Companies like Loftie and Footwear Unlimited (which oversees production for Frye, Spyder, and Baretraps) receive the bulk of their business from the United States, but with production facilities in China they’re staring down the barrel of an uncertain future. With the unpredictability of new tariffs it’s becoming harder to model out what profit margins will look like as the cost of goods fluctuates significantly and quickly. With companies assessing expansion abroad and cooling down efforts in the U.S., now is a good time for the podcast industry at large to review their global reach and opportunities. Legacy companies are about to be new fish in big ponds worldwide, and podcasting’s already there speaking directly to their ideal audience.
In Defense of Journalism: An Appeal to the Podcast Industry by Joelle Nole
Nole argues podcasting is at a crucial turning point as far as its approach to promoting transparent independent journalism. News-focused podcasting could turn down the road of cable TV, entrenching the biggest names with more of an intention to entertain audiences rather than break news or go in-depth of existing stories. Journalism in podcasting has the power to affect change, and she calls for big names in the industry to acknowledge that beyond base profitability. She asks podcast players (Spotify, Apple, YouTube, etc.) to acknowledge their position as front pages of podcasting, with better categorization that elevates actual journalism in a way that doesn’t force it to compete with sensationalist journalist-shaped entertainment. Production companies pitching to funders or sponsors should stop leading with downloads and instead pitch them as investment in public impact. A healthy fourth estate is vital, and nearly impossible to get back once it’s fully gone.
How Press-Shy Stars Are Finding Their Voice in Hollywood During the Podcast Era by Clayton Davis
The power of podcasting’s audience connection has grown to the point celebrities aren’t just appearing on movie podcasts to promote movies during press junkets, they’re appearing on big podcasts independent of the topic at hand. The big example, of course, being famously press-shy Leonardo DiCaprio hopping on a video call to appear on In the Heights to promote One Battle After Another. While press-friendly celebs are no stranger to the podcast circuit (e.g. both Ari Aster and Zach Cregger have guested on episodes of Black Check with Griffin and David scheduled to coincide with their new movies this year), the likes of DiCaprio signal the further evolution of podcasting taking the place of traditional talk-shows. I know as a kid I was setting my VCR to record Leno or Conan because a rarely-seen big celeb was coming on to promote a movie. Now podcasts are stepping up to provide big-name watercooler moment talk show content.
IAB Upgrades Podcast Outlook Despite Economic Drag On Overall Ad Spending.
The new IAB forecast for 2025 U.S. ad spend is 5.7%. While that outpaces inflation, it is down from the 7.3% growth forecast published back in January, specifically mentioning “mounting economic uncertainties” as the culprit. The bright side is H1 expectations were met for overall ad spend, the downgrade more reflects expected decrease to the pace throughout H2. Still, as the headline teases, podcasting’s forecast has been upgraded. Now the podcast ad spend expectation is a growth of 7.9% by the end of 2025, up half a point from the January forecast.
Pew Research has a new fact sheet listing out findings re: how U.S. adults are engaging with podcasts, including how they get their news info. The demographic of podcast listeners is slowly growing to include more than the young tech-y crowd. From 2022 to 2025 Pew finds the 18-29 demographic response has plateaued to the question “have you listened to a podcast in the past 12 months.” Meanwhile there’s been an 8% growth in 50-64 (a historically underserved segment) and a 5% growth for 65+. As podcasting enters the zeitgeist more and more, the bigger the audience. Pew also finds the % of U.S. adults who say they never get news from podcasts has shrunk to 46%, the lowest that figure has been since they started surveying in 2020. “Often” getting news from podcasts has slowly increased from 9% of respondents in 2023 to 10% this year.
As for the rest of the news…
- SiriusXM Media has a new Podcast Trends Report built around looking at five big questions facing podcasting, including “does show size matter” and “does video dwarf the audio star?”
- Podcast Business Journal has a new interview with Inception Point AI CEO Jeanine Wright.
- Kelly McBride has a new in-depth issue of NPR’s Public Editor column specifically looking at NPR’s future podcasting strategy.
- Station is partnering with creator-focused merchandise company Certified Crucial to launch embedded merch solutions, enabling podcasts to launch, pre-sell, and fulfill merch all inside Station.
- The Globe and Mail’s 2025 edition of their Top Growing Companies list named Quill one of Canada’s top growing companies, marking the third year running Quill has been recognized.
- Gumball is diversifying their roster of video-first podcasts with the signing of Clooless Podcast, Pretty, Not Smart, and Let’s Get Into It.
- YouTube UK has announced a new initiative called the All-Party Parliamentary Group, which will connect UK creators with policymakers to educate them on the realities of content creation and the creator economy.
