James Cridland: Red Circle opens up host-read ads. From London the latest from podnews.net with CoHost,
podcast analytics and audience insights.
Red Circle has launched OpenRAP, a scalable platform for host-read ads. Podcasters can
now keep their existing VAST-capable hosting provider and have new fully automated HostRed
ads inserted directly into their show by Red Circle's ad platform. OpenRAP automatically
manages ad insertion, measurement, reporting and payment.
RSS.com has bought Mexico City podcast production company Vandi Media. It's set to enhance RSS.com's
production capabilities and add sales opportunities. The company is already highly active in Mexico
with a number of large shows and agreements with Grupo Fórmula.
The BBC is to carry advertising on its podcasts in the UK, if you're not listening on BBC
Sounds. The BBC is funded by a mandatory charge for UK households of US$215 a year in the form
of a television license fee. It's the first time that BBC programs will carry advertising
on first release. It'll be on smaller shows at first; and BBC News reports that it's subject
to regulatory assessment, though it's unclear what regulator they're referring to.
The news has been heavily criticised by commercial competitors who are solely reliant on ad revenue.
News Media Association Chief Executive Owen Meredith says it would wreak havoc on commercial
players right across the media and advertising sector, while Måns Ulvestam of Acast, which
sells ads on BBC podcasts outside the UK, was quoted as saying the ads will cannibalise
every other podcast's revenue.
Libsyn's AdvertiseCast is now Libsyn Ads in a rebrand announced today. It's a natural
progression on the successful execution of our platform strategy, says CRO Dave Hanley.
Fancy a slice of Blubrry pie? Blubrry has launched the Blubrry Podcast AI Assistant,
which helps podcasters with creation, production and clips. Six months of work, the tool is
future ready, able to switch between LLMs when required.
Audacy has launched dynamic AI contextual advertising for podcasts using transcripts
to more accurately match topics with advertising categories. Audio advertising company AdTonos
has unveiled Amplifier, a tool to enhance the audibility of audio ads. The company claims
it's been proven using brain-scanning technology to result in better response rates and emotional
connections.
Acast and Global both spoke at a UK parliamentary committee earlier in the week about the future
of news, including podcasting. We've linked to the video of that today. The subscription
only New York Times audio app has exceeded one million installs, and audio on the platform
got an average of 110 million monthly downloads per month last year, according to New York
Times head of audio Paula Szuchman.
PJ Vogt's search engine is to launch a paid subscription dubbed Incognito Mode. It's powered
by a supporting cast. In the announcement, PJ Vogt says the show is not profitable and
40% of the show's audience are international, but "we currently do not make money from the
advertisements they hear" (which is weird because we hear advertisements in that show in Australia
and we kind of wonder where that money is going).
Disgraceland has launched a podcast via email. The Disgraceland Dive is a daily email over
nine days introducing a listener to an archive season of the popular music podcasts focusing
on the Beatles; and local US advertising will be $172 million this year, says BIA Advisory
Services. Digital will account for $84 million. In People News, Matt Tasker has been hired
by Voiceworks Sport as executive producer. He'll lead on the production of some of Voiceworks'
biggest rights holder productions.
And in podcast news, a new slate of stories from LAist's Imperfect Paradise have been
revealed. The show's four-part stories will feature a story about a group of dancers working
to unionize one North Hollywood strip club and the pitfalls they faced along the way.
Then stories about the Colorado River, the Mexican border, and the Lions, coyotes and
bears moving into LA. We've got an interview with LAist's Shana Naomi Krochmal tomorrow
in the Podcast Business Journal.
Also, The Not Old - Better Show has signed with AMP for media sales. In Australia, the ABC
has launched Mushroom Case Daily, a day-by-day podcast following the case of Erin Patterson
who stands accused of serving a beef Wellington laced with poisonous mushrooms to her unsuspecting
guests. The 49-year-old has been charged with three counts of murder. She maintains she's
innocent.
Impromptu is new from Washington Post Opinions, inviting listeners to eavesdrop on the newspaper's
columnists, and after earnings is new from Morning Brew and Stakeholder Labs.
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