491. Apple, OpenAI, and the New Podcasting Shift

0:05 Good morning podcasting, Morning Chat. Today is Wednesday, April 8th, 2026, and today it's our news and comment episode with Apple proving it still drives discovery, new upgrades from Buzz Sprout and Riverside, and Open AI is stepping into podcast ownership. So if you're listening live on Clubhouse, hit the share button top right hand side of the screen and share it. However, Clubhouse lets you. And if you're catching us via podcast, YouTube, LinkedIn, etcetera, please share this with a fellow podcaster. And now give us about 30 seconds and we'll get things rolling. Thanks for being here.

0:52 Podcasting Morning Chat is powered by Ironic Media, helping podcasters launch, Polish and grow great shows, and by content Creators Accountant, helping creators build real business behind their content. Good morning again podcasting morning chat. Thank you so much for being here. I am your host Mark Ronick and currently on stage with me. A moment ago it was a little, little quiet in here, but now on stage with me we have Dr. Faye, Ralphie Step, Nick Naulback, Sid Meadows and BC Babbles.

1:39 And if you want to learn more about this fine crew, just go to podcastingmorningchat.com/people and you'll also see there Jonathan Howard who has just joined us on stage as well. Glad you all are here. Like I said, we started at 7:00 AM with me, Dr. and Ralph, which might have been a first if we went any further. But then as the music was playing, the usuals popped in and are here with us today. So thank you and shout out to Nick Nalback. Thank you for correcting me. I've been saying at the intro, please share this on Clubhouse bottom. Well, it's moved the share Button's down at the top right hand side of the screen here on Clubhouse. So thank you Nick for that correction.

2:22 Clubhouse has been making lots of updates lately. And by the way, if you want to figure out how to join us on Clubhouse or anywhere for that matter, just go to podcastingmorningchat.com/join us. Now. Before I go any further, want to quickly remind you of something? Do you have podcast gear on your wish list? Then if you do listen up, you could win Ralph E Steps Lightly used Roadcaster Duo, plus a free monetization strategy session designed to help you make smarter moves, particularly money moves with your show. The Duo is a great piece of gear because I think it helps you sound polished, works really well with multiple audio sources, and gives you hands on control over your live production all in one compact unit.

3:16 And the smaller size makes it especially convenient if you ever need to record on the go. But Ralph, do you want to share just a little bit about the strategy session? Absolutely. So what I'm doing is I'm working with you to help you build a monetization strategy for your content. Actually had a 15 minute call with one of our normal audience members yesterday and we did a little bit of a pre interview for that, but that's what I'm offering. I'll spend an hour with you. We'll look at your content, we'll look at your monetization strategy and help you try to make pay for some of the bills related to your podcasting. So I'm throwing that in with the duo, so make sure you check. That out awesome and you can do that by going to podcastingmorningchat.com/duo DUO. All right, so with that, let's dive in to the news today. Now I've been forgetting which music to play. I think this is the one.

4:12 I don't know, I think that's the old one. Now that I say it, I got to get rid of it. I got to move it off the board so I don't keep playing it, although again, no big deal, it works. So let's dive into some podcast data as we do when we start our news and comment episodes. 1st, I wanted to read this to you because I get these total number of podcasts updated each week. I get this from podcastbusinessjournal.com and they preface these numbers and I thought it would be helpful to share how they preface these numbers. They say a helpful number to understand the amount of podcast being created is the total number of quote, active podcasts, close quote. These are podcasts that still are being updated and therefore actively marketing themselves.

5:01 If you're marketing, if you're making shows, you might consider this number to be your competition rather than the big 4.7 million podcasts number that Podcast Index reports. So with that, the total number of actual or active podcasts that have updated in this past week, 191,234, which is down 2.1% from the previous week. And if you're interested, those total active podcasts that have updated in the last 30 days is 363,625, which is up .5% from the last month according to podcastbusinessjournal.com. So if you're ever curious and want to see those numbers, they do update them in real time.

5:55 Go check them out over at Podcast Business Journal. All right, Dr. come to you. Let's do the top fives on Apple. And I know you have a random list of top fives from Spotify. Yeah, so just a fair warning, don't be shocked when I read the first one off, which is going to be #5 this is Apple, the Apple charts. OK, Got it. So #5 is the Joe Rogan experience. Yeah #4 is the idiot OK? It's a serial production and the from the New York Times #3 Tiffany please is Dateline.

6:39 NBC number 2 is Crime Junkie and the number one podcast of is The Daily. OK, there you go. Yes. So Dr. saying don't be surprised. This is the Apple list. So Joe Rogan's number 5 yes on Spotify currently, spoiler alert, he is number one on Spotify. But that's why Dr. is going to give us a random chart from Spotify. Go ahead. That's right, so this week's random chart from Spotify is science. You're blinding me with science. OK, so #5 is the Hidden brain #4 is Startalk Radio with Neil Degrassi probably very, very popular this week, that's for sure, with Artemis going up and stuff like that.

7:28 Number 3 is Ologies with Allie Ward. Number 2 is Radiolab. And the number one podcast is Science Versus Spotify versus? OK, cool. I do. I am a fan. I don't listen regularly, but when I think of it, I definitely check in on Startalk Radio. Neil Degrassi Tyson I just find quite amusing and fascinating with all the knowledge that he has in that brain of his. Yeah, great show and thank you Dr. for those top fives. Here's the music.

