by Gavin Gaddis
Quick reminder: this Thursday, April 16, at 1:00 p.m. EST Tom Webster and RSS.com co-founder Alberto Betella will present Audio Primes: The People Who Listen to Podcasts. Built from The Podcast Landscape 2025 data, this new report looks at the audience behavior of Audio Primes, people who consume at least three-quarters of their content as audio. Registration is free and live now.
Media group Global and publisher iHeartPodcasts return as partners for The Podcast Show London 2026. Global’s 2026 presence will have a particular focus on the newly launched Global Studios. The 2026 edition of The Podcast Show London is set for May 20 and 21 at the Business Design Centre in Islington. Sounds Profitable will return this year as sponsor of the brand stage and host of a pre-show badge pickup happy hour (4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. GMT, May 19).
Samba TV's VP, Measurement Science Alyson Sprague debuts its first Netflix Podcast Ranker. As reported by Ashley Carman in her Soundbite newsletter, Samba’s data comes from chips in “tens of millions” of U.S. smart TVs, weighted against Census data. Carman notes Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann said video podcasts overindex on Netflix users' mobile devices, beyond Samba’s data. According to Samba’s ranker, 13% of Netflix households watched a podcast in Q1 of 2026. The Breakfast Club dominates the individual podcast ranker, accounting for 44% of Samba-tracked views in Q1. By comparison, second place goes to Bridgerton: The Official Podcast with 16% of total views. Carman clarifies the data set used for the ranker qualifies “a view” as one minute of watch time.
Amplifi Media founder and CEO Steven Goldstein reflects on a question asked in Steve Raizes’ final issue of Bad on Mic: is podcasting optimizing the wrong thing? Goldstein targets downloads: a distribution metric, not a reliable consumption gauge. He argues success isn’t solely defined by reach, and customer engagement has been the chosen currency for most businesses. Attention is invaluable, especially when the world of podcasting is built on the medium’s ability to form connections with audiences.
Digiday's Michael Bürgi surveys how buyers assessed this year's NewFronts and what they expect from the upfronts. Little stood out in the way of individual content at NewFronts, but the interviewed buyers note a positive trend of improved measurement capabilities. Upfront conversations cite several reasons for shifting budgets, specifically automotive and spirits budgets moving down slightly. Steve Boehler, founder of consultancy Mercer Island Group, says he’s sensing from marketers at upfronts that there’s a current focus on flexibility.
…as for the rest of the news:
Last Friday’s episode of Podnews Weekly Review features an interview with Sounds Profitable Partner Bryan Barletta discussing bringing Podcast Movement to New York City this year.
Anahita Davoodi has a new analysis of podcasting in Iran for Podnews’ Market Focus article series, including data from Grand View Research’s Middle East & Africa Podcasting Market Size & Outlook, 2030.
Oxford Road has published a special edition of the Media Roundtable podcast, featuring the full panel discussion from the Podcast Movement Evolutions panel, The Power of Independence: Why Brands are Betting on Independent Creators.
Inside Audio Marketing covers The New York Times’ internal restructuring to merge Audio and Podcast Video teams into one unified Shows department.
Exactly Right Media, the podcast network behind My Favorite Murder, and iHeartPodcasts have signed true crime podcaster Jake Brennan. His podcasts Disgraceland and Hollywoodland will continue to be produced by Double Elvis and executive produced by Exactly Right Media and iHeartPodcasts.
