554. Podcast News: AI Ad Blockers, Video Strategy & Discovery

0:05 Marc Ronick: Good morning, Today is Wednesday, july 22 2026 and today, podcast ad blockers: the real cost of podcast video, and why 62nd clips still matter for discovery. We're bringing down the headlines, changing how podcasters monetize, create, and So, if you're listening live on Clubhouse, hit the share button, top right hand side of the screen, and share it however podcast, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. please share this with a fellow podcaster. And now, give us about 30 seconds, and we'll get things rolling. Thanks for being here. The podcasting morning show is powered by Ironick Media, helping podcasters launch, polish, and grow great shows, and by Content creators' accountant, helping creators build real business behind their morning show. Thank you so much for being here. I am your host, Mark Ronick, and Meadows, D.R. Fay, and B.C.

1:33 Babbles. We also have Dan Schultz as well as Dave Campbell on stage with us. Normally, they're in the audience, although Dan's been on stage with us quite a bit lately, and love that, and I've been encouraging Dave to join us on stage during our little pre-show for the past couple weeks now. So glad Dave is up here as well, Clubhouse audience. Welcome, glad you're here first thing this morning. And by the way, if you want to get to know our co-hosts, just go to podcastingmorningshow.com/people and you can learn all about them. Also, a little programming note for you: I know yesterday, if you were listening, I teased that we may be doing and series tomorrow. I'm putting that on hold.

2:21 We are going to return to that on Tuesday because we worked it out with a guest tomorrow on the show. Marketing strategist and EPC three speaker Eddie Garrison joins us to share practical ways that podcasters can use AI and social media more effectively. We'll explore what to post between episodes, when to hire social media help, how to create sounding generic. And I see Tide Tutoring, aka Knikki, has just joined us. She is our subject for the evaluation series, and since she just walked in a little bit late, Knikki, we're doing that on Tuesday, so please, if you can, come join us on Tuesday morning, and we will break down one of your podcast episodes. I'm looking forward to doing that, and I know that some of the team has expressed how well done of a job you do there So we will learn a lot, I'm sure on Tuesday, and until then, let's dig into some news, shall we?

3:30 Podcast Business Journal. This is where I get this information. Where I like to share these numbers to kick things off. The Podcast Business Journal is tracking something that they call active podcasts. An active podcast means that the show itself has been updated in some way, shape, or form, either in the last week or the last 30 days. I will give you stats on both of those. So we're talking about how many podcast feeds are still alive, current, and being maintained by the Creator, and the reason why I share these numbers is because they give us a better sense of the real podcasting world. When people say there are millions of podcasts out there, and you know I can't do another podcast, there are just too many out there.

4:15 That number that a lot of That number includes a lot of experiments, AI podcasts that So, for indie creators, maybe is: How many shows are actually still showing up, publishing, marketing, and competing for number is a much better snapshot So, the total podcasts updated and that's down just about 1% And if you. Want the 30 days snapshot total podcasts updated over these last 30 days 338,504 which And again, this is probably the summer trend.

5:15 DR: Summer, right? Marc Ronick: Is that what you were going to say? DR: Yeah, I was going to say why I mean, that's my guess. Marc Ronick: Is we tend to see podcasters slow down in the summer, and I think some of that digging into their numbers, and they see that there is a lull with their own numbers, so they pull back a little bit. Others just need the break, right? So there's lots of different Ralph Estep Jr.: So Marc, might this be an opportunity though for podcasters? If there's less market out there, it might be an opportunity to jump in with something new to replace something out there. So it might be a great opportunity for somebody.

5:56 Marc Ronick: I agree with you. I think yeah, when they're when people's favorite podcasts aren't putting out as much content. That is an opportunity for you if you're putting out content and you are targeting that audience correctly. You might become a new favorite of that listeners. So yeah, good point, Ralph. And let's keep it moving. Dr. You want to do the top fives? DR: I do. So this one is Edison, who is like the gold standard for everything podcasting. It's our data gold standard. Marc Ronick: Yeah, their podcasting either TV, radio, Lots of DR: what do the podcasters look to as the the one to you know Marc Ronick: yeah DR: everything yeah.

6:38 Anyway, they have done their second quarter, the top 50 podcasts. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to talk about their list. So number five is Smartless with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett. Number four is Call Her Daddy with Alex Cooper. Number three, Cue the Tippity, The Daily of the New York Times number two crime junkie with Auto Chuck and the number one podcast is the Joe Rogan Experience. You know we haven't said his name in a couple weeks. Marc Ronick: No, because we try to do other lists, so we don't always say it. But so this is the top five for quarter one or two. I missed it. DR: Quarter two.

