Public RSS on Patreon, LATAM Podcasting Report, & More

Before I get into the news, a reminder that The Podglomerate and Sounds Profitable are hosting a webinar on strategic podcast awards budgeting. How (and Why) to Budget for Podcast Awards in 2026 kicks off next week on Wednesday, December 11th at 1:00 p.m. EST

Triton Digital Announces 2025 LATAM Audio Insights Report

The new report draws from Triton Digital Podcast Metrics and Webcast Metrics data collected from January through August of this year. Key findings include Portuguese-language content dominating the LATAM podcast scene with 51% of all ranked podcasts on Triton (followed by Spanish at 42%). An indicator of the powerhouse that is both the size of Brazil’s podcast scene and Brazil in general. Streaming metrics show consistent growth across major publishers in the region, with the top-ranked network averaging 100,000 active sessions.

Spotify to raise US prices in first quarter of next year, report says by Aisha Malik

According to the new Financial Times report, Spotify is planning to increase the price of Premium in Q1 2026, the first U.S. price increase since July of 2024. JPMorgan analysts expect the increase to be another $1/month jump, which could increase their U.S. annual revenue by around $500 million.

Distribute public podcasts from Patreon with Public RSSIn a blog post detailing a series of new initiatives and features, Patreon has announced podcasters can now host public feeds and distribute episodes out to major podcast directories (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.). This follows several years of private podcasts being a value-add option for Patreon users, generating a bespoke RSS feed for paying subscribers to add to their podcast apps to access exclusive content. A feature formerly powered by an Acast partnership until earlier this year when the company launched their home-grown Patreon RSS system.

iHeartMedia Makes ‘Guaranteed Human’ A Core Branding Message Across All Stations.

Chief Programming Officer Tom Poleman has made an announcement of iHeartMedia’s “Guaranteed Human” mentality, a formal declaration the company will not distribute AI-generated personalities, music/songs featuring synthetic vocalists, or podcasts. The company encourages AI-powered operational tools (e.g. scheduling, analytics, workflow automation), the “Guaranteed Human” initiative simply cuts out generative content mimicking human creativity. An initiative informed by iHeart internal research, finding 90% of surveyed audience members want their media made by “real humans” and 92% believing nothing can replace human connection, a figure that has risen from 76% in 2016, a pre-gen AI media landscape.

Everything Is Television by Derek Thompson

In Thompson’s context, the idea of something becoming “television” is built from the 1974 Raymond Williams book Television: Technology and Cultural Form in which Williams argues the creation of television shifted media from being “discrete” items (e.g. a movie is its own individual piece of entertainment, a book is self-contained) into a continuous “flow.” That flow has become the focus as social media platforms pivot more towards becoming infinite content feeds instead of networks that encourage socialization. Thompson nods to video podcasting’s growth as an indicator podcasting could turn into “television” itself. But I argue podcasting as a medium, even with “television”-y video content, is potentially the last bastion against “flow.” The ability for hyper-niche content to not only find a specific audience, but also thrive with that audience for its intimacy and focus. Niche podcasts are a rare example of a discrete form of digital media.

As for the rest of the news…