Netflix Approaches SiriusXM For Video Podcast Licensing by Caitlin Huson
It’s just a Netflix kind of week for news, it seems. According to an insider source speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, in addition to the already-signed Spotify deal and possible iHeartMedia video podcast licensing deal, Netflix is also looking into licensing SiriusXM video podcasts. No deal has been reached. SiriusXM has invested heavily in building out their YouTube presence for video podcasting, taking some of their biggest shows and shunting them onto a separate paid platform exclusively would be an unexpected choice, for sure.
Podcast Industry Rankings October 2025
The new Podscribe monthly industry rankings find the top three shows by listenership held strong, with The Daily, Crime Junkie, and The Joe Rogan Experience sticking where they were in September. For audio reach the top three publishers are Spotify, SiriusXM Media, and iHeartMedia. MeidasTouch decreased 20% in monthly downloads and video views month-over-month, but still took the top spot with 260.4 million.
Amazon Inks iHeartMedia Deal for Programmatic Ads, Expanding Push Into Audio by Todd Spangler
The expanded deal with iHeartMedia allows Amazon DSP users to access both streaming music and livestreamed radio channels on the iHeart network, with plans to add iHeartPodcasts and broadcast radio station inventory next year. Another notch in Amazon DSP’s belt, along with the recent Spotify deal. On the video side, Netflix is selling through Amazon DSP while also making the argument that its net Monthly Active Viewers metric (subscribers who watch at least a minute of ads per month, multiplied by average size of a household to account for living room co-viewing) make it a must-have in a healthy marketing mix.
Brands set to cut open web display spend 30% in response to AI search by Sam Bradley
Forrester analysis predicts that next year advertisers will spend 30% less on open web advertising, shifting that spend to connected TV and paid social. A move motivated by the rise of AI search summaries, which caused a marked uptick in zero-click searches. Jonathan Geller, co-founder of agency Lower Cross tells Digiday he sees open web display declining as a category. In a world where fields like social and video are measurable without “tons of modelling,” open web display makes less and less sense.
As for the rest of the news…
- AudioStack has a free webinar coming up on Tuesday, November 18th at 3:30 p.m. GMT, focusing on how publishers and broadcasters are using AI audio to drive advertising impact.
- CoHost has launched a New Listener Metric. As the name implies, it measures the number of unique listeners that tune into a podcast for the first time, allowing podcasters to track audience growth beyond total downloads/unique listener numbers.
- The Los Angeles Tribune Podcast Network-produced podcast The Art of Rebounding, hosted by former Harlem Globetrotter Harold “Lefty” Williams with exclusive sales by Mission Media, is releasing a two-part tell-all special interview with Olympic gold medalist Spencer Haywood.
- PodcastRD, a directory of Dominican podcasts, has announced an annual awards ceremony called PodcastRD Awards. The 2025 edition will be livestreamed on Tuesday the 11th in commemoration of Dominican Podcast Day.