7:19 Marc Ronick: Okay. All right. There you go. And now you have a specialty list as well. DR: I do. I do. I do. So this one comes from Apple, and it is top kids and family podcasts. So number five is the Winnie Palooza podcast with Rebecca Green. Marc Ronick: Hey. DR: Number four is the three, Cue the Timpani, Wow in is Circle Round, and the number one podcast and kids and family podcast is Greeking Out from the Marc Ronick: Cool, love that Thank you, Dr. And then Dr. Something came across your desk today from the Podfest Messenger that you thought would that? I DR: I think this is fascinating, and we got a story that goes into much more about this later on. But Podfest Messenger, the newsletter, they have a little today, and the first column podcast would be in, like culture, true crime, sports, fitness, music, and arts. The column next to that is watch exclusively. So the percentage of people that watch exclusively on YouTube or you know Netflix, anything like that. The next column next to that is listen exclusively, and the column next to that is watch and

8:52 listen. So what? Marc Ronick: And we'll link to We'll link to this so that people can see it. What exactly? DR: Really interesting. So which category do you think our show would fit into of these paying enough attention to to be able to answer your question. You tell me DR: society and culture news business, Ralph. Marc Ronick: I mean, that's a Yeah, those categories. Ralph Estep Jr.: Any news business would maybe agree. I mean, of that Marc Ronick: group, I would probably agree with you, but probably not the best fit. Ralph Estep Jr.: Might need a shoehorn for that one. Yes, Marc Ronick: agreed. DR: So, of the business, 2% particular show, but watch in Marc Ronick: category, uh huh.

9:39 listen, and 60-8% watch and listen for comedy. 3% exclusively watch the podcast. I have a feeling Marc Ronick: about that one. exclusively listen 30% and watch and listen for comedy 60-7% Marc Ronick: Okay. Yeah. For some reason, I don't know why. Like, I can't tell you why. listening habits. But I would say, yeah, with comedy podcasts, I tend to listen to them, not watch them. DR: Oh, okay. Yeah. The one that has the most percentage of watch exclusively is the news.

10:21 News watch exclusively 4% listen exclusively 30% watch and listen 66% Marc Ronick: Interesting. DR: Yeah, the one that has the exclusively is the arts, which would think that the arts are Marc Ronick: That's true, right? Yeah, I guess it just depends on what art we're talking about. DR: Yeah. So arts 0% watch exclusively. 40-2% listen exclusively, and 50-8% watch and listen. How about that? That's interesting. Marc Ronick: Yeah, that is Thank you for sharing that. Yeah, that again, we found that in the Podfest Messenger, but I believe it's also covered in Pod News. Maybe it was yesterday or the day before. So yeah, check that out, and we will link to that as well. All right.

11:15 I know normally I go right into events here, but I want to jump to this. Actually, Ralph, I always do that. I want. I should hit this button. Audio Clip: Quick tip, smart move. Yeah, content creators' business bite. Marc Ronick: And today's content creators accountant. Go to contentcreatorsaccountant.com. to be covering this story. Ralph is my accountant, and he helps endless content creators, not just with their finances, because we say accountant, business. And Ralph is also here to help you take your podcast, turn it into more of a business, treat it more like a business, and he will handhold you, help you through that whole process, so that you can really feel confident-not just about your finances, but about the business contentcreatorsaccountant.com, up for a discovery call and see how he can help you.

12:20 With that, Ralph. Please take it away. What do we got? Ralph Estep Jr.: Well, thank you, Marc, and good morning, everybody. And I'm going to tell you this morning, someone just built an ad blogger for podcasts, and it's coming for the exact thing that pays our bills. So you better listen up to this one. There's a new free iPhone app. It's called Dreya. That's D R E A. Now, as soon as I heard that, I think that's from the Sopranos, Dreya. But their their website is Drea.fm. That's D R E a.fm Now here's their whole pitch. It's a podcast ad blocker. You can point it to any show, and AI finds the ads and yanks them out automatically. It uses cloud AI and audio fingerprinting. Now here's the part that matters to us the most. This is the part that really rattled me a little bit. It doesn't just kill dynamically inserted ads; it strips out host res ads as well.

13:10 the episode. Here's an early report. It does it cleanly with no false with no false positives. Say that 10 times in a row. It looks and feels like Apple Podcasts, and listeners won't even know they've switched. It's not alone. There's a whole pack of these. There's one called Zero Ads Heard Pure Podcast, and Academia researchers got AI to sniff out podcast ads from transcripts at 60% accuracy. So the tech is here. It's just getting sharper. But here's the stakes. Think about this for a second. Host read ads-they're the bread and butter of this business for a lot of content creators, and they work because they're baked in and can't be skipped. But now, skip the ad is one tap away. So, if skipping the ad becomes one tap away, what happens to how we get paid?

13:56 So, I'm going to put this out for the room because I think this is something we all need to discuss a little bit, so let me put you on the spot. If there were a button that skipped every ad on our show, would our listeners press it? And honestly, bigger than that, would you press it? Because you're also a consumer, not just a content creator. Marc Ronick: Yeah. See, that's the thing. Is I really thank you, Ralph. I think that you know, as podcasters, we might react to that a certain way. I don't want to sway anybody yet, but we might act a certain way. And as a listener, we might also have a different reaction to something like this. So, yeah, I am curious. What would you do?

