🎙️TODAY’S BRIEF

• 🔥Red Hat's Podcast Success Story: How Deep Audience Understanding Drove Growth and Brand Lift

• 🚨 Podcast Insight: Story Pirates Sails to Top of Kids' Podcast Charts, Redefining Family Entertainment

• 🌏 Podcast Elsewhere:  New York Times Launches Podcast Subscription: Popular Shows Like 'The Daily' Now Behind Paywal

👋 Hi, Podsky!

Miguel here! I just wanted to say a big, heartfelt thank you for your continued support of our newsletter. We simply couldn't do it without you!

As always, contact us via email, and don't forget to sign up for this newsletter here if you haven't already. Encourage a friend to subscribe as well!

Today’s issue takes 10 minutes to read.

Let’s dive in on today’s newsletter. - Miguel

⬇️Listen : This podcast interviews top performers and deconstructs them to find tools, tactics, and tricks to help you become a successful podcast producer.

⬇️Listen : Trailer Mixtape is your destination to find the best of the many exciting new podcasts out there. Each episode brings you a playlist mix of fresh, vital, and thrilling podcast trailers—new and trending—on comedy, true crime, news, and more.

SIGNAL HILLS
🔥Red Hat's Podcast Success Story: How Deep Audience Understanding Drove Growth and Brand Lift

In a highly competitive podcasting market, Red Hat's "Command Line Heroes" represents a strategic play in its plan to generate audience-driven content. Presented by Jeff Vidler, founder of Signal Hill Insights, this case study reveals how the open-source software company transformed understanding of listeners into a successful podcast. By focusing on audience needs and continually measuring impact, Red Hat built a devoted fan base while greatly increasing brand equity among technologists. Their model is a case study that teaches valuable lessons to podcasters and brands alike: strategic engagement with an audience is extremely powerful in the audio space.

The Key takeaways:

• Red Hat conducted 796 interviews in depth with developers to inform and shape their podcast strategy.

• 95% of listeners of "Command Line Heroes" enjoyed the podcast.

• Podcast brand favorability grew 29% among listeners.

• Brand lift was 40% higher among new listeners of Red Hat.

• Surveys of the audience prompted developing a new podcast, "Compiler", aimed for entry-level tech professionals.

Our Analogy: Imagine a master chef creating a signature dish. Rather than assuming what kind of plates would be served, they went table to table to ask for kinds of tastes, needs for special diets, and other experiences relevant to patrons.

They thus designed a menu (podcast content) to not only fill the people's hunger but also entertain their palates. Regularly held audience surveys, just as in taste tests, kept the podcast producers abreast of what worked and what did not and shaped content into an almost favorite just as it inspired new creations in taste.

Voila. The restaurant became the go-to restaurant with regulars and newcomers who insisted on patronizing it.

FOur take: The case study on Red Hat reaffirms the significance of audience research and continuous feedback loops within our production process; it makes us question our assumption about what listeners want and really invest time to understand what our target audiences are.

In addition to this, the value of quantitative measurement is unearthed for demonstrating ROI to clients especially for branded podcasts, and not unexpectedly, such strategies should be considered to integrate into workflow

1. Conduct audience research to significant depth before launching a new podcast

2. Conduct regular listener surveys to gather feedback and measure impact

3. Apply audience insights to the content strategy and development of shows

4. Measure brand lift and other KPIs to demonstrate podcast value

5. Be prepared to pivot or launch new shows based on audience data.

By putting these practices to work, we are able to deliver more interesting and audience-focused podcasts that drive people to listen as well as deliver some level of return for our clients. In this way, we position ourselves as strategic partners for content development rather than just producers, which really amplifies the value proposition of what we offer.

🗞️ TL;DR - PODCAST NEWS

• Audio Advertising Awards Return to Honor Podcasting and Radio Work. Campaign is bringing back its Audio Advertising Awards for another year - again celebrating work in the commercial podcasting and radio space. Entries are now open, with the ceremony scheduled for early May.

• Reassessing The Persuadables: Podcast Trends and Audience Insights. Sounds Profitable analyzes a segment of potential podcast listeners called "The Persuadables," representing about 8% of the US adult population, and explores strategies to convert them into podcast consumers by leveraging their changing media habits and preferences for video content.

• China's Podcast Boom: How Luxury Brands Are Tapping Into 100 Million Listeners. Since 2020, podcasting in China has grown at a rapid clip to over 100 million listeners, with brands including Levi's and LVMH making the most of such a medium to reach young and educated consumers through creative content.

• New York Times Launches Podcast Subscription: Popular Shows Like 'The Daily' Now Behind Paywal. The New York Times is launching a podcast subscription service at $6 per month or $50 a year, through which access to just the latest two or three episodes of popular programs like "The Daily" and "Hard Fork" will be free for all, while archived episodes will only be accessible to subscribers.
  

