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'The Oprah Show' was secretly a great podcast all along
During its record-setting 25-year run from 1986 to 2011, The Oprah Winfrey Show became a pillar of pop culture. Equal parts TED Talk, group therapy session and self-help sermon, Oprah educated and inspired a generation. Last week, 34 years after the award-winning show's debut, it returned as a curated collection of podcasts hand-picked by the media icon herself. I gave the first batch of 10 episodes a listen and now rather regret having never watched the show during its heyday.
BBC Studios is the next to pour money into Pocket Casts
BBC Studios is the latest public media group to support Pocket Casts. Today, the free-to-download podcasting platform announced an investment from BBC Studios, as well as new funding from its existing public media partners: NPR, WNYC Studios and WBEZ Chicago.
iHeart will turn podcasts into books starting with ‘Stuff You Should know’
Plenty of people listen to podcasts on their commute and during work, but iHeartMedia is hoping they can squeeze even more podcast consumption into their days -- possibly before they nod off. The company partnered with Flatiron Books to create a series of titles based on popular podcasts. The first iHeart podcast to get a book adaptation will be the long-running Stuff You Should Know. Subtitled An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things, the book will be written by the show's co-hosts, Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant, and will "answer all the questions readers didn't know they wanted to ask" about everyday objects.
Spotify’s trailer redesign makes it easier to find new podcasts
If its recent purchase of Ringer and podcast-related feature additions didn't make things clear, audio shows are a big focus for Spotify. So it was only a matter of time before the company started tweaking the podcast section of its app again. Thankfully, compared to Spotify's sometimes hit-and-miss redesigns, this latest one is a good one. It's also a more narrow redesign, with the company focusing its efforts on individual podcast pages.
Pandora's Apple Watch app will soon stream music without an iPhone
Next time you go for a run or to the gym, you might be able to leave your phone behind but still listen to whatever music you want on the fly if you're a Pandora premium subscriber. The Apple Watch app is being updated so that it no longer needs to be tethered to an iPhone to stream music or podcasts. As long as you've got a WiFi or cellular data connection, you can do just that. Engadget has tried this out and verified it works, but we've also learned that the app update is happening in stages, so not everyone will have this feature yet.
Recommended Reading: The lasting effect of the Iowa Caucuses
Iowa might have screwed up the whole nomination process Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight By now you probably know the story. The Iowa Democratic Party decided to use an app to report results from its caucuses this week. These events were the first primary-type votes cast in the 2020 Democratic presidential race, and would've set the tone for New Hampshire and the states to follow. Except the app failed, phone lines were jammed and it took the better part of the week for the full numbers to come out. So just how badly didn't Iowa screw up the whole process? FiveThrityEight's Nate Silver explains the candidate(s) who "won" didn't get the massive bump they would have and the field is still way too crowded.
Spotify is the new heavyweight champ of podcasts
Last year was a big year for Spotify. A massive podcast push that began in 2017 hit top speed with the acquisitions of Anchor, Gimlet and Parcast. But the company was clear it wasn't finished, because its massive investment in podcasts was actually attracting users to its core music-streaming service. We're barely a month into 2020, and the company is already spending again. Only this time, Spotify is getting a lot more than podcasts: It's also getting a new audience.
Spotify reports 124 million paying users and 'exponential' podcast growth
"This was the highest net add quarter we've ever experienced," said Spotify in its fourth-quarter earnings report, adding that the service had added 10 million subscribers. The company is riding high after seeing the number of paying customers surge to 124 million and its overall user base grow to 271 million. It says that the source of (some) of this blockbuster success is the same as it has been for the last few quarters: Podcasts.
Overcast can skip podcast intros and outros
Don't like drawn-out podcast introductions, or just don't want to hear the same closing credits every episode? If you're invested in the Apple ecosystem, you might not have to endure them. Marco Arment has updated his Overcast app for iOS, iPadOS and Apple Watch with an option to skip intros and outros. You can tell the player to skip a certain number of seconds at the start or end of a podcast on a per-show basis -- if you know the first 30 seconds of a show is always fluff, you can cut to the heart of the podcast and save precious time.
