Refocusing Podcasting for Women, YouTube’s Launching Hype, & More

Reversing the Algorithm for Women in Podcasting by Tom Webster

Women make up 51% of the U.S. population. Yet according to the gender profile from The Podcast Landscape, respondents who have listened to a podcast at least once in the past month skew 56% male. Webster proposes podcasting hasn’t necessarily “lost” women as listeners, more that the industry’s newest big hit shows are male-driven. There are two actionable solutions that can tip the scale back from becoming one-sided: promote the nature of podcasting as a companion medium – something to do during ‘found time’- and to actively put effort into supporting female voices. Proactive curation is a powerful tool. Male hosts actively promoting shows hosted by women will move the needle.

Pre-Prebid – from AdExchanger’s Optimizing the News

According to testimony in the Google antitrust case, the header bidding tech that became Prebid.org would have been an IAB Tech Lab product, but Google shot down the proposal during a board meeting. At the time, the tech was simple javascript code in AppNexus designed to be turned open source by the Tech L ab. But, due Google’s board status, the proposal was rejected, leading Prebid to become an independent nonprofit organization. For those looking to know more about Prebid, the Prebid Summit is set for October 15th in New York City, featuring a day of presentations and networking. Which includes a 25 minute audio breakout with Audiohook founder Jordan Bentley and Sounds Profitable’s own Bryan Barletta.

The women’s sports revolution is coming to audio by Alyssa Meyers

A look at the rapid growth of podcasts focusing on women’s sports. While top charts are still predominantly podcasts by men and about men’s teams, there has been an uptick of sports podcasts by, for, and about women over the past five years. Shows like The Gist of It report a groundswell of not-dude listeners for its coverage of both men’s and women’s leagues. 90% of their predominantly millennial and gen Z audience identify as women or nonbinary. The Athletic Women’s Basketball Show has had a 97% monthly download increase since March, with a 49% year over year increase in overall female audience.

Hype: Giving fans a stake in boosting their favorite emerging creators by Jessica Locke

YouTube is giving audiences a say in platforming new/upcoming talent. The new Hype feature will come with a new leaderboard of the top 100 most-hyped videos of the week. If a video is less than a week old and from a creator with fewer than 500,000 subscribers can spend one of their Hype votes to increase the video’s score, upping it on the leaderboard. Viewers get three free Hypes a week, with the ability to purchase more from YouTube. A video’s Hype score is independent of the video’s performance in recommendations and search results.

Odd Couples: Why Unlikely Brand Collaborations Are Everywhere by Rebecca Stewart & Brittaney Kiefer

With the amount of ad saturation an average American experiences on a daily basis, it can be hard for brands to stand out. Which has led to the rise of intentionally quirky and unexpected brand partnerships, creating talked-about limited run items and experiences. From McDonald’s Hamburglar-themed Crocs to Liquid Death teaming up with e.l.f Beauty to create a coffin-shaped “Corpse Paint” makeup kit. The team-ups also allow brands to diversify their following by getting in front of another brand’s audience. Velveeta, for instance, went from no Gen Z or younger millennial audience share to building one thanks to creating Velveeta-scented nail polish with Nails Inc, along with a cheesy martini served through BLT Restaurant Group.

As for the rest of the news…