Building Interactive Audio Experiences in Hit Replay – Spooler x Pantheon Media.
Once again, collaboration is the word of the day. In a new deep-dive conversation, Bryan Barletta is joined by Spooler co-founders James Boggs and Andy Bowers, as well as Pantheon Media co-founders Christian Swain and Peter Ferioli. The group spends a half-hour breaking down how the two companies came together to create Hit Replay, an interactive podcast puzzle game produced in partnership with the San Francisco Travel Association to promote the Grateful Dead @ 60 – San Francisco Legacy project. Beyond that, they drill down into both Spooler and Pantheon Media’s philosophies regarding generative AI use, disclosure of voice clones in content, and their “anti-slop” mission.
Forget Warner Bros., Netflix Should Buy Spotify
The topic du jour in Hollywood is the news that Warner Bros. Discovery has several standing offers to buy either parts or all of the company. Except for Netflix, who recently chilled any rumors that they were considering buying the legacy studio(s). Owl & Co. founder Hernan Lopez takes this moment to propose something even more radical: he pitches Netflix should merge with Spotify. Among other reasons listed in his LinkedIn article, Lopez argues Spotify would be a great Freemium funnel for Netflix subscriptions, creating an on-ramp for Netflix-owned content that’s accessible for free (compared to the current “free” offering of “go to the house of a person with a Netflix subscription”).
Exclusive: IAB moves NewFronts and adds CreatorFronts by Kerry Flynn
The IAB has shifted the NewFronts digital video showcase, typically held in late April or early May, to earlier in the year. The 2026 NewFronts are now scheduled for March 23rd through 26th. In addition, they have announced they will debut a new session called CreatorFronts in September of 2026, set to take place alongside Podcast Upfront and gaming/immersive media-focused PlayFronts.
How Programmatic Audio Became the Star of Programmatic I/O 2025 New York by Garrison Dua
A new AdsWizz blog detailing this year’s Programmatic I/O event in New York City. On the main stage a panel spotlighted experts from The Trade Desk, Spotify, iHeartMedia, and SiriusXM Media discussing the power of audio ads. While the numbers show audio advertising works, and it works well, a crucial component of growing the field is buy-in (figuratively and literally) from marketers.
What Joining a Network Does (and Might Not) For You by Arielle Nissenblatt
A commonly-cited reason for independent podcasters joining a network is the sense of legitimacy bestowed on the show. A sign they have ‘made it’ enough for others to take on the work of selling ads. Nissenblatt highlights other knock-on effects of joining a network, such as access to new advertisers and the ‘seal of approval’ effect of having a network’s logo in your cover art. She also points to a new episode of Financial Feminist in which Tori Dunlap explains why she ultimately decided podcast networks weren’t a good fit for her show.
As for the rest of the news…
- Companion and LiveRead have launched their brand and creator network. For more on the collaboration between the two companies, watch this recent conversation hosted by Bryan Barletta.
- Ireland’s podcasting industry is coming together next month to discuss the future. Sound.Waves is a two-day summit held in the village of Adare, including panels, networking, and the All-Ireland Podcast Awards ceremony.
- Podscribe has a batch of five new updates, including TransUnion demographic data for publishers and subnetworks on publisher pages.
- Night SVP and talent manager Daniel Huntzinger guests on a new episode of Digiday Podcast.
- Boardroom has a new top five chart for Spotify podcast streams that finds Kareem Rahma’s podcast spinoff of his TikTok series Subway Takes was the third most-streamed podcast as of October 17th.
- Lemonada Media has announced a global release of James Cordon’s podcast This Life of Mine.
