allowing TWiT to directly manage DAI advertising across its network, and work even closer with advertisers. The company, which has shows like Leo Laporte's This Week in Tech, currently self-hosts. After a continued investigation in the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, the NBA has meted out the largest punishment in league history on the LA Clippers and its owner, the ninth-wealthiest person in the world, Steve Ballmer. "It's not hyperbole to say (it) changed media forever last night," s

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. Get YouTube podcast strategy straight from the source. Join The Podglomerate for a free webinar featuring YouTube Podcasts’ Strategic Partner Manager on video production, marketing, and monetization. Register here Rachel Quester, Supervising Producer of The Daily, shared five things she's learned with the audience at Radiodays Asia, which has just wrapped-up in Jakarta. "Have a clear, simple, intentional mission statement" ... "Figure out new ways to tell the same story" ... "Challenge yourself to not become formulaic" ... "Meet your audience where they are (don't try to be the smartest person in the room)" ... and "Find someone who will invest in you and pay it forward". The show launched almost ten years ago. The winners of the 2026 Asia Podcast Awards were announced during Podcast Day Asia, an integral track in the event. The day, hosted by our Editor James Cridland, also featured speakers from across the region. Radiodays Asia and Podcast Day Asia will be in Taipei, Taiwan, next year, in August. Exclusive: Award-winning comedy podcast And That's Why We Drink is to enter a new chapter: it's been announced that Christine Schiefer is to step away from hosting duties in October to concentrate on the ParaPods network. Em Schulz will continue hosting, alongside a set of guest hosts. True crime has overtaken comedy as the most popular podcast topic in the US, according to Edison Research. In 2019, the genre ranked fifth among weekly podcast consumers. > > > Read more of today’s podcast industry news stories on the Podnews website: a

Sponsored by The Podglomerate. Get YouTube podcast strategy straight from the source. Join The Podglomerate for a free webinar featuring YouTube Podcasts’ Strategic Partner Manager on video production, marketing, and monetization. Register here Speaking at Radiodays Asia today, Ron Baetiong from Podcast Network Asia highlighted the difficulty of earning revenue from traditional podcasts in the region. 80-90% of media budgets are already allocated, he said; audio podcasts are among the many things fighting for the 10% left. "It's hard to build a business when you're begging for scraps". Instead, he highlighted the opportunities beyond audio: YouTube videos, TikTok's longform podcasts - which even for Philippines-specific shows gets six-figure viewing numbers - and clips; and focusing on integrated branded content rather than ad spots, which is easier to sell. He claims 10x audience figures and significantly higher revenues after refocusing on video. Also speaking in the same session, Clive Dickens, the CEO of consultancy Meliora, spoke out in favour of premium AI personalities, of the type used by Inception Point AI and others. He suggested that we should stop talking about AI slop - pointing out that humans have been producing human slop for years, giving quiz shows as an example. In Japan, the #1 podcast, Coten Radio, contains no ads. The history show is paid-for by its listeners, with more than 10,000 listeners paying ¥1,000 (US $6) or more every month; plus around 100 companies who pay ¥50,000 (US $313) or more each month. Naoya Nishiyama from FUBI Inc spoke at Radiodays Asia earlier today; and also shared details of a podcast that the company makes with Japanese Defence Minister Koizumi Shinjirō, 小泉