Bloomberg sources say the proposed deal would combine the country’s biggest radio station owner with its biggest satellite radio service, which would represent more than $12 billion of combined annual sales/revenue. As of Friday, representatives from both iHeart and SiriusXM have declined to comment on the Bloomberg piece.
S&P Analysis: U.S. Podcast Consumption Grows as Industry Embraces Video by George Winslow
S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows U.S. podcast listening grew 10 percentage points from Q1 2025 to Q1 2026, with nearly 60% of online adults reporting podcast listening in the past year. A number close to Sounds Profitable’s The Podcast Landscape 2025 findings, which totals 68% with respondents who have consumed a podcast (audio or video) in the past year. While The Podcast Landscape encompasses video podcast respondents while S&P’s data specifies “listeners,” the percentage of Podcast Landscape respondents who say they are “video only” hovers around 8-9%. When added to the S&P figure, this percentage brings the total in line with Podcast Landscape audience findings.
Spotify Rolls Out Fitness, Claude Integration
This morning, Spotify launched new fitness offerings, with both free and Premium users having access to dozens of curated workout playlists and content from established wellness creators. The rollout partners with Peloton to give Premium members ad-free access to over 1,400 on-demand classes. Spotify has also integrated with Claude AI, letting users connect accounts for personalized recommendations from their listening data.
Spanish-language podcast platform iVoox has launched a TV ad campaign developed by agency Drop&Vase for airing on Mediaset España channels. Podnews has provided an English-captioned version of the ad, and notes it may be the first formal TV ad for a podcast app it has seen — though Audible and TuneIn have run spots before.
Audion Raises $15M and Expands to the U.S.
The funding will support Audion’s U.S. expansion, including go-to-market operations, partnerships, and product development. On LinkedIn, Audion co-founder and CEO Arthur Larrey reflects on the three Audion pillars (audio performance, AudionAI, and the convergence of audio and video) and expresses excitement about relocating to New York City.
As for the rest of the news…
- Variety covers this year’s Peabody Award winners, including Divine Intervention, Scam Inc, and When We All Get to Heaven. Wonder Media Network co-founder and Global SVP, Business Development at Acast Shira Atkins took to LinkedIn on Friday to discuss Divine Intervention’s win.
- Podcast Business Journal has a new interview with Headliner co-founder and CEO Neil Mody, discussing the company’s eighth birthday and why it started in the first place.
- On Friday, Podnews covered an influx of spam podcasts being pushed to Apple Podcasts.
- Love on the Spectrum star Connor Tomlinson has announced he is hosting a history-themed video podcast for PAVE Studios as part of a new slate of history content.
- A recent special episode of Media Roundtable shares the audio of a SXSW discussion titled “The Guaranteed Human in an Artificial World”, featuring iHeartPodcasts president Will Pearson, Libsyn CEO Brendan Monaghan, GoodRx VP, Growth Marketing Richard Case, and Gladwell Mwangi, paid media enablement lead at Whole Foods Market.