Pocket Casts' revamped Discover section offers picks from top podcasters
The Pocket Casts crew thinks it has a simple solution to suggesting new podcasts: show what the top creators have to offer. Pocket Casts' Android and iOS apps will receive a revamped Discover section that highlights curated recommendations from top individual creators as well as entire podcast networks. If you want to know what My Brother, My Brother and Me's Justin McElroy likes to listen to or can't get enough of WNYC's various podcasts, their recommendations will be a few taps away.
Spotify may be in talks to buy culture outlet The Ringer
Spotify might be making one of its biggest moves yet in its bid to conquer the podcasting world. Wall Street Journal sources say the streaming company is in "early" talks to acquire The Ringer, the sports- and pop culture-oriented outlet founded by ex-ESPN personality Bill Simmons (above). While it's not guaranteed this would lead to a deal, a purchase would give Spotify control of over 30 podcasts (including The Bill Simmons Podcast) that rake in over 100 million downloads per month.
Spotify is about to revolutionize podcast ads
2019 was a big year for Spotify in terms of podcasts. The company padded its content library and added an easy-to-use podcast production tool through acquisitions. In 2020, the streaming service is making a big change to ads available on the episodic content. With technology called Streaming Ad Insertion (SAI), Spotify will offer podcasters and advertisers detailed analytics that haven't been available before. The company will be able to provide stats like actual ad impressions, frequency, reach and anonymized audience info. That audience info includes age, gender, device type and listening behavior.
Spotify’s podcast power play
By February, 2019 was already a huge year for Spotify. As part of its earnings announcement, the company revealed that it had finally made a profit -- a benchmark that seemed somewhat unattainable given the service's expensive operating costs. In that same news drop, Spotify also proclaimed it was ready to become a power player in the world of podcasts. It spent big, locked down exclusive shows and introduced several new features for users. And the effort won't end as 2019 comes to a close.
What we're listening to: Brass Against and 'Gastropod'
In the latest installment of our audio IRL, contributing writer Kris Holt introduces us to a brass band that's covering some big hits with their own spin. Database editor Ian Levenstein explains why you need to add a culinary-themed show to your regular podcast rotation.
Pocket Casts wraps up 2019 with an updated look and 100 top podcasts
Outside of podcast apps from the likes of Apple and Google, or converted music playing options like Spotify and Pandora, Pocket Casts is one of our preferred options for multiplatform listening. In its latest mobile version -- available on Android and iOS for free with some premium subscription options -- there are some tweaks that change how it looks and give listeners more control over how it works. Now users can customize the bottom toolbar of the Now Playing screen, with the ability to choose which settings are available right away (from options like a Cast button, Share Podcast, Sleep timer and the like) and which ones are hidden in the more menu. It's also added a quick tab slider that makes it easier to see where show notes are while you're listening, while the Up Next list has been moved to its own screen so it has more room and it's easier to see what's going on with each episode in it.
Google Podcasts gets a much-needed personalized recommendations tab
The Google Podcasts app just got a recommendations tab. The new feature will suggest individual episodes, rather than full shows. That could make it easier to discover content if you don't know where to start, and it may help track people you like across different shows. As an added perk, you won't need to subscribe to the show to listen to the episode.
Apple Podcasts now works with Echo speakers
Almost a year to the day after Amazon announced its Echo devices were compatible with Apple Music, the speakers (and other Alexa-enabled devices) now work with Apple Podcasts in the US. The setup process seems pretty straightforward: just connect your Apple ID to the Alexa app.
Spotify will recommend podcasts even if you’ve never listened before
As part of its ongoing push into the increasingly lucrative world of podcasting, Spotify is making it easier for free users to get hooked on the audio format. If you've never listened to a podcast through Spotify before, the next time you scroll through the app's home screen, you'll see a new icon titled "Get podcasts for you." Tapping on it will prompt you to pick a couple of topics that interest you, after which Spotify will generate a list of personalized recommendations.
Podcasts can now win Pulitzer Prizes
Podcasts like S-Town, Serial and Believed aren't just enthralling, they're also great examples of hard-hitting, in-depth reporting. With that in mind, the Pulitzer Prize Board is adding a new journalism prize category for audio reporting.
Google Assistant will place Dunkin' Donuts orders, finally
Google just added a handful of voice control features to Google Assistant. You can now manage notes and lists in select third-party apps, ask Assistant to search your photos, search for podcasts by topic and set reminders for the whole family. You can also place Dunkin' Donuts orders -- just what everyone was hoping for.
