by Gavin Gaddis and Emily Ely
Audible Launches New Standard Membership Plan
The new Standard tier of Audible subscription is priced at $8.99 USD (or comparable price in other markets) and brings a streaming focus to Audible. Instead of the service’s usual focus on subscriptions giving out single-use tokens that permanently add audiobooks to the user’s library, Standard allows users to choose one audiobook per month to stream for as long as they’re a subscriber. As Variety covered yesterday, both the Wondery app and Wondery+ subscription service will be shut down soon (though no specific date has been shared). Wondery+ podcasts are becoming Audible Originals, with both Standard and Premium Audible subscribers getting perks similar to Wondery+ for those Originals (e.g., early access to episodes, ad-free, and subscriber-exclusive shows). The Standard plan is now available in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Germany, and France, with testing in progress in other marketplaces.
Podcast Movement Evolutions at SXSW Expands Star-Studded Lineup
We’ve got a new, expanded lineup of special guests attending next week to share. Saturday night’s event Companion Presents: In Good Company will feature a live conversation with Penn Badgley (You, Gossip Girl). Sunday’s keynote will be delivered by SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings, Stranger Things). Also confirmed today: Apple will be spotlighting their recent announcement that introduces an HLS-powered upgrade to video podcasting in Apple Podcasts.
Video Podcasts Reach 20% of Internet Users as YouTube Extends Its Engagement Lead
New consumer survey data from Ampere Analysis indicates 20% of global internet users in Q3 2025 had watched video podcasts and clips in the past month. As The Streaming Wars editorial staff puts it: that’s not niche behavior. That’s mass reach. Video podcasting is growing, and YouTube is at the heart of it. The SW staff argues affordable chat-show video podcasts won’t replace popular scripted content or live sports, but they do have the momentum to “quietly siphon” weekly screen-time that used to belong to TV and mid-tier original streaming content.
How creator talent agencies are evolving into multi-platform operators by Alyssa Mercante
Creator talent agencies are evolving from deal brokers into full service business operators, helping creators build sustainable careers across platforms. Merger and acquisition activity in the creator space grew 17.4% year over year in 2025 to 81 deals, growth that’s expected to remain strong in 2026. While podcasting isn’t mentioned directly, content creators are diversifying. One of the top movies in January was a video game adaptation directed by a YouTuber (Iron Lung). SmartLess has a phone service spinoff. Few productions remain on just one platform.
As for the rest of the news…
- Podscribe has published their February 2026 rankings, including advertiser highlights, top publishers, and developments with top podcasts (such as Pod Save America jumping three spots to #7 in audio reach)
- Pierre Bouvard has a new study looking at a survey of 1,000 auto parts shoppers and how effective audio advertising is at targeting them.
- Spotify is celebrating their 20th anniversary with keynotes and musical performances during SXSW next week. Including a concert at Stubb’s with Alanis Morissette, Ella Langley, and St. Vincent.
- The Plotpoint, a new monthly author interview podcast from Evergreen Podcasts, has launched featuring Patricia Cornwell as its debut guest.
- Backyard Ventures will exclusively handle brand partnerships for “excellence, actually” marking the show’s first premium sponsor integrations.
- The Trade Desk has launched OpenTTD, a new platform analytics portal that creates a single login and integrated analytics for companies spread across different services as TTD partners.