14:38 DR: Could you not pick and Like, I want all the pre-roll and all the post-roll out. Marc Ronick: I don't know. I don't know if it's that smart. Not the way I Ralph Estep Jr.: understand it. doesn't block it. The way I understand it, DR: because if I'm reading a don't want that blocked. Marc Ronick: Right. Yeah. But see, I think the ad detector. Will consider it an ad, and probably Ralph Estep Jr.: that's the thing I talk about on the show all the time. Marc is sell your own stuff. Marc Ronick: Yeah, Ralph Estep Jr.: and if this thing is going out and sniffing out the selling your own stuff, boy, we are in trouble with this one. Marc Ronick: Yeah, yep, exactly right. We maybe we'll have to find some creative ways of getting around that, but I'm not sure. BC, you wanted to chime in, go for it.

15:20 BC Babbles: Yeah, and actually, know what? Now that I'm about it, I'm not sure if this is the best question, but I'll say it anyway. Are there any numbers right now that kind of suggest what it looks like with Terrell's point with the skip this ad? It's been a thing for a while. Do we know how much that really? Do we have numbers that say how much that already impacts advisor advertisers today that we could translate to this new feature and like therefore kind of Marc Ronick: yeah I think DR: might be too new of a feature Marc Ronick: yeah I think if I'm understanding your question BC I think we have covered in past previous news stories that for the most part, we were surprised because we thought that a lot of people skip, but it turns out, there's a high percentage of the staying and listening to those ads.

16:12 So I don't have the exact figures off the top of my head, though. Ralph Estep Jr.: I want to throw website, it actually says, "Say goodbye to podcast ads. Listen to your favorite podcast ad-free using Dreya, the podcast trusted by 100 of Zen Buddhist monks. So that's who they're that's who And here's the best part: it's actually put together by a company. You're going to love this one, Mark. is Narcotic Software. So this is where we can get really deep on this. You know, I just think about Dre, and they got a picture like Wednesday Addams. It looks like for their icon for their for their thing. But this is very interesting stuff. Marc Ronick: That is okay. So yeah, BC.

16:53 Did you want to add anything else? I feel like we might go. BC Babbles: Well, now I'm caught thing-that's a whole other concern. But I'll move on. I'm good now. Marc Ronick: Okay. Well, I think somebody else wanted to chime in. I just saw somebody flash the emoji and then I missed it. Dan: Hey, that-that was me. Marc Ronick: Go ahead, Dan. Dan: It's so ironic that I'm sure this company wants to block all the ads so they can eventually put their own ads in. Marc Ronick: You think at least Dan: maybe for their own thing. Probably that's usually what happens with this. This is really truly going to hurt. It's not going to hurt in the few people will know about it.

17:33 that will just get you know it. It'll just be the norm. It's going to hurt creators, and there's really not a lot you can do about it, but I just wish we could educate listeners that it's like you guys just play the ads. This is how we get paid. Like you can either buy a subscription and pay us money directly, or just listen to the ad. If the most podcasters are doing the thing where they're trying to get the message to market match, and the ads actually make sense instead of a BetterHelp ad or something that doesn't make sense for their show. I just I don't get it. I wish we could just educate. DR: And then you have the Not Benay Brown, but the other Mel Robbins.

18:20 Mel Robbins that has like a ton of commercials. That pre-roll is just. I understand it's huge. Yeah, Dan: yeah. I mean, I try. If it relates to me, I try to listen to the ad because I want to help. But those, I don't care. I just skip, skip, skip, skip. Marc Ronick: Right. Me too. Dan: But if I actually hear like heard them read that ad 80 times, I actually try to focus on. It's like I really love this podcast. How can I help them? Is this something I need? And it turns out I never need the perimenopause ad. No, but DR: you're not the average listener, Dan. You're not the average listener.

19:01 The average listener is not. How can I help? Yeah. Dan: No, I know, but that's why it's like more of a thing. I wish we could just get in our heads. Like I never, like you know, growing up watching TV, like you know, an ad would come on during happy days. It's like, holy cow, I got to get go to the bathroom quickly, right? I got to go into the kitchen and snack. Like we all kind of understood the game then. Now it's like I need this payoff This dopamine. I don't want to wait. Like we already have to have like a hook. You know, you have to get seconds. Well, what if I'm saying something that you can't say in three seconds? Like you're just we're hurting ourselves. I think as a nation. That's just old man Schultz here.

19:42 Marc Ronick: Get all your. You already showed your age when you referenced Happy Days. That's right. I loved it, Dan. You keep mentioning. Hey, I do too. And that's the second Happy Days reference in a row because yesterday I think Jeff Dwaskin was on stage and he brought up Yeah, yeah. So Dan's making great points, and it's really this one's a real dilemma for me as a podcaster. to Dan's point, I do skip not doing the hosts any favors If I had the the pop up blocker, or it's not a pop up blocker, but it's just like one, really, I might use that. I don't know. It's a really tough one.

20:24 I mean, what do you guys How should hosts respond if AI can detect and remove even a host red ad? Like, what do we do, or do we just do nothing and kind of roll over? Dan: I want to make one more Dan. More technology. So again, growing up, like there used to be a thing in AM radio. I mean, it's still there. It actually still happens. Where the player, well, the player, what world am I? Podcast player. Yeah, the podcast players probably do have this worked in now, though too. listen for gaps before the show would go out, and it would reduce the gap, so they make So this is actually happening. I forgot what pretty big player is doing this. It's not Pocket Cast, but it's kind of a big player is actually trying to take all of the the the podcast, and as it's playing, it's trying to find like, oh, we can shrink this little gap up, and maybe we could insert one of our ads in somewhere.