8:11 Let me give you 3 different events or things of note for you that may be of interest to you as a podcaster. First, the Quill Podcast Awards are back for their fifth year and nominations are now open as of yesterday. The awards celebrate the achievements of podcasters and podcast companies, and there are 13 categories to choose from. So check out Quill Podcast Awards at Quill podcasting.com and we'll put a link to that in the show notes as well. If you're interested. I think I may apply. And you can also nominate others as well. So if you have a favorite podcast that you want to nominate, you can do that as well.

8:52 You don't have to just nominate your own. Also, here's a new one we haven't talked about yet, the Soundwave Summit 2026. This comes May 9th to the Harbourfront Center in Toronto. It's created for podcasters, producers, editors, audio or video entrepreneurs and creative teams building in the independent space. The South Sound Wave Summit is designed to help attendees move beyond isolated creation and into real community, practical strategy and sustainable growth. Again, that's at Harborfront Center in Toronto for our Canadian listeners, which we do have plenty of those. Thank you to those of you listening in Canada. Also in a reminder, Empowered Podcasting 3, Yes, that is coming up August 21st through the 23rd and you can get your tickets at empoweredpodcasting.com. But I'm here to tell you that if you haven't already applied to be a speaker, now is your chance and you have until April 15th to do so.

10:01 So go to empoweredpodcasting.com/speakers and you can apply to be a solo presentation that's generally a 30 minute presentation. Or if you have more of a workshop style that you want to do where you're more interactive and getting our attendees more involved in the presentation that we give you more like a 45 minute slot for that. So do that at empoweredpodcasting.com/speakers. Again, the deadline is April 15th. We'd love to have you there. And actually wrong music.

10:41 I should have done this. Quick tip, smart move. Yeah. Content creators. Business fight. Maybe my favorite Stinger of Wednesday mornings and today's content creators bite is brought to you by the guy who's about to host it, Ralph Estep, Junior of Content Creators Accountant. Ralph is a licensed accountant and my accountant as well, both personal and business. With over 30 years of experience at contentcreatorsaccountant.com. He helps creators stop guessing about taxes and money, turning financial chaos into clarity. So, Ralph, what do you got for us today?

11:23 Well, you were talking about April 15th and if you look at your calendar, we are 7 days away. And for one, I'm happy about that. But there's a lot of content creators who are about to make a very expensive mistake. And that's because they think they can file an extension and it means they don't have to pay their taxes until the extension deadline. And that misunderstanding right there is costing thousands of dollars each year. It's like Mark said, I'm Ralphie TE, I'm the content creators accountant and I work with content creators all over. And here's the reality. You have two deadlines on the 15th, dare I say 3 deadlines. If you want to be a speaker for EPC, three, that's your third one. But you've got 2 tax deadlines, not one. Lot of people think you just have a deadline to file. That's true.

12:09 You do have a deadline to file, but you've also got a deadline to pay, and the IRS treats those very differently. Now, if you don't file on time, you get hit with a 5% per month penalty on what you owe. That adds up fast. That one hurts. But if you file an extension, you avoid that big penalty, which is a good thing. That's the good news. But here's the part most creators miss. The IRS still expects you to estimate your taxes and pay by April 15th. And if you don't pay, you still get hit with a, you get a smaller penalty, but daily compound interest from that day forward. It's kind of like you get into a taxicab and the meter starts running.

12:51 And this is where creators get caught because as I mentioned on the show many times, income is mess. You've got it coming from all directions at different times. So what happens? You look at your bank account, you think you're fine, but you haven't put anything aside for taxes. And that's not a tax problem, that's a system problem, which we talked a lot about the other day. So if you're not ready for the 15th, a lot of people might be in the audience right now saying, Ralph, I'm not ready. Here's what I need you to do. Number one thing, file an extension that gets you out of that failure to file penalty. Second thing, estimate what you think you're going to owe and pay something, even if it's not everything. That one move can save you thousands of dollars in penalties.

13:34 Now I've got a question for the I'm Curry about this. How many people in the room have either filed an extension before or been surprised about these penalties? And it more importantly than that, did you know before today that an extension doesn't extend your payment? This is one of the biggest financial mistakes I see creators make every day, and it's completely avoidable. And once you understand how the system works, you can beat the system. So does anybody want to comment about that particular situation that I just tell you something you didn't know or were you aware of this ahead of time? Interesting. Well, one thing I was going to ask you, Ralph, is I know that yes, you've said it and I know this April 15th is the deadline, but I also know that for businesses it's actually March 15th.

14:21 So that's come and gone. So my question to you is, should creators be worried if they've missed that March 15th deadline and, you know, 'cause they were assuming, oh, it's April 15th? Well, yes, it depends on the type of entity you have. If you've got a subchapter S corporation or a multi member LLC, but it was due March 15th. If you've got a single member LLC that you file as part of your personal tax return, you're still OK. So if you missed that deadline and you're a single member LLC, which what I see is a lot of people are single member LLCS, you still got till April 15th. But don't forget you can file an extension to file, which gives you an extension out till October 15th. And a lot of people take a breath and say, oh, great, I've got till October 18th. But you still owe the money from April 15th. So even if you put it on extension, send what you can to reduce that penalty.

