“It was always a part of the plan to distribute original work that didn’t necessarily tie to an existing TV or digital brand, and we’re excited to be working with Rainstream Media. This partnership represents a next step to increase scale and scope in our podcast business.”
There’s a good reason to launch podcasts that aren’t associated with the company’s current brands. Moody says that it’s a different way toward a successful podcast. Looking back at the previous few years of the organisation, previously known as Turner Podcast Network, he says he’s learnt that “there is no one path to podcast success. Whether it’s a weekly show or a finite narrative series, or a complimentary series to a TV show there are many ways to reach an engaged podcast audience. I think it’s all about delivering value. What is your value proposition to the audience? Will they be informed? Will they get behind the scenes insight? Of course they are all meant to be entertainment in some form, but what kind of entertainment? Figure out the purpose of your show and deliver on it.”Looking at the News & Politics “What’s Hot” section, the top most-reviewed podcasts in that genre actually aren’t featured in that list. And most of the podcasts featured there have far fewer ratings and reviews than the top shows of the same genre. This is looking both at podcasts that simply list News & Politics among several genres, and those shows that have that genre selected as the primary.
If you’re looking for newsletters containing new podcasts to listen to, here are some of our favourites. (Know of others? We’re at updates@podnews.net).
The educated Listener, from Caroline Crampton, is a daily education newsletter “where I curate and send out three amazing podcast episodes every day”.
Due Credit is “a weekly digest of the best podcasts and newsletters for keeping up with the human resources news”, featuring podcasts and newsletters aimed at people “who could use some help developing a healthier employer news diet”.
Rosy Press — Erik Jones links to specific episodes of podcasts he’s listened to, and a few other fun links of interest.
Fringe Bloggers - like book club, but for podcasts. This newsletter gives a set of episodes on a theme every month, and some music to go with it too. (example)
Podcast Consortium is a new podcast newsletter, with one new podcast recommendation every Monday.
Nova Magazinecast sends you three recommended episodes every Wednesday. (example)
Podsportstime, produced by the team behind the British Podcast Awards, is “a monthly(ish) email that showcases new and interesting podcasts”, with a subscriber list of over 70,000.
VAC Pod “rounds up some great podcasts episodes to help you get through the week with the weird, interesting, and newsworthy.” (example)
The Fixed Brain is a weekly newsletter for “all things podcasting”, focusing on recommendations. (example)
The Fit Mom is a weekly newsletter recommending US political podcasts. (example)
I even have access to stats for some of the podcasts in “What’s Hot” sections and I can confirm they’ve had no major increase in recent activity.
My theory, based on this data and observation, is that while there probably are algorithms in place that cause a podcast to get Apple’s attention, Apple still maintains 100% editorial control. They probably have to intentionally approve podcasts for those sections, no matter how well the podcast is performing. But if there’s no one to approve the feature of those podcasts, or they’re busy with something else, then “What’s Hot” and “New & Noteworthy” would seem to stagnate.
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