Tag: Podcast

Philippines – Podcast network The Pod Network is collaborating with audio production company Hit Productions to advance podcast growth in the Philippines.

Through the partnership, Hit Productions will provide The Pod Network with training and mentorship to elevate the quality of podcasts in the Philippines. The audio production company’s roster of seasoned professionals will share their skills in post-audio production, including sound design, mixing, and mastering.

The collaboration enables Hit Productions to extend its reach in the industry, which corresponds to its legacy as an industry leader behind iconic audio production.

With its expertise, Hit Productions is enhancing The Pod Network’s ability to create impactful podcast experiences. It enables brands and businesses to leverage a better platform to engage their audiences.

The podcast network has produced over 40 podcast shows since its launch in 2023. The network has garnered a significant number of followers and monthly listeners in all of its shows.

In a study with the socio-cultural research film The Fourth Wall, The Pod Network has found that podcast listenership in the Philippines has reached over 17m in 2024. This solidifies podcasting’s position as an emerging platform for entertainment and brand engagement in the country, surpassing other streaming sites.

“This partnership signals a pivotal moment for Philippine podcasting. With Hit Productions onboard, The Pod Network is primed to reshape not just the quality of content, but the scale of our impact. We’re helping build as well as shape the future of podcasts locally, one story, one voice at a time, and this move puts the entire industry on notice,” Alan Fontanilla, The Pod Network CEO, said.

“We’ve always believed in the power of sound to connect, move, and inspire —and podcasting is a space where that continues to evolve in exciting ways. Our investment in The Pod Network is a natural extension of Hit’s long-standing commitment to audio. This is about being part of where audio is headed and supporting the growth of meaningful, creator-driven content,” Vic Icasas, Hit Productions CEO, said.

Manila, Philippines – Over 17 million internet-connected Filipinos, or 19.8% of the internet-connected population aged 16 to 64, listen to podcasts weekly, marking an increase of 2.6% from 2023, according to the latest data from socio-cultural research firm The Fourth Wall, in collaboration with The Pod Network, Anima Podcast, and PumaPodcast.

According to the survey, the popularity of podcasts has been rising since 2020. While the Internet (81.9%) and social media (80.8%) remained the most preferred information platforms, in 2023, podcasts (50.5%) have surpassed other media platforms such as online video streaming sites (40.4%), online news portals (22.1%), and television (19.9%) as the most preferred information source.

It also revealed the most listened-to podcast genres in the Philippines. About 74% of those surveyed revealed they listen to comedy podcasts led by podcasts like The KoolPals, followed by personal development (64%), culture (55%), and politics (49%). The survey suggests that podcast consumers gravitate towards topics that are both entertaining and informative, underscoring their preference for engaging yet substantial content.

John Brylle Bae, director at The Fourth Wall, said, “Our research has found that the majority of podcast audiences tend to listen to podcasts after work or school hours, when commuting, or while doing household chores. This pattern is in line with global trends where podcasts serve as a preferred source of both entertainment and information. Audiences choose podcasts for their ability to seamlessly integrate into daily routines, offering a unique mix of engaging and informative content.”

Meanwhile, Alan Fontanilla, CEO of The Pod Network, said the growing popularity of podcasts in the Philippines, cited in the report, provides advertisers and marketers with another avenue to reach their audiences.

“We are at an intersection in the evolution of media consumption in the Philippines. As more Filipinos tune into podcasts for their unique blend of entertainment and information, we see an invaluable opportunity for creators and advertisers alike to engage with an audience that values depth and accessibility. We are excited about what’s to come as we celebrate and leverage this dynamic shift towards audio-first content,” he said.

San’tAgata Bolognese – Luxury and supercar brand Lamborghini joins the podcast world with their latest release, ‘Beyond: A Lamborghini Podcast’.

Starting on July 11, the podcast aims to offer listeners a deep dive into Lamborghini’s main base of operations and the expert team behind its vehicles. Hosted by Tim Bravo, Lamborghini’s director of communications and Giulia Salvi, Virgin Radio Italy broadcaster, the podcast hopes to challenge the norms of brand interaction to cover subjects such as music, art, design, science, fashion and more.

The first episode of the podcast featured Lamborghini chairman and CEO Stephan Winkelmann who reflects on Lamborghini’s success and the ‘Direzione Cor Tauri’ plan for the rest of the decade, as well as to explore some of his personal achievements. 

“You have a huge responsibility, because we are small, the investments are high, so you cannot afford to make any mistakes. Now we have to ferryboat the company in this transition phase, which is really a revolution, from internal combustion engine cars to plug-in and then maybe, with all the opportunities and challenges, to full electric cars. So being part of this is something which puts a lot of pressure and responsibility,” said Winkelmann.

‘Beyond: A Lamborghini Podcast’ is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and via the special podcast hub on Lamborghini.com/podcast. A new episode will drop each month.

Singapore – Global audio streaming services platform Spotify has announced new personalised and curated experiences to observe the holy month of Ramadan. They include Ramadan-centric music, podcasts, and talk content dedicated to families and communities celebrating the holy season.

