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This is the Download from Sounds Profitable, your daily source for the essential news in
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the business of podcasting.
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Here's what you need to know for today Wednesday, April 1st.
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And yes, I will address April Fool's Day, we'll get to that in a bit.
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But first, audio has the winning hand, the industry refuses to play it.
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One of Ben Robbins' biggest takeaways from advertising week Europe is the notion
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that podcasting is data rich, but insight poor.
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Across 12 sessions, compelling data abounded, but emotional narratives explaining podcasting
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success were scarce.
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He attributes this largely to companies closely guarded proprietary data on podcast impact,
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citing competitive advantage, legal concerns, non-disclosure agreements, and more.
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In a fragmented media landscape connection is valuable, podcasts excel at connection,
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but articulating that requires a cohesive narrative linking data points.
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There is a story coming though.
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This May Robbins and Sounds Profitable's Tom Webster will debut the findings of the
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2026 UK advertising landscape study at the podcast show London.
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This new report represents the largest study of advertising effectiveness conducted across
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UK media, surveying 5,000 adults over more than 20 platforms.
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Stay tuned for more details.
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Next up, exclusive Spotify debuts Kerasel ads and branded playlist takeovers.
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This Tuesday, Spotify announced interactive Kerasel ads with swipeable tiles that let
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brands spotlight up to six products per ad.
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The ads will appear in the now-playing view of the Spotify app while users are actively
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Spotify is also introducing branded takeovers of select playlists, including flagships
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like Rab caviar, today's top hits, and new music Friday.
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During a takeover, the brand's name will appear prominently on the main page for the
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playlist, and only its ads will run on that playlist for the duration.
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Listeners will also hear fewer ad breaks in sponsored playlists.
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Behind the scenes, the company is also added AB testing and automatic bidding to the ads
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Next up, citing first amendment federal judge Block's Trump order to end funding for
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NPR and PBS, US district judge Randolph Moss has issued an injunction blocking the executive
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order that stripped NPR and PBS of federal funding.
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Moss's ruling argues that the executive order was unlawful and unenforceable.
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Article writer Michael Kuhnzelman notes that the operational impact of this decision remains
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to be seen as the Trump administration will likely appeal, and it remains unclear how
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much damage has already been done by the order, including the dissolution of the corporation
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for public broadcasting.
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Next up, it's April Fool's Day podcasting celebrates.
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For a more lighthearted turn of news, here are some jokes, gags, and general Tom Foulery
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in podcasting today.
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Noiser and airship a partner with Magellan AI this year to make history dailies April Fool's
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episode a special one.
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The episode focuses on a real story from an accidental military victory in 1572, but it
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The advertisers are also from 1572.
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You can read the press release to see how Magellan AI developed both time travel and a parchment
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based dashboard to handle time travel attribution.
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Headliner is keeping things in the modern day with their April Fool's prank issuing
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a press release for a new feature called Full Circle, taking the next step beyond audio
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podcasts into video.
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Full Circle allows users to upload a video and then download it as video, quote, just like
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audio grams, but for video, end quote.
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Unfortunately, as I'm allergic to fun, the download is skipping April Fool's fun entirely.
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On an unrelated note, here's an ad break, something you hear on the download very regularly.
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Are you stressed thinking about how your cat hasn't gone in a while, and by gone I mean
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poop, your cat can't poop?
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You've tried everything, changing their diet, holding them like a baby and bottle feeding
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them like you did when they were a little kitty cat and everything seemed right in the
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You've even hired a friendly local witch on Etsy, none of it worked, and you're pretty
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sure the witch opened a credit card at TJ Maxx in your name.
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Now your cat just sits next to its empty litter box, staring up at you, blaming you with
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its eyes as though this is somehow all your fault.
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Maybe it is your fault, or maybe it's feline irregularity syndrome.
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Feline irregularity syndrome is just a marketing phrase, a brand might use to make something
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like constipation or digestive issues sound more official, memorable, or serious.
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That brand is Smooth Me Alve.
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Smooth Me Alve is the perfect solution for when your feline friend just won't go.
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Smooth Me Alve is specifically formulated with all natural fiber-rich ingredients to help
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your cat get things moving again, safely, gently, and with only the minimal required amount
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Smooth Me Alve is shipped straight to your door in discrete packaging, so you never have
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to make that awkward last minute pet store run again.
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And just fur listeners of this show, we got a special offer.
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For more information to get 20% off your first order, go to smoothmealve.com slash podcast
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and enter promo code podcast at checkout and be sure to let them know you heard about
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Smooth Me Alve from this show first.
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Let's get serious again.
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And for our final top story today, PODNEWS report card 2026.
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All jokes aside, PODNEWS has opened its inbox for the fifth annual report card on major
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All are welcome to submit with a questionnaire taking around 10 minutes to complete.
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The result will be shared on stage at the podcast show London in May, as well as published
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in the PODNEWS newsletter.
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Comments provided by submitments will not be attributed without PODNEWS first requesting
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permission directly.
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Submissions close end of day, April 30, 2026.
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For the rest of the news, Jay Rose, formerly of DAX United States, has announced he is
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joining daylight media as senior vice president, sales, and brand partnerships.
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ACAST has debuted its Women in Podcasting 2026 research in Milan, including the finding
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that 33% of surveyed European podcast listeners say they are not exposed to enough female
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hosted podcasts on the platforms they use.
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Inside radio covers the launch of SG Creative, a new audio advertising service created in partnership
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between stream guys and WAVE and network.
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SG Creative will be demoed publicly at the NAB show in April from the 19th to the 22nd
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American public media has announced Dave and Broncaccio is ending his 10 years host of
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Marketplace Morning report in early April, transitioning to a new special correspondent
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True Native media Sabrina Nielsen writes about the widely believed narrative that advertising
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on bigger podcasts automatically gets better outcomes.
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The Signal Awards have launched the Signal Room, a new podcast hosted by Gemma Brown,
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and produced in partnership with Wistia.
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It's currently available with the first episode on the usual podcast platforms for audio,
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as well as Spotify and YouTube.
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PRX and more perfect have launched in pursuit with Colleen Shogun.
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Police host Shogun, the country's first woman to lead the National Archives and Records
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Administration, will lead discussions of prominent public leaders, historians, and journalists
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from American history.
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That'll do it for today's episode.
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You can catch the links to everything I just talked about, including smooth meow by
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going to the one link in your podcast show notes, which will take you to today's episode
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post on sounds profitable dot com.
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You can also sign up to get the newsletter version of Downloads sent direct to your inbox
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Today's episode was written by myself and produced by myself, Brian Barletta, Molly Demilier,
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and Tom Webster for Sounds Profitable I'm Gavin Gattis, and I'll see you tomorrow.