15:12 And don't just think, well, I'm going to go take a nap, like I'm going to hibernate till October the first. Because if you owe money, they're going to go back to April 15th and charge you a penalty moving forward. OK, that makes sense. All right, cool. Does anyone else have any questions for Ralph before we keep things moving? Can I hibernate even if I paid my taxes? Is that good? If you've hibernated, Jonathan, you're good to go, my friend. If you've paid and filed, you can take a break and just relax. All right, that's my question. I have a question for everybody here on Clubhouse. And if you're listening or watching live, put it in the chat on whatever video platform you're watching on and put give me a one in the chat if you have already filed your taxes or A2 if you have not one in the chat.

16:03 Yes, I filed my taxes. Well, Nick is giving us a thumbs up that counts. He's already filed. Dr. says 2. I am a 2. But Ralph is feverishly working behind the scenes helping us get that wrapped up. Dave is a 2. So it looks like we've got a lot of twos. Ralph, you haven't filed your own taxes yet. OK, so here's a story my wife always says to me how come we're always the last to file? I said because I got to get all the clients taken care of 1st and Nikki put something in the chat. I just wanted to mention I did have a great call with Nikki yesterday. It was a pleasure to meet her and you know, one-on-one through Zoom. But yeah, Mark, I'm the last one to file. It's kind of like, you know, the person who's a Carpenter and the stuff around your house never gets built. It works the same way for me, honestly. So yeah, I put my extension on and I just say, you know what, I'll get through all the client stuff 1st and then I'll get back to my stuff.

16:54 But don't miss this deadline because file an extension is super easy. It will save you a big amount of penalty dollars to at least do that. Yeah, yeah. All right. Cool. Well, it looks like yeah, a lot of people need some some time. Yes, Dr., go ahead. OK, so I don't know if this is going to be a dirty word to you, Ralph, but is there anything that most people miss when they use TurboTax? Oh, so if you were watching me on video, you would have seen a smile from ear to ear. I love TurboTax because it keeps me busy all year long because, and I'm not and I'm not throwing TurboTax under the bus, but it talks you into a lot of stuff you shouldn't have.

17:41 I'll give you a great example of this, Dr. since you asked, I had a client a couple years ago. They used TurboTax to prepare their tax return. TurboTax somehow talked them into deductions they didn't deserve and they got this $8000 refund. Well, about six months later, the IRS came with a letter and said guess what, you owe us 10 grand. So they came in to see me. Guess what? They did owe the IRS 10 grand because the online software talked them into something they did not qualify for. And that's why I love TurboTax and a lot of the online stuff. Because what'll happen is you'll file your return, you'll get your refund, and then about six months or nine months later, you'll get a letter in the mail from the IRS that says ODR. We found a little error on your return. And that's when people come in and say, Ralph, I need some help.

18:26 If you've got a very simple tax return, then the online stuff is fine. I'm not going to sit here and say it's not. But if you're a content creator and you've got any kind of complexities on your tax return, using the online software without a guide is going to get you in trouble. It just is going to do that. Yeah, it's one of those things it's like. Now that you put the fear of God in me. Right. Yeah, it's one of those things that with when it comes to taxes, it's like with taxes and with say website back end stuff, I don't touch it. I am too scared to touch it. I don't want to make any mistakes. So yeah, I leave that to the professionals. Sid, you wanted to add some?

19:08 Billy, go ahead. No, I'm sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead, Sid. Good morning, everybody. So I'm doing rough. I'm doing my son's taxes on TurboTax in the upsells. Oh my gosh, you know, do you get to the screen? It looks like that you're going to click. They highlight a button like this is the button to submit. But you if you actually look at the screen, it's actually they're charging you something else. If you want to do this, you can get this. So you have a person review it for this much. I swear I think there were a dozen different up sales like. Jeez, just I just. Want to hit the button and then we had to go to, we can't file it till we get an IRS PIN. So he had to go to the IRS's website, integrate a PIN and then they couldn't validate his ID.

19:51 So he has to do a video call with the IRS. I assume he did that in the last day or so. I haven't heard from him. I need to ping him today. So literally we're just waiting now for this PIN so that we can insert the PIN and hit the file button so he can pay his money and my wife's. Like I never thought it would be so hard to pay the government money. Yeah, I know those, that kind of software specifically, they just Riddle you with ads and pop ups. Yeah. It's no fun, especially when you're already in the thick of it, probably a little frustrated trying to get all your taxes done and you have to also navigate those ads. Yeah, I'm with you there. Yes, Alex. It's like a Mel Robbins intro, right?

20:32 That's right. That's right. It's like Mel Robbins podcast. Exactly. Only upsell that I do is the audit upsell they like. Guarantee they do something in case you get audited. And Ralph is giving a thumbs down. I've. Been. Screwing up all these years. Thumbs down, Ralph. Yeah, especially that one that is just the biggest pile of flaming garbage that you can possibly do because if you read the fine print, it says up to the amount you paid for the software, which is not going to help you at all. But I want to call out something that Billy put in the chat about Sid. Do not do tax evasion.

21:16 Tax evasion you will go to jail for. Those are the things with the little guys with guns and gold badges. Show up at your house, at least file. Tax evasion is criminal. Not paying them is civil, but tax evasion is criminal. So Billy and what Billy also wrote in there, the IRS people give our IRS a hard time, but they're super nice. When I call, I agree with him. The IRS actually is very easy to deal with if you do the right thing and you get the right person on the phone. They just have a job to do and they just want to do their job. So Billy, I trumpet what you say. A lot of people give the IRSA bad name. I work with them all the time and 99% of the people I work with, there are just people just like you and I who just have a job to do.

