Latest / KACC / Podnews Daily - podcast industry and podcasting ne... - Podcast network Fable and Folly is to close

Transcript

Podnews Daily - podcast industry and podcasting ne... - Podcast network Fable and Folly is to close · KACC

• 0:00
  From Potsdam in Brandenburg, Germany, the latest from podnews.net
• 0:04
  with Soundstack.
• 0:07
  The audio fiction podcast network Fable & Folly is to close at
• 0:10
  the end of the year.
• 0:13
  The network blames a change in podcast advertising for its
• 0:16
  closure,
• 0:17
  but the network says that the shows you love aren't going away,
• 0:20
  they're just headed to new homes.
• 0:23
  Through the end of the year, the company is helping producers
• 0:25
  migrate their shows
• 0:27
  and connect with new hosting and advertising partners.
• 0:31
  After we revealed that Apple Podcasts has dropped country-specific
• 0:35
  editorial
• 0:35
  in favour of an algorithmic selection, today we carry one
• 0:39
  example that shows the difference.
• 0:41
  It was National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada last
• 0:45
  week.
• 0:46
  Unlike in March 2025, when Apple Podcasts ran a Made in Canada
• 0:50
  initiative,
• 0:51
  this week only one indigenous-made podcast was promoted by Apple
• 0:56
  Podcasts in Canada
• 0:58
  from the not entirely unknown CBC.
• 1:02
  Now, Apple Podcasts might suggest that human curation remains at
• 1:05
  the heart of what they do
• 1:06
  and that it's good news for creators since they can reach wider
• 1:10
  audiences than before
• 1:11
  because they're no longer locally targeted.
• 1:14
  However, it is a loss to local producers and it belies a lack of
• 1:17
  understanding from Apple Podcasts
• 1:19
  about who pays for podcasting, since in many cases sponsorship
• 1:23
  and branded content
• 1:24
  are sold on a country-by-country basis, where country-specific
• 1:28
  targeting is vital.
• 1:30
  What would the happy couple like for a wedding present?
• 1:34
  How about a podcast?
• 1:35
  Will Coley produce his podcasts that focus on a couple's
• 1:39
  relationship and upcoming wedding?
• 1:42
  In a piece from the New York Times we'll link to today, he
• 1:44
  explains how he makes the shows.
• 1:47
  In the UK, Goal Hanger is focusing on newsletters as a way to
• 1:51
  get closer to its audience.
• 1:53
  Got a podcorn prefix enabled on your podcast.
• 1:57
  You'll need to delete that by the end of this month
• 1:59
  because podcorn, or Odyssey Creator Lab as it was latterly known,
• 2:03
  is closing down.
• 2:06
  What's the most important part of a podcast?
• 2:08
  The host.
• 2:09
  According to The Podcast Study 2026, 21% of podcast listeners
• 2:14
  say they'd definitely stop listening to a show
• 2:17
  if the host left.
• 2:19
  It's part of the data revealed at The Podcast Study.
• 2:22
  There's a free webinar tomorrow at 2pm Eastern to take part.
• 2:27
  Pod Analyst is now supporting video performance data for YouTube,
• 2:32
  along with a new tool called Readout, which can produce a
• 2:35
  polished report for your show.
• 2:37
  And we've spotted an interesting thing.
• 2:39
  The Feed, the official Libsyn podcast, has posted a new episode.
• 2:44
  It's entitled Ssss.
• 2:47
  It's updated on the 24th of September, but mysteriously backdated
• 2:51
  to March.
• 2:52
  And it's a piece of bad rock music sounding a bit like this.
• 2:57
  Yes, that's enough of that.
• 2:58
  Anyway, Rob and Elsie are on in and around podcasting these days,
• 3:02
  in case you wondered.
• 3:04
  It's a Monday, so time for some tech stuff.
• 3:06
  And the Podcast Index has launched Podcast Robot, a full MCP
• 3:10
  server for AI assistants.
• 3:13
  The tool lets you ask questions to your assistant about podcasts
• 3:17
  to discover new ones.
• 3:19
  Castos now supports transcripts.
• 3:21
  We'll link to their blog post today.
• 3:23
  And a new tool called Shush will clean speech in video and audio
• 3:28
  files.
• 3:30
  For video, it won't touch the video portion and can remove
• 3:33
  background noise, music or room echo.
• 3:36
  It has a limited free tier and the interface is in English,
• 3:39
  Spanish and Japanese.
• 3:42
  The name Shush also goes for whoever's written it, since they've
• 3:45
  asked not to be named.
• 3:48
  Mysterious.
• 3:49
  And in podcast news, Tamara Zubiati is on Podbiz this week,
• 3:54
  sharing how programmatic advertising is driving double-digit
• 3:58
  growth
• 3:58
  and bringing new brands into audio,
• 4:01
  breaking down the crucial distinction between brand safety and
• 4:04
  brand suitability,
• 4:05
  and offering key insights on industry maturity, measurement
• 4:10
  standards and video expansion.
• 4:13
  And in NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast,
• 4:16
  NerdWallet's trusted finance journalists answer real-world money
• 4:20
  questions
• 4:21
  to help you make smarter financial decisions with confidence.
• 4:25
  This week, a focus on real estate and whether it's worth renting
• 4:29
  or buying.
• 4:30
  It's with Airwave and we thank them for their support this month.
• 4:34
  And this podcast is sponsored by Soundstack AI.
• 4:37
  Your new revenue opportunity lives in existing podcast content.
• 4:43
  Rediscover, repurpose and monetize more of the audio and video
• 4:47
  you already have with Soundstack AI.
• 4:51
  You can learn more with a link you'll find in our show notes
• 4:54
  today.
• 4:55
  And that's the latest from our newsletter.
• 4:57
  To read all the stories and subscribe for free, we're at podnews.net.