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A new study shows that audiobook listeners prefer some AI narrators over human voices. A study conducted by Edison Research at SSRS blind tested spoken multi-cast narration and revealed that, while 31% of listeners said they would be likely to listen to an AI, after listening, this number had increased to 65%. (61% thought the AI was human). You can listen to the clip here.
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A separate study by Differentology conducted for Azerbaijan also claims that AI-generated voices could be good for brands – especially if the accents match the part of the country you’re from. Recommendations tripled when people heard voices with regional accents matching the listener’s location, such as Scotland, Wales or Yorkshire.
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Audioboom releases its H1/26 financial results. The company made gross profit of $9.9 million, up +33% year-over-year. Revenue increased 30%; In Q2/26 they recorded 183 million downloads and video views, up 84% year-over-year.
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The BBC in the UK also released its annual report and accounts. BBC podcasts outside the UK (funded by advertising) attracted over 515 million downloads and 116 million listeners in the financial year. Overall the BBC earned £2,155 million (US$2,884 million) in commercial revenue – unchanged year-on-year. The corporation generated £3,879mn (US $5,191mn) revenue, +1%, from compulsory license fees. The BBC’s commercial activities delivered £377 million to the public service: this figure is down -3.5% year-on-year.
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Small independent podcast production companies have limited options when it comes to advertising representation: many join larger sales houses: but their business focus is on the biggest shows, not these smaller shows. SoundBridge Media launches today in London, aiming to fill this gap: the company was founded by an experienced team of commercial sales and media agencies.
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Oxford Road CEO Dan Granger teased the Coalition for Measurement in a podcasting paper to be published next week. “Nobody’s going to be thrilled about it. Not even me. And I helped write it.” He suggests that this is the product of compromise and collaboration – and “that’s the only way we can move this industry forward”. The group was announced in May, with the goal of “confronting podcasting’s measurement dilemma”.
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Tickets for the Resonate Podcast Festival in Cape Town, South Africa go on sale today at 9am Eastern, 3pm SAST. The festival for narrative audio will be held in mid-February 2027.
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Now you can talk to Spotify. “By typing or speaking directly into the app, you can have back-and-forth conversations to select what’s playing, learn about your favorite music, revisit your listening history, and dive deeper into podcasts and audiobooks without leaving Spotify.” The beta conversations experience is available to Premium users aged 18+ in the US, Ireland, and Sweden.
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We haven’t had any new Podnews Silver supporters send us a press release before about becoming a supporter, but Hypecast became a Podnews Silver supporter yesterday. The corporate podcasting company explains some of the reasons why they’re supporting us. Thank you!
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Not everyone wants to purchase a monthly subscription to a podcast just to listen to one episode. So, Spanish-language podcast platform iVoox has launched a new one-time podcast purchase option as a new monetization option within its app.
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PodPages today added an automated SEO boost tool that optimizes titles and adds descriptions, keywords, and takeaways to your podcast’s episode pages. It’s part of a set of tools the company is releasing this week.
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At least according to a new case study from Magellan AI and audio agency Direct Results, 30-second ads appear to work better than 60. As a result, the agency switched everything to 30-second ads, which meant a better ROI, according to the paper.
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Sound Carrot, the free podcast discovery website for children’s audio, has unveiled a newly rewritten website. We’re promised faster browsing, expanded collections, and all-new ways to uncover episodes based on just about anything a child is curious about. Creator Tristan Welch tells us that search results in mainstream apps are rarely age-filtered, and parents have no easy way to tell whether a science show targeted at teens is appropriate for a five-year-old. SoundCarrot sorts its catalog into three clear age levels – under 5, 6-10, and 11+.
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Amplify Ukraine, a new podcast aimed at telling the stories of Ukrainian leaders, survivors and advocates, has launched a crowdfunding round. The goal of the podcast is to raise US$7,000. The show will be produced by Ukrainian-born Toni Bulgakova and Eric Adams, whose wife Katya is a Ukrainian refugee.
Entries open for SONARR Awards
paid content
There are audio awards in Australia. What it never had is an organization built for the creators the market scales can’t see – the independent producers, the storytellers, the audiobook artists, the sound designers no one gives credit for, the crafts that deserve to be discovered.
That’s exactly what the Sonar Awards exist for. Want to find creators. Listeners want a confidence signal. The sonarr is the bridge between the two: a craft-assessed mark that says the work has met a standard.
Built by people who work in audio, for people who work in audio, supported by AFTRS as a founding educational partner. You have created the work. Don’t doubt yourself. It’s not for the shiny – it’s for the good.
Enter SONARR Rewards today. Entries close on 31 July.
Information session and mixer in Sydney on 21 July: RSVP will be there.
Tips & Tricks – Podcast with Public Vote from Movement NYC
- What is the secret of YouTube’s success? Speaking at Podcast Movement 2025 in Dallas, a panel of people who might know include – Chris Colbert, DCP/Black Podcast Coalition/CEO/Founder of Podcast Studio Jay Nachlis, VP/Consultant at Coleman Insights Neha Taleja, Head of Product, YouTube Podcasts at Google Stephen Robles, Riverside.fm’s video and podcast producer John Verdock, Founder of John Verdock Media.
Podcast News – With the Airwaves