21:24 So now you're going to have this weird AI battle, where like one AI is trying to insert more ads, the other AI is trying to remove ads, and then pretty soon we're all going to be like, "Hey, welcome to up next time on blah. Yeah, okay, that was I just listening to. Marc Ronick: Yeah, Ralph in the chat says Battle of the AIs. Yes, that's going to be DR: But then again, how many of us listen to our favorite shows sped up a little bit? Marc Ronick: Sure. Yeah, I do that sometimes. Ralph Estep Jr.: Yeah, and I think the answer to all this, and it's funny because Adam Curry talked about this last week on podcasting 2.0 He said the key is to build a community, build your followers, because then you're not worrying so much about these ads.

22:13 So my takeaway, Marc, you asked what, how should we as content creators think about this? I think it just reinforces how ads aren't the solution, and the solution really is to get a domain, build your website, build your community, and have those loyal people who are not dependent on the. So you're not dependent on the ad revenue. Marc Ronick: Yeah, and I wonder, community, and in some ways, I agree. And it's not that I disagree, but does that really solve the problem? If you were using your podcast for ads, like because if yeah, we could put the actual audio video file on our website, but that means we have to depend on our audience to actually go to our website and consume it, as opposed to how they normally would on whatever podcast player they prefer. Ralph Estep Jr.: I agree with you, and I think that's why. And Sam Sethi says this all the time. I think we're pivoting to a place of where people are your content. Those are the people that will buy into a Patreon or a super chat or something like that.

23:20 I think that actually is a better model for the independent do-it-yourself podcaster because you're not going to win this race of CPM anyway, and this is just confirming the the sadness of that because now you're going to have AI bots that are going to strip out the very ads that you are trying to make money with. Now I guess you're still going to make money with them because they're still being placed in your thing, and then this AI stripping them out. But I don't have an answer. I wish I did. Yeah, but I think to drive them to some sort of community where you can own the content, for lack of a better way of saying it, is probably the best option at this point. Marc Ronick: Thank you, Ralph. Sid, I want to come to you because, as one of our community sponsorship and ads. How are you feeling about an app like this that can remove ads from your podcast?

24:09 Sid Meadows: So I saw the Good morning. Marc Ronick: Good morning. Sid Meadows: I saw the headline of this, the email news that came over this morning. I didn't read it, but you know, at the end of the day, I don't care. My sponsors are not sponsoring my show for a 30-second ad to to That's not why they're sponsoring my show. They're sponsoring my show for the other things they get. It's well beyond the benefit they get from us is well beyond the actual ad that runs in the episode, so I don't really care. And to the point earlier, people hit the skip button and don't hear the ads anyway. So if this one removes it, then it removes it. But these also sound like really obscure apps that are Showing up on my analytics as anybody is listening there, and so you know I'm not. I'm just not worried about it at this point in time. If I start seeing that I'm getting a lot of plays on these apps, that might raise a red flag for me to consider. But again, my sponsors are buying a lot more than just an ad that is placed in episodes.

25:21 Marc Ronick: Yeah, thank you, And I just saw who says it. It just Billy in the chat says it just removes dynamically inserted ads, right? No, Billy. post red ads as well. You know this. What Sid was sharing. I appreciate what he was sharing, and I feel like you know what this could mean is we're going to have to get if this really takes off, we're going to have to get really creative about how we work with sponsors or even our own content. It probably means we might be using places like social media more, right? And and really crafting some sort of ad campaign or promotion with your sponsor outside of the banner ads on your website, etc. Yes, it.

26:09 Sid Meadows: So, if it's using ad placement, then the first from the transcript. I know the ads are in our transcript. I don't know that it serves a lot of value, but the first step would be just remove the ads from the transcript. Marc Ronick: That's probably a clever way to do it. Ralph Estep Jr.: Yeah, but I don't think that's where it's grabbing it from. I suspect this is grabbing the audio file, creating its own transcript through Whisper or something like that. So I'm not sure that's going to help because you know I hear what you're saying, Sid. That is a good workaround, but I got a feeling these folks at Narcotic Software have thought that through. Marc Ronick: Well, hopefully not, but yeah, it's a good suggestion, good test. Anyway, BC, did you want to chime in before we move on?

26:49 BC Babbles: Before Ralph said wonder if the trick then was threads as separate files and So, like I forgot who said it, but so that they're not part of the transcript, but I think also this kind of reinforces the importance of understanding your real estate as a podcaster, so that if this does become an issue, you consider all your other avenues through which you can share your sponsor, and hopefully that can help subvert any potential economic damage this could do to your podcast. Marc Ronick: Thank you, BC. We have Billi just joined us. I was we were trying to get him up on stage, and he wasn't getting up there, but he's here now. So I will give you the final word, Billy, and then we'll move on.

