Hey folks, Tom Webster here with your weekly wrap-up of The Download. Gavin’s been off this week (richly deserved, I might add), so you’ve been subjected to my attempts at keeping this entire enterprise afloat as best I can. I hope that you agree with me: it’s time for Gavin to stop vacationing. So while we all await a return to competence in this endeavor, let’s dig into what turned out to be a fascinating week in podcasting!
AI Voices: The Elephant (or Robot?) in the Room
Look, we all knew this conversation was coming, but Inception Point AI’s announcement about fully AI-generated podcast content has really kicked the hornet’s nest this week. Rather than add to the pile of hot takes (and lord knows I love a good hot take), I decided to actually look at the data on how podcast listeners feel about AI voices. The results? It’s messier than my Google Drive after a week of filling in.
More than twice as many podcast consumers say they’d be “less likely” to continue listening to a favorite show if they learned it was AI-voiced compared to those who’d be “more likely.” But here’s what’s interesting – it’s not a complete rejection. There’s a sizable middle ground of people who just… don’t care that much. Which tells me we’re in that awkward transition phase where the technology exists, the use cases are emerging, but the social contract hasn’t been written yet.
Adopter Media’s call for disclosure requirements feels like the right move here. It’s the same transparency argument we’ve been having about explicit content checkboxes, except now we’re talking about whether your host is made of flesh or silicon. YouTube already has this figured out, and Spotify’s been booting AI-generated music for years. The platforms know this matters. The question is whether creators and publishers will get ahead of it or wait for the hammer to drop.
YouTube: The Sleeping Giant That Never Actually Sleeps
Ben Thompson’s piece on YouTube being “the tip of the Google spear” absolutely fascinated me this week. We spend so much time thinking about text-based AI that we’ve somehow overlooked what YouTube is quietly building with video. The platform’s growing ability to tag and monetize nearly every surface in a video creates opportunities that should have podcast creators paying very close attention.
This isn’t just about YouTube wanting our content (though they do). It’s about a fundamentally different approach to monetization that doesn’t rely on traditional spots. For an industry that’s been wrestling with attribution and measurement forever (82% of marketers aren’t confident about attribution for app installs, according to that Branch survey I mentioned Tuesday), YouTube’s model might offer a path forward.
Peter Field’s research out of the UK should be required reading for anyone buying or selling podcast advertising. In 2015, 68% of media investment went to high-attention channels. Today? That ratio has completely flipped, with most money going to low-attention channels. Field calls this an “astonishing absurdity,” and I’m inclined to agree.
Podcasting remains one of the highest-attention media platforms out there, yet we’re watching advertisers chase cheaper, less effective impressions elsewhere. The Radiocentre study showing digital audio delivering £5.20 for every £1 spent (over a pound more than the average for all media) should be tattooed on every media buyer’s forehead. Well, maybe not literally, but you get my point.
Quick Hits from the Week
- Adam Carolla hit 4,000 episodes, which is just bananas when you think about the commitment that takes. Fun fact: when Carolla and Kimmel left The Man Show in 2003, they were replaced by Joe Rogan. Small world, this podcasting thing.
- QCODE launched Daylight Media for creator services, backed by Eldridge Industries (which also backs A24, makers of some of my favorite weird movies).
- Video continues its march through podcasting, with New Heights now on Prime Video and concerns mounting about independent creators getting left behind. Giles Martin’s piece about this was spot-on – we risk concentrating even more revenue among the top shows if we’re not careful.
- Podscribe’s partnership with Nielsen for DMA data, various new features from PRX’s Dovetail Spots, and Spotify’s strengthened AI protections all all welcome developments.
- The Afros & Audio conference and Black Podcasting Awards are coming up next month. We’re proud to sponsor both, and if you haven’t registered yet, there’s still time.
See you next week when Gavin returns and things get back to normal. Or whatever passes for normal in this business.
