The Podcast Ecosystem in Türkiye by Rıfat Özcan
An overview of podcasting in Türkiye, dating back to the first tech blog to use the word (only a month after the term ‘podcast’ was officially coined in the U.S.). In addition to the growth of Turkish-language podcasting as an industry (clocking in at the 15th most-podcasted language according to Podcast Index), the piece details podcasting apps, production agencies, educational institutions teaching podcasting, events, and podcast research all happening locally.
How Many Ears Does Podcasting Stand to Lose Without TikTok?
In light of TikTok briefly going offline in the U.S. for a few hours before receiving a 75 day lease on life from the Trump administration, marketers are beginning to genuinely think about a post-TikTok reality. Edison Research highlights a couple slides that show what podcasting could expect, such as The Gen Z Podcast Listener Report from 2023, which found 80% of Gen Z respondents (aged 13-24) find new podcasts on TikTok. This is further backed up by Edison Podcast Metrics Q4 2024 data, which shows the number of U.S. weekly podcast listeners aged 13-24 who’ve ever listened to a podcast on TikTok increased from 26% in 2022 to 30% in 2024.
Digiday+ Research: Half of marketers say ad spend will grow this year by Julia Tabisz
A survey of over 40 marketing professionals finds expectations are positive for the year. 48% of respondents said in Q4 they agree advertisers will spend more in 2025. Only 24% disagree with that sentiment. 63% of agency pros expect their ad spend on behalf of clients to increase this year, with 42% saying they experienced spend increase on behalf of clients in 2024. More ad spend means more opportunities for podcasting to flex some marketing muscle this year.
The Trump Administration’s Invite to Influencers Is a Pitch for Free Marketing by Ashley Carman
Last week new White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the new administration is welcoming influencers and podcasters to apply for the ability to cover official press briefings alongside existing journalists formally in the Press Corps. Thousands have applied for a shot at the newly-created ‘New Media seat” in the briefing room, a valuable piece of real estate opened up by rebranding a seat previously reserved for White House staff, and one not in the seven rows of seats assigned by the White House Correspondent’s Association. The New Media seat likely will be a valuable promotional tool for the administration, as content-focused influencers are less likely to focus on constructing questions that slip in fact-checks or additional context to the topic at hand.
As for the rest of the news…
- Last Friday John Wordock published an update to his Substack newsletter that examined news podcasts covering breaking news of the midair collision on Wednesday, summarizing the response of the top ten shows on Apple Podcasts’ News chart. For further coverage of the industry, readers can subscribe to John Wordock Media here.
- BBC Studios has announced a multi-year deal naming iHeartMedia as the exclusive third-party reseller of BBC podcasts to the U.S. advertising market.
- Audacy has formally closed their Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, with CEO David Field leaving and board member Kelli Turner stepping in as interim CEO.
- SiriusXM Media’s 2024 financials show total revenue and radio subscriptions were down last year, but not as much as 2023 and its podcasting arm grew 12% last year. DWNLOAD Media CEO Chris Peterson also notes Alex Cooper was mentioned multiple times in the earnings call, while the likely-retiring Howard Stern wasn’t mentioned once, positioning the podcaster as the company’s big subscription-driver.
- Popular UK-based podcast Sh**ged.Married.Annoyed. has joined Adelicious.
- Topic Studios and iHeartPodcasts have teamed up to produce audio fiction series Cancellation Island from John Cameron Mitchell and Michael Cavadias