27:33 Good morning. Billi: Hey, good morning. Good morning. Always talking about sponsorships and ads and all Well, and I was just gonna say this is even more of a reason for podcasters to really create that, you know, dynamic relationship between their listeners themselves and their sponsors, because like if you have a show about whatever, I always say fishing because that's the one I had the most success with. If I have a sponsor on there that makes a lot of sense for that audience, they don't care to listen to that ad. They're actually interested in the content in that ad. So I think that even, you know, kind of pushes the envelope a little more to go, hey, do your due diligence as a host or as a sponsorship salesperson, and make sure you get the right fit sponsor in your show, and you won't have to worry about people hitting the skip button because they'll actually enjoy the content.

28:22 Marc Ronick: Yeah, that's true, Billi. And I wonder if that could end up being a workaround if we were able to do more product placement type ads, right? Where we're just kind of weaving in the sponsor somehow into our content. It would force podcasters to do a better job of finding better fit advertisers, right? So, but I could see that being a thing. I don't know. This is a really interesting topic. It's why I wanted to jump right to it, and to be continued. I suppose we'll have to see how this all transpires. wanted to add? No. Okay. No, I just saw you open my husband. Oh, okay. I saw. Okay, gotcha. Quickly, let me just share a couple of events around the world of podcasting that may be of interest to you, and you know Conference. That's coming up in actually one month from right now. We will be in Charlotte hosting Empowered Podcasting Three, which is an event that brings independent podcasters Like I said, in Charlotte for practical learning, collaboration, and relationships that continue after the event.

29:29 The full conference runs from august 20. I know I've been saying 20-first, but really, the evening of the 20th is when things kick off through the 20-second. Things end on the 20-second after brunch, with the main conference day listed for Friday the 21st and Saturday the And if you want, use coupon code EPC Mark 20. That's Mark with a C, and you'll get 20% off. Also, by the way, today we're doing a live stream at 1 p.m. Eastern. Empowered. Podcasting live, and we're featuring speaker and creative partner to empowered podcasting, Jessica Schiller of Mozen Wellness. And Jessica helps people reconnect with their authentic voice, heal the experiences that have kept them feeling silenced, and express themselves with greater freedom and purpose.

30:20 We'll discuss her EPC three workshop. It's called the frequency of your voice, and she'll explain what she means by the frequency of your voice, how listeners sense the energy and podcasters sometimes disconnect from their natural voice, and how greater presence can create a stronger connection with an audience, so that is today at live. Yes, DR. DR: Okay, can you give us an update on how tickets are going? Sure. Also, give us an update on like a week ago we were asking for volunteers. How's that going? Stuff like that. Marc Ronick: Sure. Yeah. So we currently I don't know the exact number.

31:02 We just had a flood of tickets come through over the past couple of days. I'm not sure of the total number yet, but I can tell you we are way ahead of schedule this year with tickets than we were last year. Way ahead. So this, I'm thrilled for it. We are about to announce Actually, a few more sponsors. We've had a couple of last-minute sponsors that are interested. Actually, paying sponsors. You guys know last year we had a lot of partners, but not a lot of paying sponsors. That's not the case this year. We're going to have some big giveaways as well. Yeah, I don't want to say yet, but we'll be giving away some significant prizes throughout the event as well, and as far as volunteers, we have definitely at least six, and I'm still accepting more because I think we're going to need several more volunteers. So if you're interested in being a volunteer, reach out to me. Just use the contact us form at empoweredpodcasting.com. Let me know, and we'll talk about that. DR: And the volunteers get what?

32:02 Marc Ronick: Volunteers get a access pass. And I think Sid had a question, Sid Meadows: more of a comment. Marc Ronick: Okay, Sid Meadows: one day last week, I looked at the agenda, and wow, what an agenda! It's gonna be so hard to choose what to go to. That speaker lineup and the So congratulations, Mark, to you I know Jason had a lot to do with that in pulling those speakers together and the agenda. This looks really, really good. Marc Ronick: Thank you, Sid. I appreciate that. Yeah, I'm super excited about the agenda, and I'm I'm excited because it's going to really be more than what we even had last year because now Friday will be a full day as opposed to last year it was a half a day, so we've got multiple tracks running in the afternoon on Friday, meaning two tracks and then same as Saturday.

32:54 And yeah, the quality of speakers this year has definitely leveled up even more. And I didn't think that was going to be possible after last year's successful event. So, yeah, come check it out. empoweredpodcasting.com Do all the things, get your tickets, and use EPC Mark 20 to get a 20% discount. Also, something a little sooner coming up here. Riverside is hosting a free live on Monday, July 27. This session will demonstrate the redesigned editing workflow and give podcasters and content creators a chance to see how the new tools work before trying them in their own production process.

33:38 So even if you are not on Riverside right now, but maybe you've been curious about it. Their new editor tool is really impressive. I've been using it lately, and I'm, yeah, I'm really blown away by it. It's feeling more like editing your actual desktop computer. multi-tracking and so much more. You don't like it. You don't like it. Have you been using it? DR: I went in. I had a show to edit last night. Marc Ronick: Yeah, DR: and and I went in to download it, and everything has changed from the last show that I went was just a couple of days ago. Things have changed.

