By Olly Hutson
As one of the world’s biggest podcast nations, there is always an exciting news story bubbling in the podcast industry in Australia. The industry continues to grow and diversify, with new and exciting tech, deals, series and partnerships popping up every week. We’ve wrapped up the latest news from Australia and global news that affects the market, plus what this means for the industry to feed your strategy for this highly immersive channel. Find out which awards are coming soon, how YouTube is harnessing its video podcasting capabilities, which Aussie car site is expanding its editorial offering via podcasts and more.
Submissions open for The Australian Podcast Awards for 2022
The Australian Podcast Awards, powered by iHeart, will return in 2022 – celebrating the best of the best Australian podcast and podcasting talent to emerge and gain fandom over the past year.
Submissions for the Australian Podcast Awards are now open.Nominees will be selected by a judging panel of industry experts before the category winners are announced in November.
More info: Australian Podcast Awards powered by iHeart
How YouTube is Transforming Podcasting
While we mostly know podcasts as something to tune into while exercising or driving, the overlap between video content and audio podcasts is changing user habits and pitting video giant YouTube against audio-native Spotify.
A study by market research firm Cumulus published in May found YouTube is already the most popular platform for podcasts. It won the market without really trying; now, it’s getting serious.
Read More: The Guardian
Meghan Markle’s Podcast has Returned
Meghan Markle has re-launched her podcast after taking nearly a month hiatus to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth II following her passing.
With the media circus around Meghan, it is refreshing to experience her in a medium where she has control over how she is presented. She is a natural presenter and builds empathy with her guests.
The fourth episode of the Duchess' podcast Archetypes was released on October 4 and Meghan sat down with comedian Margaret Cho to discuss Asian-American figures in the entertainment industry.
Listen to Archetypes here
LiSTNR and Carsales Announce Collaboration
The Showroom, the latest podcast from LiSTNR’s long-term partnership with Australia’s number one automotive website, carsales.com.au., will feature the latest car news and views from the industry. From the inside info on new car releases, to what is causing a hike in petrol prices, interesting classifieds listed on carsales and everything in between.
The LiSTNR and carsales partnership helps carsales to further create insightful and relevant content to assist Aussie car buyers, sellers, and owners on their journeys. Under the partnership, The Showroom and Watts Under the Bonnet will be joined by two more co-created podcast series before the end of 2022.
Read more: B & T
SCA Annonce Agreement with Adwizz to exclusively Represent Stitcher and SiriumXM Podcasts in Australia
This agreement is expected to increase the monthly unique podcast audience in Australia by 81%. AdsWizz’s audio advertising technology, combined with SCA’s media sales, is expected to streamline podcast inventory connections, making Stitcher and SiriusXM’s content more easily accessible to advertisers. Both Stitcher and AdsWizz are subsidiaries of Sirius XM Radio Inc. LiSTNR has grown the Australian digital audio market over the last 18 months and believes that the addition of select premium podcasts from Stitcher and SiriusXM will continue to facilitate this growth, increase audience scale, and reinforce LiSTNR as Australia’s audio destination.
Find out More: SCA
Apple Podcasts lead in Australia
Apple Podcasts is still in the lead in Australia, according to new data from the Australian Podcast Ranker, revealed at Podcast Day 24. Apple accounts for 46% of all downloads for shows in the ranker, according to the data; Spotify for 19%. The data covers over 750 million downloads for the year ending June 2022.
Spotify Releases a New Exclusive Podcast Hosted by Kim Kardashian
Spotify released the first two episodes of the new original podcast “Kim Kardashian’s The System: The Case of Kevin Keith,” narrated by reality TV star Kim K and true-crime producer Lori Rothschild Ansaldi. The series will be available worldwide and is free for all Spotify listeners.
Whether you’re a Kardashian fan or not, this series is an interesting take on the genre that the medium is most famous for and very different to the star’s usual media style.
Kardashian entered a deal with Spotify in 2020 to produce and host an exclusive podcast for the music streaming platform. Her podcast deal joins other celebrities who have inked with Spotify as part of the company’s strategy to expand its exclusive audio offerings.
Find out more: Tech Crunch
Spotify Prompts some Users to Record Reaction Podcasts to Playlists
After testing new in-app podcast recording tools for users in New Zealand, Spotify is now trialing a new audio feature in Vietnam, one that’s designed to encourage users to record voice reactions to playlists.
Once they hit the button, they can either record in one go or multiple clips by pausing. Later, they can edit the clip, add background music and tag the playlist before publishing.
Read more: Tech Crunch
Edison Research: Don’t Discount Audio Listening Via TV.
With TVs tending to be the center of many homes and with the advent of smart TVs, many can operate similarly to smartphones with apps for viewing and listening pleasure. This is in addition to traditional TVs and the music sources available such as Music Choice and channels like MTV, CMT, and VH1.
Americans 13+ spend 9% of their total audio time listening through a TV, with 4% using a traditional TV and 5% doing so using an internet-connected TV. The demo that most listens to audio via television is the 13-24 cell (11%), with 7% listening via an internet-connected TV. Additionally, 8% of 35-54-year-olds and 7% of those 55+ listen to audio through a TV.
Find out More: Inside Radio
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