PRESENTED BY PODWIRES MARKETPLACE
Hire Top Independent Podcast Producers for Your Business

Podcasting is a powerful way to grow business, and Marketplace Podwires is here to assist you in the easy hiring of top-rated independent podcast producers. Be it branded podcasts that share your products with the entire world or internal series aimed at engaging and energizing your teams, our expert producers can craft stories that meet any brief and bring more personality to your brand's voice. Begin with Marketplace Podwires, and find a dream producer for your project today!

Learn More

This section is a paid advertisement. If you are interested in advertising, let's talk.

📼 TRAILER MIXTAPE
New Podcast Show to watchout

Tune in now to the brand new podcast show! Listen at Trailer MixTape for all the latest Podcast Show.

PODCAST INSIGHT 
🚨Story Pirates Sails to Top of Kids' Podcast Charts, Redefining Family Entertainment

Podcasts have rapidly become the most sought-after source of entertainment for children in this digital age. This Kids Podcast Listener Report is an example of a shift in how families are consuming media, and Story Pirates leads the pack of top kids' podcasts. Moreover, this groundbreaking report sheds light on five key areas that reflect the profound influence that audio storytelling has on young minds and family dynamics at large.

Five key takeaways:

• 59% of kid listeners tune into podcasts primarily as a form of entertainment

• Story Pirates is the most popular kids podcast among under-12 children

• 87% of kid podcast listeners aged 6-12 share information learned from a podcast with others

• 68% of parents listened to a podcast with their children

• 72% of parents believe a podcast is worth listening to if it's enjoyable for an entire family

Our Analog: Imagine a contemporary family sitting down around the radio, much like it was the 1940s, but this time with fabulous, interactive stories that send little imaginations over seas of creativity. Podcasts are basically audio playgrounds where kids can swing on the monkey bars of science, slide down chutes of storytelling, and climb the jungle gym of creativity-all while mom and dad play alongside them, guiding and learning together.

Our View: There's a renaissance of sorts for audio for young audiences. Something so well proven as Story Pirates success shows so much yet remains to be culminated in creating compelling audio experiences that families can enjoy.

This offers great potential in creating entertainment, education, and family bonding through material production. We should be committed to finding the perfect soundscape that is both immersive and interwoven into engaging child and parent-based narratives and educational content. By our joining, we can eventually help herald in a new wave of audio entertainment that feeds the young mind and strengthens family bonds.

 🪧 FROM OUR SPONSOR

Brain food, delivered daily

Every day we analyze thousands of articles and send you only the best, tailored to your interests. Loved by 505,153 curious minds. Subscribe

🗞️CLASSIFIED ADS

• The Podcast Haven - Podcast Production For Business Leaders, Global Enterprises, and B2B Agencies

• Creator Spotlight - Your guide to building an audience with world-class social media and newsletter content. Creator deep-dives every Friday.

This section is a paid advertisement. If you are interested in advertising, let's talk.

IN COOPERATION WITH

The longest-running annual podcasting conference is PODFEST EXPO. From its humble beginnings in 2015 to its unprecedented 11th consecutive year in 2025, PODFEST has grown exponentially.

OPINION
🚨 Audio Expert Challenges Podcast Creators: Not Every Idea Needs a Microphone

Just when you thought it was safe to let that creative idea evolve into a podcast, along comes Eric Nuzum, veteran audio professional and author of "The Audio Insurgent," with the counterintuitive message: not every idea may be a podcast.

In his most recent Dispatch, Nuzum reveals a burgeoning trend in his consultancy advice: that people's ideas may find a better home in another medium. This counterintuitive recommendation from a podcast expert signals an important shift in the audio landscape that commands creators to change their approach to content development and audience engagement.

The key points:

• Not every creative idea should be forced into a podcast format

• Creators need to consider target audience, timeline, and business imperatives

• Single-platform properties are increasingly difficult to sustain in today's media landscape

• Podcasts are most effective as part of a broader content ecosystem

• The "Great Podcasting Reset" of 2022-2023 has changed the industry's dynamics

Our Analogy: Content creation can be visualized as a cooking process. Not every ingredient is best suited for soup, and not every story is ideal for a podcast. Your creative "ingredients" could be better as a crisp salad with the social media posts, a hearty stew with the book, or a sizzling stir-fry with the video series. The important thing is to understand your "ingredients" and know which kind of cooking will bring out the best flavors for your intended diners, that is, the audience.

Our View : To us, this understanding by Nuzum challenges as podcasters, giving us a starting point to broaden our way of thinking. We are great at audio storytelling.