21:56 So I don't want to spend all day talking about this, but just whatever you do, the deadline is 7 days away. Don't put it off. Get that extension filed and get yourself out of penalty land. I'm with Jonathan in the chat here. Jonathan says Billy just wants Sid to get arrested. Yeah, well, also Billye not even in the country right now, so let's not even think. I didn't clear my name here. I am not tax evading. I put the number three in the when the question was asked because my accountant has not filed my taxes. That was not an option. So I made it an option. So I am not tax evading. Billy's trying to stir trouble at this. What a shocker, especially if you are at the brunt of that. All right, cool.

22:37 Thank you, Ralph. I know tax stuff isn't an A conversation we have often here, but it is that time and a lot of us as content creators, if we're making money, this is an important conversation to have. So yeah, thank you, Ralph. Appreciate having you here to help clear some of that up for us. Let's get into some quick, maybe quick news bites. I call them news bites 'cause I feel like they could be quick, maybe not creating tons of conversation, but I'm often proven wrong about that. So let's find out first. Apple's video podcast strategy keeps picking up steam. Lipson and Buzz Sprout have now joined the list of hosts supporting HLS video for Apple Podcasts, leaving Spotify for Creators and Megaphone as the major holdouts among the top hosting platforms.

23:30 Not a surprise that Spotify doesn't want to play nice with Apple. The message is getting clear by the week. Apple wants podcast video to become a real part of the listening experience. But for creators, pricing, access and platform support still look a little murky. And Ralph, I know we were talking about some of the upcoming shows here at Podcasting Morning Chat. We're going to talk more about Apple's video push tomorrow. A little bit of a different angle than we have in the past. You want to tell us a little bit about that? Yeah, I really want to dig in tomorrow to this whole idea of HLS and how they're going to grab your audio from that, because a lot of podcasters, myself included, release both audio and video, and the audio work is different than the video work.

24:23 There might be pieces in the video that we cut out and we're going to talk about that tomorrow because for Examle, like I have a team that does all my roduction work and they take the audio file and when they put the video together, they actually strip a lot of that stuff out to kind of get to the point. I think that's going to be an issue as we move forward with this whole HLS thing on Apple. So that's really what I want to dive into tomorrow on this show, get some ideas of what other people are doing here and how you're going to manage this change. So that's what we're going to cover on tomorrow's show. Yep, Thank you, Ralph. That was that's the plan. And we're going to also talk a little bit about if or how if and how we're going to actually use it. Like, for example, is the podcasting morning chat going to take advantage of this? Are some of our other fellow podcasters here with us going to use it?

25:10 Why and why not? So we'll talk about that tomorrow, the insurance and outs, because it's time to do that. I know we've talked a lot theoretically about this new change, but I want to dig into the nitty gritty now that it is a real thing. What the number of ads removed are? Hold on a second. Something is playing that shouldn't be playing here. Hold on. OK, that's interesting. All right. TuneIn reopens the gates for podcasters It looks like TuneIn decided that maybe shutting the door on podcasts wasn't the smartest long term strategy. After shutting down podcast emissions in February 2024, TuneIn is once again accepting new podcast listening listings through its broadcaster portal.

25:57 The platform, which powers audio in places like Tesla vehicles and Sonos speakers, is report reopening access after a rocky stretch that included layoffs and a 2025 acquisition by Stingray. For creators, this means another distribution channel is back on the table and you can learn more about it by going to tune in and if you're interested, getting your podcast listed there. All right, I want to talk a little bit about Open AI and I also want to get Nick's take as one of our AI enthusiasts here in the community. Open AI just bought a podcast for several $100 million and not some sleepy corporate interview show.

26:40 They acquired TBPN, the tech podcast that built a loyal audience with daily live streams, big name guests and a style that's more personality driven than polished, according to Ink Magazine. TTBPN, that's a hard one to say, launched in October 2024, grew fast with highly engaged tech audience, and now becomes part of Open A is bigger communications strategy. Open AAI says the show will keep its editorial independence, even as the hosts and team also help the company with messaging and marketing. And that's where this gets really interesting. TBPN built its brand by covering tech with edge, honesty, and maybe a little swagger. But when the company being covered now owns the platform, it raises a real question about trust. Can a show still feel independent and credible when it's sitting inside one of the most powerful AI companies on the planet?

27:45 My first question is, would you trust a podcast, whether it's this one or another one, the same way if it was owned by the industry that it covers, Or do you think that muddies it down? Think about one of your favorite shows. If it was picked up by one of the industry leaders, would you start to question whether or not you can trust the show? Yeah, BC go for it. I think it's kind of a dual position there because I think if it were to be owned by the industry that it discusses, I ideally you're opening the show and therefore the audience up to a much more Direct Line of content from, you know, the primary thought leaders in that industry. That same time, though, you could at some point have concerns about objectivity, you know, if there's something going on in the industry.