34:18 I can't find stuff. Okay, and I don't edit on Riverside. I like to download the file and edit on my own stuff, and it is really confusing. I was so frustrated last night, Marc Ronick: and I think it's fair to say, DR. that when things change for you on your software, you really have a hard time with it. Is that fair, DR: dude? Change is hard for everybody. Marc Ronick: Come on, it is, and relate to that. So I'm just kind of teasing you, but I do know you get a little more flustered, say, than I do when there's a change in software. But it is noticeably different. So if you have a hard time with change, you.

34:59 Gonna have to give yourself a little grace and take a little time to get to know where everything was moved to. Ralph Estep Jr.: But and don't know we have the words are hard in the morning. Well, change is hard in the morning, and Descript is the exact same way. I feel like all these tools are constantly changing and they're making it difficult. Marc Ronick: Yeah, I totally Also, another the last but not least, as far as the events around the world of podcasting goes, there's a community meetup for women, trans, and non-binary podcasters. The podcast space. This is a friend of mine, Anna Xavier, and EuroWaves are hosting a free in-person meetup in London on Thursday, July 23rd, from 5:30 to 8p.m BST time, the conversation will cover audio and video storytelling, identity, pay inequality, funding, and collaboration. So more on that if you're interested. We will put those show notes.

35:59 I'm sorry, we will put that link in the show notes. Now I think okay, yeah, we we lost DR for a quick second. Let me bring her back to the video. There she is. There she is. That's okay, DR. All good. DR: The Wi-Fi thing, I think. Yeah, no, I Ralph Estep Jr.: think it was you were bad mouthing the tech DR. Riverside. it here. I would DR: have been much earlier than that. Good one, Ralph. I appreciate that. Marc Ronick: DR. You want to We've been talking about Netflix over the past few weeks, and I know this is your story. Go for it. DR: Yeah. So Netflix wants your daytime attention. I'm not sure that they'll get my daytime attention. So Netflix says it's super encouraged, and that's in Super encouraged by the early podcasts, especially because the day, when the platform activity. Co CEO Ted is it Sarandos?

37:01 Serranos. Yeah, that's good. Yeah, says that the shows viewing rather than stealing and television series. Netflix's early results support the strategy behind the video podcast push. These shows give the company lower cost programming that can fit into people's daily routines and attract viewers during hours when they're less likely to watch a movie or traditional television series. For podcasters, the more interesting question is whether Netflix will eventually invest in original shows from independent creators or continue relying on established podcast brands, and honestly, nothing can drag me from my court shows during the day, so they don't have me. Marc Ronick: I used to work all the time with TV on in the background, and I've since over the past several years gotten away from it.

37:59 Maybe it's my ADHD. I have a hard time doing both watching or even listening and working at the same time. Plus, it's really challenging and a lot of your time requires earbuds in and listening to your clients' work. BC, did you want to add something? BC Babbles: Yeah, I'm a little confused. I thought Netflix was already busy trying to pivot towards offering a kind of live TV kind of content as opposed to podcasting. Marc Ronick: Well, I think that yes, that I think both are true, and I think what's happened is is they've brought in podcasting over the past few months, and they, according to this article, they're seeing a lot of success.

38:39 That's probably why they're seeing that they're getting daytime listeners or watchers because of their podcast content, Ralph Estep Jr.: and honestly, they've got to do is bring it in on their platform through. I'm going to say a bad word through the RSS feed, and they could do it with the alternate enclosure. I'm going to get real techy tomorrow, and that could be your podcast shows potentially, and for them to do. I mean, figured that's what that's what YouTube has done. Marc Ronick: Yep. Ralph Estep Jr.: So why not Marc Ronick: Yeah, you never To be continued there, but interesting because a lot of us were curious if this was going to be a failed experiment, and so far, early signs say it's actually working quite well for Netflix. In other news, what's that?

39:22 DR: For the time being, Marc Ronick: yeah, for the time being. In other news, podcast awards draw a line. The New York City Podcast Awards have opened their second year with a pointed message. No categories for video, advertising, or AI. Entries start at just 70-$5 Yes, it's an award thing, so you do have to pay for it. That is not uncommon. At a time when the industry keeps stretching the definition of podcasting, these awards are planting their flag around the audio craft itself. and we got that info from Pod Recently, DR. You want to take the next story?

40:02 DR: Yeah, free press releases There is a company called Press Launch. It's a new press release distribution service built specifically for podcasters. It says it'll send releases to verified media contacts, publish them online, and add them to an RSS feed. I said the dirty word again. RSS feed. The service is free until mid-August. Then the cost will be about 50-$9 That could be useful when a show has an actual story to announce. doesn't guarantee anyone will But think about any kind of milestones, or your dream guest is-you finally got them on, or you know, I hit 100 episodes, or any kind of milestone like that-I think that Marc Ronick: Adrienne Barker, and she's a friend of Jonathan's if you remember Chatter, the yeah, she I think she's behind Chatter is still going on, Dr. It's just not going on in our world. It was way too much to try to navigate too many different things.

