Before I get into the news: one more reminder that Podcast Movement hotel rooms are still available at PodcastMovement.com/PMhotel, but organizers tell us the rates will increase by over $100 more per-night starting Friday. So get to bookin’, I’ll see y’all there.
For several years now Magellan AI and Sounds Profitable have collaborated to create a bird’s-eye view infographic of the podcast industry. That infographic, the Podscape, is a living document as new companies join the business of podcasting or evolve into new roles within the industry. Today marks the Summer refresh of the Podscape, available now for free download. If you work in the business of podcasting and would like to be added in the Winter update later this year, or are an existing company that has grown into a new section of the graphic, the form to submit for the next update is now live here.
Once and For All: Video will NEVER Kill the Radio Star, and Here’s Why by Jen Moss
JAR Podcast Solutions co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Jen Moss writes about the recent contraction of the audio side of podcasting, with several larger outfits downgrading their audio fiction/storytelling capabilities during economic uncertainty. Video podcasting has its place and its strengths, but with those strengths comes a slew of formats that don’t fit well. Simple interviews and chat shows do not scratch the same itch that audio-first storytelling podcasts have – and continue to – fulfill.
What Is A Podcast Supposed To Be? By Tom Webster
Along similar lines, this week’s article from Tom Webster reflects on the 2024 edition of The Podcast Landscape. The 2024 edition, which surveyed nearly 5,000 people familiar with the term “podcasting,” found 64% of respondents expected a podcast to be audio-only or an audio-dominant medium. Of course, things change in a year (expect data from the 2025 edition to be teased during Websters’ keynote at Podcast Movement next week), but a popular narrative in articles covering podcasting lately has been ‘video is taking over.’ He suggests we reframe away from YouTube-is-the-new-default to this: podcasting is the most flexible medium. Someone only making audio can open up both new audiences and new consumption opportunities for their existing audience by going to video, but the reverse is also true for video-exclusive productions. By not having audio-first consumption, productions are robbing themselves of new audiences and new consumption options for their existing audience.
The Hollywood Reporter’s Special Podcast Issue
This week THR is doing a slew of podcasting coverage for a special issue this week, just in time for Podcast Movement. One mega-list gathers the 44 “most powerful players” in 2025 podcasting, with a companion piece highlighting list-members’ accounts of their proudest on-air moments. Another piece focuses on the growth of video podcasting in recent months. Podnews editor James Cridland voices concern about unfocused growth-at-all-costs video podcasting potentially leading to the idea of “a podcast industry” morphing into simply a subgenre of YouTube content, converting podcasters into YouTubers. Tom Webster makes a point of drawing that distinction of YouTube as well. While the dominant modality for podcasting remains audio, the shows grabbing headlines are on and driven by YouTube. Not ‘video’ in general, YouTube specifically.
As for the rest of the news…
- Transistor’s Justin Jackson has just published an updated version of an earlier survey of Gen Z podcast listening habits, now beefed up with Coleman Insights data from their report The State of Video Podcasting.
- Wondercraft co-founder Oskar Serrander has announced, by popular demand, the Wondercraft API is now out of beta, as well as documentation on how to implement it.
- Libsyn’s Q2 earnings reveal that in H1 of 2025 they paid out 40% more to creators compared to the same period last year, which puts them at over $112 million in money distributed to creators since 2017.
- Mondo Metrics founder Nick Cicero has a LinkedIn post he’s using to track the ongoing views for the episode of New Heights announcing Taylor Swift’s new album, up to roughly 462 million views across the episode and promo clips as of 9:30am EST.