We must, however realize our roles go beyond just creating podcasts. We have to position our clients on the best possible medium for their ideas with the use of holistic content strategies.

This might involve training for other media productions to cover, or collaborating with a specialist in that area. And it is this holistic approach that we can then offer better value for our clients and even make content that truly addresses the viewer, irrespective of which platform it is coming from. It is an opportunity to grow as artists and maintain relevance on an ever-changing media landscape.

🚀HIRE A PODCAST PROFESSIONALS

👉 Would like to be featured in our newsletter?. Come along with the growing number of podcast professionals who rely on PODWIRES Marketplace to make their journey easier. Register right away.

👀 Hiring? Or looking for a new job

Grow your business through podcasting. Marketplace Podwires connects you with skilled producers who can craft compelling stories that align with your brand. Start your podcast journey today!

📌 NOTICE BOARD

• Septermber 25: Want to Win with Podcast Listeners? Creators Are the Key - Virtual

• October 3 & 4 : International Women's Podcast Festival - London, UK

• October 8 : Café Convos: A Networking event by BIPOC Podcast Creators - New York, USA

• October 18- 20 : Afros & Audio Podcast Festival - Baltimore, MD

• January 16 -18 : Podfest Expo - Orlando, USA

• January 14 - 15th : Brand Podcast Summit - Virtual

Visit Podwires Marketplace to post your upcoming events or job openings for free.

🔆 FROM OUR COMMUNITY

• How you measure the success of your podcast is a personal matter that depends largely on your goals. Katie Paterson of Podcast Host explains.

• In this conversation, Michelle Altman and Hillary Frank discuss the process of creating original audiobooks, deal structures, and the opportunities presented by this exciting new medium.

• In this latest Podbean blog post by Roni Gosch, adding video to your podcast will help you engage your audience, get your work in front of even more fans on popular video platforms, and give a boost to your promotional efforts. It's time to grow your podcasting empire.

📢 SHARE PODWIRES NEWS

We hope you enjoyed our newsletter!

We'd love for your friends to join us too! Just forward this email to them or send them your unique link: https://magic.beehiiv.com/v1/ebb82c8c-b558-4654-b542-a76f67e10d04?email=

Hey there! Just wondering if this newsletter was forwarded to you? 🤗 Sign up here (it's free!)

🛠️ PODCAST TOOLBOX

• 📢 Zencastr is an all-in-one podcast production suite that gives you studio quality audio and video without needing all the technical know-how.

• 🎙️Rode - is an Australian-based audio technology company specializing in the design and manufacture of microphones, headphones, audio interfaces, and audio software.

• 🎧 Epidemic Sound - is a company that provides content producers with access to a sizable library of royalty-free music.

• 📼 Tubebuddy - is a complete tool for YouTube channel management and growth.

• 🪀 Swell AI turns podcasts or videos into transcripts, clips, show notes, articles, summaries, titles, newsletters, social posts, and more.

Browse more Tools ➡️

DISCLAIMER This podcast toolbox includes affiliate links If you decide to make a purchase using them, we may receive a small kickback which helps to support the newsletter which allows us to operate it. Thanks in advance!

Podwires is here because of our incredible partners' unwavering support.

FROM THE TEAM

📖 I appreciate you taking the time to read! See you in the next issue. Got a question or criticism? Just click on Reply. We can talk while we are here.

🎧 Check out our podcast, the one and only "That Podcast Exchange” - This podcast is an insightful conversation with people at the top of their game and deconstructs them to find the tools, tactics, and tricks to help you achieve your dream goal as Podcast Manager.

✍️ Give us a press release and a good-sized landscape photo. Make sure it's newsworthy. Send press releases to [email protected] or click here. Editorially, we may rewrite headlines and descriptions.

📬 Sponsor us and get your brand in front of thousands of Independent Podcast Producers and podcasters. Email us at [email protected] for more information or as personal supporters via Patreon, as your contributions help us enhance the experiences of all our users.

🖊️We are delighted to hear from our subscribers! We would be happy to publish your testimonial if you have found our newsletter to be helpful or if you have a success story to share. 👉 Post a Testimonial: https://testimonial.to/podwires

🚀 We are here to help you succeed! Fill out a 5 minute survey and tell us more about your business and yourself. These questions will help us better understand you and promote your business as part of our mission. It’s a win-win!

The Podwires readers receive journalism free of financial and political influence.

We set our own news agenda, which is always based on facts rather than billionaire ownership or political pressure.

Despite the financial challenges that our industry faces, we have decided to keep our reporting open to the public because we believe that everyone has the right to know the truth about the events that shape their world.

Thanks to the support of our readers, we can continue to provide free reporting. If you can, please choose to support The Podwires