SXSW 2026 Announcements, SAG-AFTRA on Video Podcasts, & More

Author

Gavin Gaddis
March 6th, 2026

by Gavin Gaddis

Just one week left until Podcast Movement Evolutions! While I pack my bags and dream of hearing argumentative grackles in every tree I pass, let’s look back at what happened this week in the business of podcasting.

SXSW 2026 Announcements

First up in SXSW 2026 news: Podcast Movement Evolutions expands its star-studded lineup. On Saturday the 14th,  Companion Presents: In Good Company will feature a live conversation with Penn Badgley (You, Gossip Girl). Sunday’s keynote will be delivered by SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings, Stranger Things). Also confirmed: Apple will be spotlighting their recent announcement that introduces an HLS-powered upgrade to video podcasting in Apple Podcasts.

Qualifying shows/channels require full creator ownership and editorial control (no major platform ownership or exclusives), at least an episode per month in the past year, and not primarily a promotional vehicle for a “top-tier” celebrity using a podcast secondary to their main career. A full list of nominees, judges, and methodology can be found on the official site, and Oxford Road founder Dan Granger has dedicated a Media Roundtable podcast episode to discussing Indie PaC. 

Finally: Spotify is celebrating its 20th birthday with big keynotes and musical performances at SXSW, including a concert at Stubb’s BBQ featuring Alanis Morissette, Ella Langley, and a rare DJ set from St. Vincent.

In this week's Sounds Profitable article, Tom Webster looks at a chart from the latest Edison Research Share of Ear study shows podcasting's share of daily spoken-word audio consumption compared to AM/FM radio in 2025 (40% vs. 39%). More specifically, he addresses the wider press coverage labeling this statistic as evidence that spoken-word podcasting has passed AM/FM radio share of ear for the first time. But one substantial caveat goes unaddressed: podcasting is not audio-only, and it hasn't been for years. Share of Ear measures the listening universe (including podcasts listened to on video-forward apps), but does not measure podcasts that are actively watched. A quote from the article:

“In Sound You Can See, we found that the vast majority of video podcast consumers discovered the medium in the last five years, and they did so through YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram — not through audio platforms. In The Podcast Landscape, video podcast consumers report spending roughly half their total podcast time watching rather than listening. Those are hours of spoken-word consumption that simply do not appear in the Share of Ear data, because they happened on a screen and were actively watched and not listened to through a minimized app or hidden browser tab.”

If one were to measure all spoken-word podcast consumption, regardless of device/format, it’s likely podcasting passed radio’s spoken-word audience some time ago. Possibly even more than a year. If the narrative becomes ‘podcasting finally caught up to talk radio’ that comes with the implication podcasting’s upper ceiling is the size of radio. Measuring podcasting by those standards runs the risk of shrinking a massive medium to fit a very specific ruler.

The new Standard tier of Audible subscription is priced at $8.99 USD (or comparable price in other markets) and brings a streaming focus to Audible. With the original model (now known as Premium), subscribers would receive credits each month to permanently add audiobooks to their account. The new Standard plan gives readers the ability to choose one audiobook a month to add to their library, which the user can listen to for as long as they’re subscribed.  

As Variety covered earlier this week, both the Wondery app and Wondery+ subscription service will be shut down soon (though no specific date has been shared). Wondery+ podcasts are becoming Audible Originals, with both Standard and Premium Audible subscribers getting perks similar to Wondery+ for those Originals (e.g., early access to episodes, ad-free, and subscriber-exclusive shows).

Audible says early testing of Standard in the U.K. and Australia indicated the new plan drove “strong double-digit percentage increase” in new member sign-ups in comparison to previous offerings. They anticipate launching Standard wide to new markets will drive millions of new consumers to Audible over the next year. The Standard plan is now available in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Germany, and France, with testing in progress in other marketplaces. 

SAG-AFTRA national director of contract strategic initiatives and podcasts Sue-Anne Morrow tells The Hollywood Reporter the union expects to cover more interview podcasts and narrative podcasts going forward, in addition to SAG-AFTRA’s existing presence in scripted drama/audio fiction starring union actors.

Currently two podcast contracts exist in the union: “micropods” that earn less than $10,000 per season, and independent podcast agreements for shows earning $10,000+ per season. A complicating factor is the industry conversation about interview podcasts being, effectively, daytime talk shows made at a fraction of the budget, as well as the broadening definition of ‘a podcast.’ A quote from Morrow:

“To a certain degree, it sort of doesn’t matter to us, because if a project comes to us and it really doesn’t feel like a podcast, then we have other ways of covering that work.”

Morrow notes that actors taking video podcast contracts aren’t necessarily taking a pay cut in comparison to signing a daytime TV contract. Contract coverage also applies to guests in addition to hosts. A union guest can elect to waive their appearance fee, but their contract aims to cover them if it is wanted. 

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Quick Hits

While they may not be top story material, the articles below from this week are definitely worth your time: