Looking Back at the Podcast Election (Multiple Sources)
This morning Bloomberg Technology has dropped a sizable article authored by seven writers on the political utility of ‘manosphere’ video podcasts in the Trump reelection campaign. In addition, Ashley Carman’s latest edition of Soundbite covers the D.C. podcasting scene during inauguration weekend. Meanwhile, Oxford Road has published a new report titled The Untold Story of The Podcast Election, a five page brief on what their data shows in regards to podcasts both candidates appeared on, how advertisers performed on those episodes, and how podcast dollars work harder than TV, social, and digital.
Netflix Surpasses 300 Million Subscribers, Raises Prices by Sahil Patel
The Q4 report from Netflix is a big ‘un, with the company saying they gained 19 million members over the quarter to reach a total of 302 million global paid subscribers. Growth which is partially attributed to Netflix leaning into live sporting events, such as the Jake Paul v. Mike Tyson boxing match and Christmas Day NFL games. According to AdExchanger coverage, Netflix doubled its annual ad revenue in 2024 and expects to double it again this year. 55% of new Netflix subscribers in Q4 signed up for the ad-supported tier, showing the efficacy of ad-supported content. To which we point out podcasting remains largely ad-supported and, as a bonus, is still free.
As for the rest of the news…
- Paul Riismandel has a new Signal Hill Insights piece looking at opportunities for podcasting in 2025, including a bigger, more socio-economically diverse podcasting audience that would mean more opportunity for podcasting overall.
- Podscribe has launched its new Audience Overlap feature, which lets users evaluate listener duplication across channels, shows, campaigns, and publishers
- Signs point to Spotify gearing up to launch their Courses offering in the U.S. after a pilot program in the UK
- Back in December Podnews investigated a ‘collection agency’ filing spurious invoices for thousands of dollars to podcast directories for listing freely-available shows. Thanks to Podnews’ independently-supported journalism bringing light to the matter, the agency’s website has been suspended.
- SoundStack has appointed John Morris as its Chief Product Officer
- Underscore Talent has signed makeup artist and true crime storyteller Bailey Sarian, host of Murder, Mystery, & Makeup
- Between Two Beers has joined Acast’s network for exclusive global hosting, distribution and monetisation.