28:33 Does this person have, you know, the PR skills to be transparent about it enough and handle, you know, touch your subjects professionally but be honest about it? Or are they going to be very subjective and try to paint themselves in a way where they, you know, shoulder off culpability to something happening? So for me, it's a, it's a dual position there. Yeah, totally makes sense. Thank you. BC I'm and I see here in the chat John says no, I wouldn't trust the show. Meaning if that show was picked up by one of the industry giants. OK, thank you John. And Ralph wants to add something. Go for it, Ralph. Yeah, And I don't disagree with BC, but I will say this, isn't this the same thing if you're, if you have advertisers on your show, doesn't that sway you a little bit as well?

29:21 So I'm not sure that I really buy that this is going to be such a terrible thing. If you've got advertisers that are sponsoring your show, I think you're going to toe the line with certain topics already. I honestly think this whole thing is a play for AI to do some good public relations. And I think they're spending a lot of money to do it. And I think it's going to open up the doors to the advertising on AI, which people are already starting to see. But I just don't know that I see a big difference between this and having a sponsor. Because if I had a sponsor on my show, the sponsor is going to sort of dictate where the show goes because they're not going to want to have certain topics talked about. So I just want to throw that as a counterpoint. I don't disagree with BCI, think I'm sort of where he is somewhere in the middle. Not sure how this is going to play out. Thank you, Ralph.

30:06 Yeah. I mean, I can see that as far as being having that same kind of pressure for the kind of direction you're going to take the show when you bring in an advertiser. And that can be nipped in the bud pretty easily if you have a written agreement that states that they can't dictate your content and that you are going to stay true to your content and and also a verbal agreement on top of that as well. So that everybody is on quite literally the same page. I think that can be helpful. But where when you're taking over, when the ownership is now owned by the an industry giant like that, you can't help but to think there's going to be influence there because they own it now. They can make those calls, those decisions. Jonathan, I saw you wanted to add something. Go ahead.

30:54 Yeah, it immediately loses trust for me on any topics that are touching on a, you know, anything AI because I can't I, you know, it's a marketing podcast for them. So why would I trust what they have to say about about it? It's going to obviously be bias. Yeah, I, I do lean that direction as well. I think it, you know, I would probably, if I was a regular listener, I would probably still listen to it now, just with a different set of ears because now I'm going to be curious about what they're going to talk about, what's what new things is coming from open AI, what are they working on, etcetera. Like that would be my interest, but it would certainly change my perspective if I had been a listener prior. Nick wanted to hear your take on all this. What?

31:42 And I also, my big question to you, Nick, why do we think they really needed to do this in the 1st place? Was this a good move? Yeah. Hey, good morning, everybody. Good morning. So I have a few thoughts on this one. I could see it being a positive if the conversations are still geared toward more general AI conversations. I think at least that's the kind of the narrative that's being put out there is having discussions and conversations with leaders in tech, with people in the builders in the community, people that are using this technology. I think for that reason, it's great because it kind of shed some light on what others are using the technology for.

32:24 I think if you start getting into like open AI only type content, that kind of sucks. You can kind of obviously lose your unbiased stance there and just looking at tech as a whole, but I, I think you can pull it off in a way that isn't like them necessarily controlling the narrative. But I think the controlling the narrative piece is a big thing to consider because I mean, we've, we've seen a lot of discussions around AI safety and what is and isn't appropriate or legal for AI companies to do. And this gives them the foot in the door to control that narrative.

33:05 And that is kind of a scary thing. So that aside, I think this to me is a big push on open a eyes part to serve 2 functions. One, get themselves more media coverage. I hope that's not totally the case, but it puts them in the spotlight, gets their marketing out there, gets them in the news because they are the news at that point. But then even more so, I think the revenue piece of it is probably more important to Open AI than anything because we've seen like recently Open AI just dropped Sora. They closed shop on that and they're no longer using Sora because I think they were spending like $1,000,000 a day on that platform.

33:48 So they shut that down and they pick up this media company that has grown significantly. I can't remember the exact figures, but they've brought in a ton of revenue with TVPN. So it's an actual revenue source that Open AI can claim, hey, we're bringing in money. And that has been a sore spot for not just Open AI, but a lot of these AI companies. There's all these investors pouring billions of dollars into these AI companies and now they're having conversations of when are we going to start seeing a profit on this. And I don't think Open AI is had the best of answers. So to me, this is something to help kind of soothe the investors and say, hey, we're making moves to start bringing in more revenue to Open AI. And it's not totally hinged on ChatGPT. So those are a few of my big takes on it. Interesting, Very interesting.

34:43 Yeah. Thank you, Nick. A lot to chew on there now. And but yeah, and I'm looking here in the chat also and it looks like here I'm coming to you in a second, Sid looks like yeah. So John is saying it's now an open AI market. Dave, interesting point puts here in the chat that Dave Jackson show was purchased by Pod Page recently. We talked about that and he says, I hear Dave Jackson reassuring audience that he won't let it change. And I know that Ralph also said he's been listening. He's he said that it there definitely is some at some point he heard a show that felt a little more like a commercial for pod page than other previous shows.

35:25 And I think that's going to happen. I do think that this for Dave Jackson in his show, I do think it's different in the sense that he'd already quote UN quote, been in bed with pod page. They they've already had a very strong business relationship. And I'm sure if there was any influence there, it was probably already showing up prior to the purchase. And Dave does a really good job and does a really good show. So I personally would continue and have continued to trust Dave's show. I watch his live streams on Saturday mornings when I can. So yeah, but I think it can. I mean, look, it could be the answer we always give here on the morning chat.