41:14 So yeah, but we we love Chatter. Good luck to them. I I hear they're still going strong, but yeah, Adrian is behind this and cool idea, but I do want to ask you, Ralph. I saw you shaking your head at some point. What was that about? Ralph Estep Jr.: Look, here's my there is such a proliferation of these clowns out on the internet Don't misunderstand me. She may have a very valuable. But there are so many of these places that I was talking to news reporter the other day, actually, and I said, "Do you read press releases? get bombarded with them so much now that it's just you're spending money. I'm not sure it's moving the needle. Now that said, if you want to send a press release to a particular niche that you're in, like I send a lot of stuff to James over at Pod News, and because that's the niche I'm in, that is very effective.

42:03 But these like spray and pray, I call them. I think people are spending a lot of money on stuff, and it's not getting them anywhere. And like I said, I don't know their product, so this isn't a this isn't Ralph throwing shade on their product. I just be careful about where you're spending money because it looks like the easy button. You're like, oh, for $99 I can hit 6000 media outlets and be on this. Nobody's looking at that stuff. Marc Ronick: Fair point. Yeah, I don't know if I can verify that or not, but interesting that you heard that from a news person as well. Dan, you wanted to add something, and then we'll go to Sid. Dan: Yep, I have definitive So press releases are really good the same way getting reviews are good for your podcast.

42:43 It's not going to really drive any kind of measurable listenership. It just doesn't. And I'll give you an example in one second. But where it does help is with the social proof. Like you want to make your podcast seem like it's a happening thing. Anytime you're in the news, even if you're creating the news, it's a thing. You should be telling your listeners. You should be putting it out on social. It just makes you look happening. And same with your advertisers. You can tell them, "Oh yeah, it was just featured in blah blah blah. So, as some of you may know, an older show I did was one of the very first podcasts. thing. You guys know what Big Brother is, the TV show Big. Marc Ronick: I love Big Brother.

43:27 had a wish to be on that show. Oh, Dan: jeez, get help, will you? My first show, we were featured as part of a Time magazine cover story about the new breed of internet celebrity, and it was a huge write-up. They talked about it. Such a glowing article. We got zero, like literally zero Picture in there, everything beautiful hair, Mark. No one, no one followed us from that. Same year though is when the first season of Big Brother happened, and I was so mad because one of these-I forgot the characters-but someone was lying to someone.

44:08 Marc Ronick: Oh, that's a that's Dan: That's the whole show. Well, we hired a plane to pull a banner over the house with a message: "Brittany Claire knows you're lying or whatever. I forgot the the people, and that got us so much attention, like insanely, just huge information. And now, just fun fact: any time the people are outside, they CBS has to hire somebody to sit out on the roof and listen for airplanes because sound an alarm and send people don't ruin anything for their Isn't that interesting? Marc Ronick: Yep, I did know that. I did know that.

44:54 Thank you, Dan, and thanks for sharing the personal experience. Sid, you wanted to chime in as well. Sid Meadows: So I do agree with Ralph about the spray and pray press release. It's just I don't think it's a good thing, and I would never pay for a press release to be sent out. I don't know that has any value for me. started, I sent a press release out to the four industry magazines, because there are them picked it up and ran it. listeners or follows to the No, I cannot. But I certainly was mentioned in the news, which is always great to be mentioned in the news, and it gives you visibility.

45:38 That becomes searchable as well. So then, when I launched my new program that I talked about my private podcast a few weeks ago, we did a press release for that. We sent that to every industry magazine again. Every industry magazine picked it up and ran it. And let me just tell you the I can have a direct correlation to new enrolled students and discovery calls that I've had with potential participants in that through the roof. Multiple dealer distributor owners have called me. I had a call a couple of days ago with the HR consultant or an HR director of HR for a business that is hiring aggressively hiring new people that wants to do a test with us to put a few people through this, and then if it works, which it will work, they want to So it worked; it got a lot of coverage, and my calendar has pleasantly had a lot of meetings added to it.

46:35 Do people want to discuss this? Because publicly on the website, there's a link to schedule a call with me. So they can work if it's targeted to the right audience and the right industry magazines, and if they pick it up, it can be very beneficial for you. Marc Ronick: Thank you. Another great real case, real life example. Thank you for that, Sid. I'm thinking about it here. You know, the other thing that press releases go is whether or not, and I don't know this. I can't say this definitively, but I imagine they are also helpful for things like SEO and maybe even AEO, right? AI optimization. You you never know because that's just more information. It's hopefully positioning you as an expert, a leader. Your podcast being discussed, hopefully that might help with things like SEO and AI.

47:24 So who knows? But yeah, cool little service. We'll see. We'll see how that one turns out, and we might even have them as a sponsor at EPC. More to come on that as well. We're going to go to BC for some tech news. BC, what do you got for us today? BC Babbles: All right, so Podtrack launches a brand new free cross promotion tool for podcasters called Podcast Promo Trades. It's a free platform that helps podcasters exchange promotional spots with other It allows creators to discover compatible podcasts while words in the morning, arrange their trailer swaps, and track cross cross promotional campaigns, all with the goal of helping shows grow through audience sharing.

