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Understanding Podcasting's Holdouts, New Marketing Podcast Awards, & More
Gavin Gaddis
March 25th, 2026
by Gavin Gaddis
Tom Webster debuts new research in this morning’s Sounds Profitable article. Drawing from the Podcast Landscape survey of over 5,000 Americans weighted to the U.S. census, The Last Quarter examines the 25% of adults 18+ who have never listened to a podcast. Though 100% saturation is impossible, the piece identifies reachable segments within that remaining 25%. These are people who, if properly introduced to the benefits of the medium, would be interested in podcasts. YouTube and Facebook can reach this group: 57% use YouTube, and Facebook is their top social platform by far. Promotional efforts aimed at this group should lead with topics rather than format, as the tech side of podcasting is not a draw to this demographic.
Apple Launches iOS 26.4, Announces New HLS Hosts
According to official communication from Apple received by The Download this morning, iOS 26.4 is now live. The new update includes HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) video podcast distribution to Apple Podcasts. Building on the first two batches — Acast, Art19, Omny Studio, SiriusXM Media, AdsWizz, Simplecast, Transistor, Audiomeans, Podbean, Captivate, RSS.com, and Podigee — Apple has announced another round of platforms supporting Apple Podcasts HLS: Podspace, Riverside, Ausha, and Firstory.
Yesterday’s issue of the Scalable newsletter covers digital creators’ drive for recognition usually reserved for Hollywood’s A-list talent. Tech show TBPN has launched a formal Emmy campaign, and YouTube CEO Neal Mohan argues creators need more recognition from traditional awards shows. Meanwhile, outside legacy awards, relative newcomers to the field offer digital creators their own recognition. The social space has awards like Snapchat’s The Snappies, while podcasting has institutions like The Ambies, the iHeartPodcast Awards, and the Indie Podcast and Creator Awards, launched at Podcast Movement Evolutions during SXSW 2026.
In the newly launched Media, Built newsletter, Steve Raizes reflects on how content best performs in the modern media ecosystem. Great content alone isn't enough; communicability is now essential. Raizes’s example points to the critically-acclaimed series Slow Horses compared to reality shows like Love Island. Slow Horses has a loyal audience and receives acclaim, but Love Island is “built to travel.” Effective content incorporates marketing and communication strategy from the start. When the creator and the deeper media systems are well integrated, strong content can travel and grow.
The Marketing Podcast Network is debuting the MPN Awards, a new annual awards ceremony for marketing podcasts. Qualifying podcasts must be in English, be available on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, have at least six episodes in the past three months, and be about marketing. Nominations are open now through April 30, with award notifications being sent May 31 and a livestream awards show slated for June.
…as for the rest of the news:
The 2026 Smart Business Dealmakers Dealmaker of the Year Awards were recently awarded in Boston, including one to our very own Tom Webster and Bryan Barletta for the merger of Sounds Profitable and Podcast Movement.
Genuina Media co-founder David R. González has announced the launch of the company’s first podcast: The Global Podscape. The show explores the podcast industry beyond the U.S.
Signal Hill Insights President Paul Riismandel has posted a new article distilling six takeaways from his time at Podcast Movement Evolutions 2026, detailing a new phase of industry maturing through authentic partnerships, advanced measurement, and integration of audio and video formats.
PAVE Studios has debuted the new Crime House Original Series America’s Most Infamous Crimes, hosted by Katie Ring.
Oxford Road’s latest edition of the ORBIT Top Performing Independent Podcasts ranker finds 80% of top-performing podcasts from the ranker’s pool ($1.6 billion+ in campaign data from 500+ advertisers) are produced outside major networks.
Brad Hill at Rain News covers Audacy’s new study Podcasts are Dominating — and Signaling a Shifting Audience Behavior.
Podcast discovery platform Great Pods has relaunched with the introduction of user accounts, smart discovery tools, transparent engagement-based rankings, and the ability to follow individual podcast critics.