36:05 It depends. It can really depend Sid you wanted to add something? So coincidentally, I watched this show last week. Somebody sent it to me. It's three hours long, so it is a long show. Wow. Did you listen to all of this? I'll have that intention and let's be. Clear. Here and I don't like YouTube first shows because it's really struggle to put it in my pocket and to walk around and or walk or do things right and listen. So anyways, I was listening to it for a different reason, and I noticed when I looked at their page that they had just published an episode about being purchased by Open AII had not, did not listen to it, but they're talking about it. And then to Janae's point and to Nick's point, that show has an enormous number of sponsors. They have like a presenting sponsor. They talk about in the very beginning that on the screen there's another sponsor.

36:56 And then they literally have so many sponsors. They have a ticker scrolling across the bottom of the screen of all of their sponsors. And it was just like, I was like, wow. And that's part of the reason it was sent to me. Like check out how many sponsors they have. And to Denae's point, it looks like they, the Co host, said that they will wind down their lucrative advertising business in light of their new owners. So there's a trade there happening there. A lot of those sponsorships are going away now. But go watch one of the older shows and just check out the magnitude of sponsors. But it was a good show. What I watched of it was a good show, two guys going back and forth very candidly, talking about a lot of different things. So I guess we just have to wait and see what happens. I'm not a follower of the show, I just watched one episode.

37:38 It's really interesting that they're getting rid of the advertising side of their show when that's been reported as a very lucrative revenue stream for them. So where Open AI is purchasing this company, you'd think they'd want to keep that intact to start making their money back and keeping the podcast lucrative. That's really interesting. Janae's come up to share a little bit as well. Janae, good morning to you, Sir. What did you want to add to this? Good morning. And this is a cool update. I mean, I think it was, I mentioned last week, I was talking to James 6 that, you know, Open AI purchased his company and it makes sense that they're taking away the advertising piece because they want to be the advertisers on there and then gets the claim that, hey, we're advertising on this platform. This is how much we would have paid, but now we don't have to. So we're saving into that money.

38:32 So that's my thought why they're probably winding down. Plus who would want to advertise And then like, would Coca-Cola come and advertise at a Pepsi podcast? So I see. What you're saying? So yeah, you're saying why would other AI companies want to do that? And why would open AI allow that, right. But who knows? I mean, again, if they want to try to make some money, and that's The thing is you're making a very valid point. And you know, open AI, it just basically burns through money these days. And you'd think they'd want to, if they're acquiring some, a company that has a good solid revenue stream, why disrupt that? I know, yes, they can promote it for themselves and maybe make some money that way, but they could theoretically do both.

39:19 Nick wants to chime in. Go ahead, Nick. Point that I wanted to bring up that I brought to you before, something that I think everyone in this room should kind of watch out for with them acquiring this. Like we know Open AI has come out with a lot of tools that have helped creators. I'm very curious what kind of tools and resources and things that Open AI is going to build in order to help produce and create this show for TDPN. Because you have to imagine they have all this AI technology at their disposal, Why would they not use it to help create the show? So I think that could end up coming downstream to a lot of the other creators and giving them an opportunity to use a lot of the same tools that Open AI develops for TDPN. Thank you, Nick.

40:09 Fairpoint. I'm going to keep it moving because I want to make sure we get to some other stories. Let me go to Ralph and then we will go to our next news story. Yeah. I just want to say one thing here. Recognize something. You are the product. AI has been very wise about this. They are addicting all of us to their technology. You are the product. And what they've done is they've made it. So you have to have it because what's going to happen here very soon is you are going to start seeing an uptick in cost of this. So they had to set the table where they made it. So, oh, I got to have this, I need this. I think about how many things in your day you use AI for right now, you've become addicted to it. So guess what, you are the product. So buckle up because it's getting ready to get expensive. And this is going to be, in my view, the way they're going to show that, oh, you got to have this kind of like a cell phone. When I was in high school, we didn't have cell phones. I'm dating myself a little bit now, but you ask any 10/12/14 year old that's a good gear you have to have? Well, AI is becoming that because guess what friends? We are the product.

41:07 Wow, yeah, going back to high school and dating ourselves. In high school, you were cool if you had a pager, if you had a beeper that was like, that was the cool thing. Then we could, we could get in touch with our friends that way. Although really, I don't. I didn't have a ton of friends that had one. I think I might have had one for a short period of time, now that I think of it. I think I got like my dad's old one or something. If you don't know what a pager is, go ahead and Google that and yeah, then we'll really date ourselves. All right, Thank you all for good conversation there around this new AI stuff. We'll see what's to come. It did catch my eye last week when I saw that Open AI actually purchased a really big podcast that wasn't on my bingo card, as they say. All right, keeping things moving here. Let's jump to BC because BC has some podcast tools and tech updates for us.

42:07 I know something from Buzz Sprout and something from Spotify for creators I believe. Go for it BC. Good morning. Good morning. Yeah, a couple of things with Buzz Sprout this morning and then also a Spotify bit that I can try to get to. Firstly, Buzz Sprout and Lipson have signed up with Apple Podcasts to distribute HLS video or live streaming video. Alvin Brooke, head of marketing for Buzz Sprout, says we're excited to bring Apple Podcast video distribution to Buzz Sprout. HLS gives video podcasters a great way to publish videos to Apple Podcast and makes it easy for people to listen or watch. Another thing for Buzz Sprout is that they are they just added a brand new feature to create transcripts for those who host their podcast on the platform.

