The Podcast Show London is just around the corner. This year Sounds Profitable has partnered with NumberEight, Katz Digital, Claritas, Barometer, Locked On, and AdLarge for the Pod-Tales and Cocktails Happy Hour at Bubba Oasis. Due to capacity, this is a waitlist link, but Sounds Profitable partners and clients of the sponsoring companies are given priority access. We’d love for you to sign up and hope to see you in London soon!
Podigee Launches Video Podcasts
Podcast platform Podigee now supports video distribution to YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. As of May 4, Podigee users have the ability to upload a video file once and distribute it out to major podcast platforms, both video and audio. The feature is available in every Podigee plan, with plans for more video destinations and future tools for video podcast workflows.
The Q1 report shows North America remains a strong driver, with Chief Communications & Brand Officer Lizzy Pollott reporting 43% organic growth in the region for Q1 2026. Overall Acast net sales are up 20% for the quarter. Q1 2026 is noteworthy as the first ever profitable Q1 for the company, posting an adjusted EBIT margin of 1%.
Campaign Management Updates: Pre-Booking 2026
Starting July 15, 2026, Megaphone will transfer campaign management to the Spotify Ad Server (SAS). This will enable new formats, including video. According to Podnews, the ability to serve third-party ads via video ad serving template (VAST) will be removed entirely. Pre-booking using the new system starts May 15.
A Local Content Realization by Steve Allen
Research Director Inc. programming research consultant Steve Allen shares his biggest takeaway from reading Tom Webster’s recent piece 860 Thoughts About The Rumored SiriusXM/iHeart Deal. The majority of locally-produced radio content isn’t in the content at all; it’s the advertisements running on the content. Allen highlights how this should be a wake-up call for local broadcasters to take advertising creative seriously. Given how much potential local ads have, relatively little time and effort goes into producing them or vetting low-quality pre-produced spots. This isn’t a problem native to radio. Allen points to low-quality local TV ads (and, anecdotally, I point to the amount of times I’ve seen unfinished local ads run in movie theaters). A key component of effective advertising is good ad creative, and as such it should be a higher priority for radio.
World Cup Audiences Are Listening—And Brands Should Too
Inside Audio Marketing covers Nielsen data relevant to the upcoming FIFA World Cup, set to begin in 11 U.S. host cities this June. Nielsen’s The Game Behind the Game, finds 77% of U.S. soccer fans turn to radio and podcasts for soccer content—over-indexing versus the general population. Millennials are 41% more likely to consume World Cup content via podcasts than any other medium, signaling demand for “deeper, more contextual storytelling.”
As for the rest of the news…
- The video of the recent webinar Scaling Podcast Advertising: Unlocking Growth with Context and Confidence, featuring AdsWizz, Barometer, and NPR is now available. SiriusXM Media | AdsWizz Director of Ad Quality Stacey Hultgren has a recap blog covering key topics from the webinar, as well.
- Lemonada Media has partnered with Flightpath for its forecasting capabilities, sales optimization, and scalable growth.
- The second edition of Genuina Media’s global podcasting newsletter The Global Ear is live, taking a look at Spain, Puerto Rico, Chile, and Argentina.
- Daniel Schneider has been named Vice President of Video Content Syndication & Licensing at Red Seat Ventures.
- Podcast educator and storytelling coach Derek Oxley has published Voices in the Box, a children’s book designed to help introduce kids to podcasting and develop real-world communication skills.
- Tink Media has joined forces with Naomi Mellor of Everybody Media to co-present the 2026 International Women’s Podcast Awards.
- NOVA Entertainment has announced the network’s first ever video-led series: Bush Deep, created in collaboration with comedian Nikki Osborne.