Listeners can also find personalised content on the “Your Ramadan 2023” playlist and see the music and talk content that is trending in their respective countries, and podcasters are constantly developing and publishing new Ramadan-related episodes.

Previously, Spotify’s editorial teams had curated playlists, podcasts, and talk content for their users during Ramadan. Through this new announcement, Spotify aims to spotlight content that changes each day, creating personalised playlists with songs picked just for listeners, and highlighting trending content that people are listening to in their region.

Moreover, the platform is aiming at making readings from the Quran easily accessible, and listeners can also find exclusive clips and greetings from their favourite artists and celebrities wishing them a blessed Ramadan.

For Gautam Talwar, managing director for Spotify Asia-Pacific, they are proud of delivering this new Ramaden-centric experience to their listeners during this holy month of observance.

“We’re designing an experience on the platform that allows our listeners to take a more active role in discoverability as well as to foster more meaningful connections with artists and podcasters they love on Spotify,” Talwar said.

Meanwhile, Rhea Chedid, senior podcast manager at Spotify, commented that they are now seeing more and more podcasters release series that are the ultimate companions to everyone observing Ramadan.

“Everything from shows about cooking and the history of Ramadan traditions and Islam, to audio scripted series that entertain and podcasts that review your favourite Ramadan television series, we are really witnessing creators think deeply about how they can better the lives of listeners through audio during this time,” Chedid said.

Jakarta, Indonesia – VICE Media Group has announced its first content partnership with Spotify for the Southeast Asia market. It begins with Indonesia through the release of five original local video podcast series which aim to reflect Indonesia’s vibrant and diverse music, youth and cultural scenes. 

This series of five Spotify Original Video podcasts, created and produced locally by VICE Media’s team in Jakarta, will include three daily and two weekly video podcasts. 

Hosted by some of the best in the industry, these video podcasts will cover a myriad of today’s hottest topics, such as current and emerging Indonesian musicians, artists and movie stars; the latest music news and trends and a look at what young Indonesians think of their country today and their place in society. 

The VICE Spotify Original Video podcast series will be amplified across VICE’s extensive social and editorial network, which has 10 million monthly unique users in Indonesia and 3.3 million combined followers. 

It is expected that more than 86% of the listeners are aged between 16 and 34, with 63% living in urban areas with top cities including Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Makassar and Depok. 

Nilesh Zaveri, managing director at VICE Media Group APAC, said, “VICE is trusted by young audiences to cut through the noise to deliver a distinct perspective on today’s music and culture as well as what’s coming next. This exclusive partnership with Spotify represents a significant opportunity to create distinctive video podcast content for Indonesia’s youth, and we look forward to exploring additional opportunities to bring the VICE brand to more audiences, across media platforms, throughout Asia Pacific.” 

Meanwhile, Carl Zuzarte, head of studios for Southeast Asia at Spotify, commented, “2022 has been an amazing year of growth for us in Indonesia. We introduced new format innovations such as video podcasts, amongst others to further build upon the podcast ecosystem in Indonesia, whilst also expanding on the podcast experience on Spotify for our creators and users to enjoy.”

He added, “Also, we’re always on the lookout for top content creators to work with to deliver best-in-class content for our users to enjoy. That is why we’re excited to partner with VICE Media Group to present this stellar slate of five Video podcasts featuring collaborations with Indonesia’s most current and popular cultural creators, artists and musicians.”

United States – Social media platform has announced the integration of podcasts into their platform via their existing Twitter Spaces feature. Twitter describes the move as ‘help[ing] people connect with unique and compelling voices around the world.’

This redesign introduces personalised hubs that group audio content together by specific themes like news, music, sports, among others. Twitter listeners will be able to easily access a more personalised selection of live and recorded Spaces discussing the topics that are most relevant to them.

“From [Twitter] Spaces and podcasts to newsletters and notes, we’re working every day to improve the way people connect with creators and make Twitter the home of the most engaging conversations in the world,” the company stated.

Twitter listeners can also give a podcast a ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’ to let the platform know if the content is more or less interesting to the listeners.

The new podcast integration will be visible to a group of global English-speaking audience on iOS and Android as of this writing.

Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT) presents its first podcast entitled ‘Escape: Stories from the Road,’ showcasing the best destinations in the Philippines through stories from different personalities. The podcast will be available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and other platforms.

This five-episode ‘podumentary’, a combination of podcast and documentary, infuses an element of storytelling, veering away from the usual question-and-answer formats of podcasts. Through these stories, the DOT hopes to reach out to the various audiences and inspire them to participate in meaningful tourism through unique experiences and local interactions.

Each episode follows a theme, such as adventure, identity, fiestas, music and food. Among the notable individuals interviewed for this podcast are National Artist Kidlat Tahimik; Dr Felicidad Prudente, who is one of the leading Filipino ethnomusicologists in the country today; and former tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.