42:51 They've got a new feature called Cohost AI which allows any episodes that are uploaded into the platform to have AI generated transcripts provided to them. Now this is not a demand, this is part of a paid add on for the platform. For any podcasters using this as their host who do not want an AI transcript, you can upload one from another source. So for instance, if you use Riverside, which does create a transcript for you, you're welcome to export that and then upload it into Buzz Route if that is your preference. This AI tool does allow it to edit the transcript as well, though. If you do create it on the on the platform, it'll let you fix errors, assign speakers, format text, and sync with audio playback just to make sure everything is nice and coherence before I hop into the Spotify bit, any thoughts on Bust Sprout hopping into live stream video and or the new AI transcripts?

43:48 Well, we, we talked a little bit already about them bringing in the HLS compatibility. But yeah, I think it's nice that they're doing a free transcription thing. And I think at this point, if you're not giving free transcriptions with your platform, you're behind the competition because for the most part, it's pretty easy nowadays to get transcripts. As a matter of fact, I think I've mentioned this maybe once a while back on the show, but I've been actually getting Gemini to do transcripts for me in a pinch. I give it the audio file and it does a fantastic job of transcribing, and that's also free. So there you go. Now a real quick clarification there is that it's not free though. It's part of a paid add on.

44:30 So unless you're paying for this other add on already, you're not going to be able to get this AI transcript feature yet. So just yeah, keep that in mind, OK? And. Thanks. Yeah, now. Thanks. For the all right now. For wait one second, let me see. No for sure Jannade had something. Morning. Yeah, so transcription is great service, especially if you can download that transcript. A lot of the players like Spotify and Apple Podcasts will automatically transcribe your podcast even if you don't provide it a transcript. So that service is already there. So you know, if you need transcript to download and Buzz Proud gives it to you or pay that addition and they are your provider, then Hallelujah, that's awesome. Right. Exactly. Yeah. All right. BC what's the next story?

45:11 OK, moving on to Spotify now. They just rolled out new advertising tools of formats and research. They announced a major expansion into its advertising ecosystem, including new ad formats, new campaign tools and new audience research designed to help brands better connect with listeners. Especially as Spotify evolves beyond just an audio platform into a multi format platform which includes music, video, podcasts and interactive content. So the new ad formats. This is helping Spotify expand beyond traditional audio ads into carousel style visual ads, enhanced sponsor playlist sorry and more immersive placements tied to user behavior. Additionally, Spotify is upgrading its ad platform with better campaign management tools, improved targeting and optimization features, and enhanced ads manager functionality.

46:03 So we're also going to see additional perks such as the ability for Spotify to let users actively choose what they listen to, engage across formats, and curate, playlist, and discover content intentionally. So I think it's a pretty cool new feature here because podcasts on Spotify are now going to be part of a bigger ad ecosystem. They're not going to be bundled into music video podcasts, visual ads and interactive formats. And you know, right now, video podcasts especially are driving and innovation. You know, we're seeing users who are watching video podcasts more explicitly. There's more engagement for visual platforms, not just listening. So this is a pretty cool new innovative tool potentially for video podcasters on Spotify.

46:48 Thank you BC yeah so if you are a Spotify for creators person, check that out and appreciate you BC I actually have another tech tool update that I can share. I can contribute to all this. This is a heads up for Riverside users. Riverside seems to be rolling out a stronger new editor and this time there's actual in app proof of it. Meaning I found a preview new editor button inside the current editor, and when I clicked on it, a promo popped up that shows all sorts of different features that it is including with the new editor.

47:29 It has a more advanced workflow with a freer timeline. Meaning the timeline now works a lot like a lot of these video editors do, in the sense that there's multiple timeline, so you can put certain types of B roll in one line, sound effects and music on another line, etcetera. You can move things around a lot easier with the with its movable layouts, smarter snapping for music and overlays, and a more centralized workspace for tracks, captions, magic clips, and show notes. It I've tried it and used it a couple of times for some short form content. That was how I tested it out. It's still a little bit buggy, at least in my early testings, but so far I really like where this is headed. So if you are a Riverside user or been thinking about using their editor and other tools, now might be a good time to use it.

48:25 You can still use the old editor in the meantime. I think they're trying to roll it out slowly to make sure that everything works well before they officially announce it. Let's see here. I wanted to just see what was going on, if anything's going on in the chat. No, OK, nothing specific, but BC wanted to add something. Go ahead BC. Yeah, real quick, and I probably should know this because I've used Riverside for a few years now, but does Riverside delve into social distribution yet or is it still just, you know, podcast hosting and otherwise just video editing in live stream? That is a fantastic question. I think I don't think you can actually schedule stuff. Meaning if I had a piece of content I wanted to publish on Friday, I don't think they have that ability to schedule it, but they may have that ability to publish to social media. Now I know for a fact that you can publish to Apple Podcasts and Spotify and I believe YouTube for your long form content, but I'm not 100% about social. Gotcha.

