by Gavin Gaddis
In the pre-pandemic era of podcasting, companies already in podcasting or adjacent to the industry drove mergers and acquisitions. Spotify bought Gimlet; SiriusXM Media bought Stitcher. The buyers had existing vested interests in podcasting. Now OpenAI has acquired TBPN, The Chernin Group has invested in companies like Goalhanger and Audiochuck, and Fox Entertainment has acquired Red Seat Ventures. Raizes argues the main difference is that this new wave of M&A activity focuses on audience rather than raw numbers. As The Podcast Landscape 2025 data shows, 55% of Americans have listened to a podcast in the past month. The medium has reached mainstream status, but pure reach doesn’t make a company valuable. Today's acquisitions represent investment in shows that have proven they can leverage their audiences.
Oxford Road’s ORBIT tool finds that 80% of the top 15 podcasts for advertisers in March 2026 were independent. Robins reflects on a cycle he’s seen repeat with networks and content publishers over the years: an initial focus on niche content shifts to chasing broad hits to offset the costs of unprofitable niches. Independent shows can focus on their niche without outside pressure to appeal to broader audiences, because they already have a built-in audience. The success of independent shows isn’t an argument against networks, but it is a sign not to confuse scale with effectiveness. Robins argues the publishers and platforms that will thrive in the next phase of podcasting will be those who figure out how to invest in polished content while still honoring the specificity and quirks of niche content.
Yesterday, Podnews covered a podcast company known as Light Knot Studios. The studio was publishing AI-generated content in feeds presented as off-brand versions of more than 75 popular history podcasts. For example, The Hardcore History Podcast used artwork that iterated on Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History and looked strikingly similar at a glance. Light Knot Studios monetized these shows using RSS.com’s Programmatic Ads Inserted Dynamically (PAID) platform to run ads on the daily AI-generated episodes. As of yesterday’s Podnews publication, the Light Knot Studios podcasts have been removed from the platform. In today’s Podnews issue, podcast lawyer Lindsay Bowen notes the original podcasts being imitated could have grounds for copyright infringement suits, as well as potential trademark infringement or Lanham Act violations. Bowen also notes podcast hosting companies and directories need to have a DMCA designated agent listed with the U.S. Copyright Office directory if they want to claim protection under the DMCA’s “safe harbor” liability exemption.
AdsWizz, Barometer, and NPR are teaming up for a webinar on Thursday, April 23 at noon Eastern to discuss how traditional targeting approaches can fall short in audio and what a more audio-native approach to targeting looks like. The presentation will include SiriusXM Media and AdsWizz Director of Ad Quality Measurement Stacey Hultgren, Barometer CEO and co-founder Tamara Zubatiy Nelson, and NPR SVP, Corporate Sponsorship Scott Davis. There’s a common perception among brands that podcasting lacks scale. The presenters will address how content filtering and evaluation are leading to that misconception.
…as for the rest of the news:
Podseo has a new sponsored segment in today’s Podnews promoting its development into a “full-spectrum AI producer assistant.”
Ozen.fm has named Bruno Pinheiro as its new Network Manager, reinforcing the company’s continued investment in podcasting and expansion across the Latin American market.
Jacqueline Westfall is now Director of Strategic Marketing Enablement at Libsyn.
This week’s episode of Podcast Perspectives features a discussion of how creators and advertisers are adapting to the growth of video podcasting. The episode was recorded live during SXSW 2026 in Austin, TX.
Marketing Brew has a download page for Audacy’s State of Audio: Sports Fandom report.
Pierre Bouvard has a new presentation on how marketers and media agencies understate the sales effect power of ad creative and overstate the impact of targeting.
