Every six months Didigay+ Research surveys industry professionals about the state of spending. According to the Q1 2025 data, “my company currently uses YouTube” has dipped to 63%, down from 71% in Q3 of last year, and down 4% year over year. According to the report, more brands are spending a little time on the platform, while fewer are spending a lot. Though I do propose there’s one angle to consider: the report does not mention podcast buys. Therefore it remains unclear if this data is solely about buying through YouTube, or only buying through creators on YouTube. It’s entirely possible brands/marketers interviewed are buying more through video podcasters whose host-recorded ad segments are running on YouTube videos, but don’t qualify as “YouTube buys.”
Beyond the Manosphere: A New Wave of Popular Political Podcasts Ascends by Anne Steele
In recent months MeidasTouch, a left-leaning media outlet traditionally known for producing politically-charged viral videos on platforms like X and Instagram, has leaned into podcasting in a big way. This Wall Street Journal piece covers their current moment in the spotlight after The MeidasTouch Podcast experienced a surge of attention post-Trump election, leading to them outpacing Joe Rogan in the Spotify charts for February. The piece then goes on to give a broad view of the current uptick of political podcasts. A sign of the ‘podcast election’ having some staying power, as a paper of record has seen fit to publish an overview of political podcasting largely off the back of one show charting well.
Spotify Launches Audiobook Publishing Submissions
In addition to already offering licensed audiobook content, Spotify has launched Spotify Audiobooks, an in-house publishing imprint. According to their release, Spotify has partnered with several publishers and authors to license and produce hundreds of titles. In addition, a new website has been launched that features open submissions for independent authors to submit their short-form stories intended for audio production (10k-20k word novelettes). With the program, Spotify will handle all production aspects, publication, paying advances, and royalty distribution, as well as distribute the resulting files to major audiobook retailers.
Let’s Be Upfront from AdExchanger’s Optimizing the News
Three years into faces like YouTube being a contender at TV upfronts, a new competitor is in the running: the Spotter Showcase. Created by a platform providing software and services for content creators, the upfront-esque event features big creator names like Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, the Dude Perfect crew, and Jordan Matter. Spotter President Nic Paul pitches the audience landscape has shifted, with the zeitgeist moving from regularly focusing around broadcast and cable TV towards online content, largely personality-driven content creators. And with that being the case, he argues brands should follow suit.
As for the rest of the news…
- Audily has debuted Pinwheel, a new platform for producing chatcasts and interview-driven content for brand leaders alongside Audily’s other production arms (namely Rococo Punch and Pop Ups Studio).
- Business Insider reports AI-powered video editing startup OpusClip has just secured $20 million from SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, now sitting at a $215 million valuation. OpusClip has put a fair amount of investment into growing the podcasting space, including a significant investment in helping Sounds Profitable make the official Podcast Stage happen at SXSW 2025.
- LAist Studios and American Public Media have announced the launch of This Old House Radio Hour, a new spinoff of the legacy PBS home improvement series. The hour-long show will debut March 22nd and be distributed both as a radio series and podcast.
- Frequency welcomes ad tech veteran Jason Kalin as their new Chief Commercial Officer
- Magellan AI has a new product update showcasing how the platform can ingest first party and third party audience data to measure how campaigns reach user’s target listeners.
- Long-running self-improvement podcast The Art of Manliness Podcast has launched a partnership with Backyard Ventures to increase its brand and visibility through new moves like strategic partnerships and deeper digital campaigns.
- It’s not just films and TV, podcasts are launching at SXSW. Google X Captain of Moonshots, Astro Teller, debuted a ten part series called The Moonshot Podcast which will recount stories of innovation over the past 15 years inside Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory research & development arm.