48:09 This offers a couple of different caveats. It's being used by a lot of including American Public Media, So for podcasters, especially indie podcasters, this means cross promotion continues to be one of the most cost effective ways to grow podcasts. Smaller shows now have another tool to help identify potential promotional partners. Collaboration, not just advertising, remains a key driver for podcast discovery, and strategic trailer swaps can introduce your show to highly relevant audiences without requiring a paid marketing budget. So great new tool for indie podcasters. Go check it out. It's I'll give Mark the link here and see if it works for you.

48:54 Marc Ronick: Thank you, BC. O D T R A C K. Check them out. We will. No K. Right. P O D T R A C. Did I say K? I just slipped. I meant to not to withhold that, and I didn't. Okay. There you go. And we will put something in the show notes if you're interested in that. Also, by the way, just in case, if you are a Podbean user, they have added support for HLS video In practical terms, compatible apps can receive a video version of an episode through the open podcast feed instead of forcing creators to upload separately to every closed platform.

49:36 Adoption by listening apps will determine how useful this becomes, and obviously, this is all from Apple Podcasts. And for today's headline, speaking of video, the headline is "Videos had videos hidden price tag. Podcasters hear constantly that video creates more reach, and I can't deny that it's particularly helpful. For discovery, a new cost analysis asks a more uncomfortable question: How much extra time and money are creators spending for every hour of attention video actually delivers? So, some key points from this particular story resonate recordings.

50:19 That's who did this survey. Says adding video increases production costs by 70-7% for every hour of audience attention generated. Its analysis says video also triples post-production time per episode. The calculation attempts to compare production expense with the combined attention received across audio and video, rather than judging video only by views, video may still be worth the expense when it clearly supports discovery, a creator's brand, sponsorship platform-specific audience. The figures come from a production company's own analysis, and won't apply equally to every workflow. A simple single camera setup and polished multi-camera show have very different costs associated to them. The practical question for indie justify the added workload. So let's step back into yesterday's show for a second, where we were picking one, right? And let's so let's play this little game. Which would you choose?

51:33 Produce a simpler video consistently, or spend time improving the audio show, right? So it's produce video consistently or spend that time instead. Since we know it's a 70-7% increase, instead spend that on audio. Sid, what say you? Sid Meadows: I would spend it on your answer? We don't have to play it like we did yesterday. Sid Meadows: Oh, okay. Sorry, I got in trouble. I know, I know. We're not officially playing I mean, I'm an audio first show with the video component. Why am I going to invest in perfecting a video? I would rather continue to invest in becoming a better podcaster with an audio first, because that my that's my vision, right?

52:18 invest my time and resources. Marc Ronick: I'm curious if there. Yeah, Billi. I was going to say I'm curious how some others feel. Yeah, go ahead, Billi. Billi: Well, I was going to say Sid doesn't have enough money to invest into video to make him like surgery required and all this kind of get rid of my wrinkles and my little turkey neck thing. Yes, Billi: you have you have a face for radio, man. Me too, but I just keep putting it out there. I mean, I've always loved video, and so I've always leaned into it. And so, I will say, I think there's ways now with all the really good looking show for not cost. Maybe a lot more learning curve for some people, but so I would all I would always go video first. You know, I think my my brand is like I am my brand.

53:12 living, so I need to be on video to get hired for the next Marc Ronick: Yeah, and I see. I think for Billi, it makes a lot of sense. You know, we're talking about increased cost, increased time that's involved in video. But you know, Billi has figured out a formula for himself where he's actually making money, so it's worth that time to do that for somebody like Billi. And I think that's what this is kind of suggesting here in the article too. It's not saying, oh, it's a disaster for everybody. It's just saying the right people can adopt it. The wrong people, it's going to really take a toll with your time and your money. For us, and I know I've shared this before, but worth sharing again, the way that we do it is we're not investing time in the video other than the time it takes to press go live, right? But we're just using this video as is. We're not editing it.

54:07 We're not producing it. We're just putting it out there with the audio, which the audio is the produced, the edited content. But when you go to our website at podcastingmarningshow.com and especially recently, you're You're going to see the YouTube video right there, front and center, and right underneath that, you're going to see the audio player. We're giving our audience the ability to choose, and we're giving ourselves the freedom of wasting all that time and sometimes money, a lot of times money into our video production. So yeah, we had an initial investment, maybe say for some better for me for a better camera or what have you.

54:47 But overall, I probably would anyway for content creation. So there are some creative ways to get around that for sure. All right, so I think we are really short on time. We're gonna run out of. The story we wanted to get to about your shorts, your video shorts, and how those can help you with podcast promotion. bit. Maybe we'll do that tomorrow before we get to our interview. But a reminder that we do have our interview tomorrow with Eddie Garrison, marketing specialist. He is also a part of the Empowered Podcasting Community, and we're going to learn a lot about social media, how we can use it as podcasters and AI as well. So we'll we'll get into that all tomorrow. Join us at eight a.m.

55:31 Eastern at podcastingmorningshow.com/join us. And until tomorrow, make it a great day, everybody. Take care.