Upcoming Webinars
The temperature might be cooling down outside but things are heating up with Sounds Profitable presentations. First up: after three years Sounds Profitable’s first report under Tom Webster, The Creators, is back! Join Tom on Wednesday, December 10th, at 2:00 p.m. EST for the debut of The Creators 2025. Built from over 5,000 respondents, this study looks at who today’s podcast creators are, what formats they’re choosing, and why more of them aren’t sticking to podcasting. Then on December 11th at 1:00 p.m. EST, Sounds Profitable and The Podglomerate are teaming up for How (and Why) to Budget for Podcast Awards in 2026. This free presentation will breakdown how to budget for podcast awards submissions, key awards to keep on your radar, and how getting awards can help scale a show’s goals.
Why This Creator Is Leaving Her Five-Figure Podcast
Tubefilter looks at the case of Shelby Church, an influencer who is retiring her podcast Step by Step after a year of production. Despite reaching 15k average downloads and $1,400 per-episode income, she’s stepping away from the podcast due to the work involved. It’s not what her core audience elsewhere wants, and promoting the podcast as a separate entity is its own full-time job. Church is not alone, the industry is littered with podfaded shows started by YouTubers and Twitch streamers expecting an easy side gig, only to find podcasting was its own separate workflow and audience in need of maintenance. From the Try Guys to the Game Grumps, there’s dozens of similarly-abandoned attempts at “easy” side content. Which, in a way, is a sign podcasting has truly matured in the past couple decades. TV is no longer a side-gig for respected actors in between movies, there’s expectations and prestige at stake. The same is becoming true for podcasting, as half-baked concepts can’t stay afloat among thousands of shows actually aiming to succeed as a podcast.
This mega-article is the result of Bloomberg reporters analyzing host-read ads from nearly 1,000 videos across eight of the most popular right-leaning video podcasts on YouTube, from Carlson to Von. Their advertisers tend to at least reference political identity in messaging, if not outright frame products around political identity. At least one host-read ad with a political message appeared in 91% of the videos reviewed by Bloomberg. 3 out of 10 advertisers relied on ideology, from an athletic wear brand exclusively built to disparaging trans athletes to “alternative health” companies promoting supplements using RFK Jr’s “Make America Healthy Again” slogan. Of course, this is not necessarily a new phenomenon. The archives of conservative podcast predecessors like InfoWars act as a veritable museum of ideologically-branded companies built for the political moment. That said, podcasting (and YouTube podcasting in particular) offers an even more leaned-in audience than the days of AM radio simulcasting. Divorced of political implications, it’s an example of podcasting doing what it was designed to do: deliver a niche program (and ads relevant to that program) directly to audiences who love that content.
Bill Nighy Is Officially the Best-Dressed Man in Podcasting by Jeremy Freed
I can think of at least three podcasters who’d take offense to the headline, but that’s besides the point. GQ’s Freed interviews character actor Bill Nighy about his new Acast-produced podcast ill-advised, in which Nighy answers questions from fans he may or may not be qualified to answer. While the interview is fun in its own right (apparently many people mistake Nighy for edutainment star Bill Nye), what’s worth noting here is the motivating factor: his podcast. The conversation eventually veers into more GQ-relevant territory, discussing Nighy’s recent menswear collection with John Smedley. Even then, the inciting incident is promoting the launch of ill-advised. For all the data (and there is plenty) that podcasting has reached the mainstream, anecdotal moments like this are worth noting as well: GQ interviewing an award-winning actor as promotional push for his podcast.
As for the rest of the news…
- Independent podcaster Aileen Day has launched People of Agency, a podcast dedicating each season to discussing an American institution’s history and challenges facing them in modern times, starting with the USPS. When Tom Webster wrote about making sure podcasting doesn’t narrow our creative possibilities in The Podcast Preservation Paradox, shows like People of Agency are a prime example of that audio intimacy and niche artistry audio podcasting fosters.
- The submission portal for the iHeartPodcast Awards 2026 is now live and will close December 7th.
- Fourthwall co-founder Will Baumann has posted a trailer for the company’s new Signature line, adding premium versions of popular merch bases like hoodies and sweaters.
- Ashley Carman’s Soundbite newsletter looks back at recent merger & acquisition behavior in podcasting, as well as some rumors of potential upcoming M&A.