The first episode on adventure features some of the best outdoor experiences in Nueva Vizcaya, Kalinga, and Camotes Island; while the identity episode brings the audience from Baguio to Davao to share stories of people who, in finding the path to gain their identity, found the path to greatness.

The episode on music explores the sounds of the islands, from the city to the remote forests of the Philippines, emphasizing that music not only serves to entertain but to preserve history in our soundscape. The fiesta episode discusses how Filipino festivals have evolved from honouring patron saints to highlighting the best of the towns and provinces.

For the food episode that was recorded in May, ex-tourism secretary Puyat shared her advocacy in supporting local farmers and how this led to further development of food and farm tourism in the country.

DOT’s ‘Escape: Stories from the Road’ podcast is hosted by travel filmmaker and photographer Aaron Palabyab along with guest co-hosts, national athlete Maureen Schrijvers; designer, musician, and filmmaker Kate Torralba; and the sports broadcaster and podcaster Cesca Litton. 

Singapore – Social media giant Facebook has announced that it is shutting down its podcast platform, less than a year since it was launched in June 2021. While the date has not been specified for the discontinuation of the service, the social media platform stated that it is slowly removing parts of the podcast business in the following weeks.

“After a year of learning and iterating on audio-first experiences, we’ve decided to simplify our suite of audio tools on Facebook. We’re integrating Live Audio Rooms into Facebook Live and we will discontinue our other audio products. We’re constantly evaluating the features we offer so we can focus on the most meaningful experiences,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.

Some of those components that will be discontinued include Soundbites, Podcasts and the Audio destination on Facebook.

The company clarified that while the podcast platform will no longer be in service, they will be integrating Live Audio Rooms features into their Facebook Live product so that they can offer a comprehensive live broadcasting solution.

“In practice, this integration will make for a more streamlined experience so that, when using Facebook Live, you’ll have the option to go live with audio and video, video-only, or audio-only,” the company added.

Facebook’s podcast platform was launched in dedication to the platform’s growing number of online creators tapping into their platform for online reach. The company aims at growing a creator’s planned show through a social experience that drives discovery and fandom.

Auckland, New Zealand – Triton Digital, a global technology and services company for the digital audio and podcast industry, has recently released its New Zealand Podcast Ranker through a dedicated website. In it, Triton Digital provides insight into the top 100 podcasts as well as the top networks in New Zealand from 1 February through 28 February 2022, as measured by Triton’s Podcast Metrics measurement service.

For this reporting period, the top three podcasts include ‘Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive’, ‘The Mike Hosking Breakfast’, and ‘Fletch, Vaughan & Hayley’. In addition, the ranker noted that new podcasts debuting on the ranker this month include ‘She’s On The Money’ ‘Jase & Lauren’, and ‘Last Podcast On The Left’.

Triton Digital also noted that there has been a 30% increase in total downloads of all shows by all participating publishers in the month of February with 7.5m downloads.

Participating networks in the New Zealand Ranker include Audioboom, Australian Radio Network, Headgum, Kast Media, LiSTNR (SCA), MediaWorks Radio Limited, NZME/iHeartRadio, Stitcher Media and Sports Entertainment Network (SEN).

The ranker is made possible by Triton Digital’s Podcast Metrics measurement service, certified by the IAB Tech Lab as complying with Version 2.1 of the IAB Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines. This provides accurate and insightful data around how, when, and where podcast content is being consumed across multiple hosting platforms, with the ability to view metrics by date range, location, device, podcast name, episode, title, and more.

Sydney, Australia – Global fintech Finder has launched a new Australian-first podcast series called ‘House of Tech’ which will discuss topics regarding technology, business, and regulations. Said podcast will be hosted by Fred Schebesta, founder at Finder and Senator Andrew Bragg, an Australian senator under the Liberal Party.

The hosts will be joined by business leaders from various industries, from Afterpay Co-Founder Anthony Eisen to artificial intelligence expert Dr. Catriona Wallace.

For Schebesta, they want people to learn about what’s new, what’s upcoming in the areas where things are changing, adding that they hope this podcast helps people with all the changes they’re going through regarding technology.

“I love the intersection of regulation, business and technology. It’s all happening in this space, particularly for cryptocurrency. I’m fascinated by it and I want to share the stories from these great guests about what else is changing, what else is moving well and where those three things tend to intersect,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bragg commented, “There has never been a more exciting time to be in the tech industry in Australia. Fred and I have a joint passion for how business and tech continues to evolve, so it made sense for us to share this with the world.”

To mark the launch of the podcast series, a non-fungible token (NFT) artwork has been created in line with the ‘House of Tech’ theme. The NFT will also include an exclusive lunch with Fred and the Senator, and will be auctioned off with funds raised going towards the First Nations Foundation, an organisation that works together with indigenous communities and the finance industry to provide financial education, training and information.

The podcast will be available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Finder recently launched a podcast series called ‘Block Climbing’ that centres around cryptocurrency-related topics, including the use of blockchain technology and the Web3 era.