49:31 Yeah, I don't think so. Or if so, it's very limited as of now. All right, let's keep it going. Because we are short on time. I'm going to ask Dr. to jump in with Dr. story #10 Story number. 10 yes sure. So podcasting gave everyone a voice, even the ones we didn't really need. So there's a platform called daily? Is it cause KOS or is it chaos? I think it's Kos. Kos, yeah. OK, so there is a platform called Daily Cost and they did an opinion piece that argues that podcasts are contributing to a decline in critical thinking, claiming that loud personalities and unfiltered opinions are replacing expertise and fact based discussions. The article paints a picture of a media landscape where confidence often outweighs accuracy, and where audiences are drawn to entertainment over substance. Substance, sorry.

50:43 It frames podcasting as a space where misinformation can thrive, especially when hosts present themselves as authorities without accountability. Now, the piece also argues that podcasting has made misinformation feel more personal, conversational and believable. And it says long form audio builds trust fast, which can make listeners less skeptical of weak or false claims. And it uses Joe Rogan as a main example of a host whose reach can amplify bad information. Now here are some of the highlights. Theo Von is presented as a softer, more casual entry point into that same kind of influence. A central theme is that confidence often gets mistaken for credibility in podcast culture. The article suggests that some audiences are drawn to hosts who sound certain, even when they're poorly informed. It also argues that many podcasts frame just asking questions, and that's in quote quotation marks, just asking questions as thoughtful discourse without doing real fact checking.

51:56 And the bigger concern is, according to the writer, is a culture that rewards certainty and personality more than evidence and humility. So the question is, I'm telling you, so we have a little bit of time left, is, is the real issue the content or the audience's ability to think critically about what they hear? What do you think? So is what was your question. Is the real issue the content or the audience's ability to think critically about what they're hearing? Interesting. Yes BC go for it. So this kind of reminds me of, like my early undergrad days talking about the, you know, the development of communications. And one of the topics we discussed was how the author of one of the books we had to read, if you didn't read him the right way, you would hear him essentially saying that all current audiences today are just stupid. But the reality is what he was saying is that we are so used to being pitched information that is so cookie cutter, that is so short form, so fast, so easily replaceable, and we adjust to that as our typical consumption of information. That's how we kind of acclimate ourselves to information digestion and we don't often feel prompted to look further. So at the same time though, I feel like in recent years we have especially with, you know,

53:29 the onset of certain memes like fake news, yada, yada, yada, we, I think we are turning more against that now to where there is more discussion on. Come on y'all. You can't take everything at face value. There has to be, you have to know, this sounds a little this or that sounds a little too off, but it's kind of having me contemplate that kind of dichotomy between, yeah, people are fed information in a certain way, which kind of quote, dumbs us down in a general sense. But I think there's also been quite a discussion in the recent years about how we can take base value stuff so easily anymore because there's so much more happening that we hear about through social media or some other platform that we know we're not going to get through Mainstay avenues. Thank you BC appreciate that breakdown and I know Tim is also on stage to share his two cents.

54:23 Tim, I asked you to come up because I saw you put something in the chat and I figured come up on stage and share with the rest of the audience as well. So would you mind sharing? Yeah, not a problem. Thanks again so much. So I've been toying with this idea for the past, I don't know, two weeks of a podcast aimed at new podcast listeners. And because I remember when I first got in podcasting back in 2006, and I didn't know what I was doing or what I should listen to or anything like that. But, you know, just a podcast that's aimed at new listeners to help them figure out what we do behind the scenes a little bit on how the sausage is made, how we get to our conclusions and just help them critically think about what they're choosing to listen to.

55:13 And you know, you should kind of show them, you know, Hey, listen, everything I see in my podcast, double check it because I may be, you know, just using AI to come up with my podcast ideas and not really checking my sources. So I and, and I see that a lot with stuff that was coming out of Spotify for creators, otherwise known as anchor. People are just putting stuff out there and not really thinking about it, just, you know, to have it out there. So it's just something I've been working on for the past two weeks in my head. So maybe another podcast? Yeah, I like it. Yeah. Add more on your plate, Tim. Why not? Sure, you know. Yeah, I like it though.

55:53 Great idea. I think that behind the scenes type of thing could be really useful and valuable for the newer fresher blood. Yes, Thank you, Tim. Dr. you're off mic. Did you want to add something or is that just from cheering? The story? No, I'm sorry. That's leftover. OK, no problem. Let's go to Ralph, who I know wanted to chime in. Go ahead, Ralph. Yeah, I just wanted to say one thing. This particular media organization has a very strong bias. Check out their website, you'll see it. And I'm not getting to a political discussion. That's not what we do here, but understand the bias because anybody can throw anything out there on the media now and everybody accepts it as the gospel. But just check out their bias. And at the same time, I think they make a good point though.

56:34 And somebody, I think it was Tim just said it. Be aware that a lot of people are just spitting out AI garbage. So what you hear could just be AI garbage. So I just wanted to bring that up. Like I said, I'm not. I don't have a political axe to grind, but just understand the bias that's built into this particular story. Yeah, well then maybe it actually is pronounced daily chaos. Yeah. No, I think that's a fairpoint, Ralph and I don't. And to be clear, I don't think Ralph is calling out the bias because he has an opinion one way or another. He's just calling out the bias. He's calling out the fact that, yeah, there it does lean a certain way. So we might get that more of that particular perspective.

57:16 I get it. And I see some talk in here. I'm not reading all the details because I'll get too distracted, but I see some talk in the chat here about influencers. And yeah, I mean, to a degree, I could argue that I think social media, that this whole article applies more to social media than it does to podcasting. I do think that, look, I'm, I'm generally speaking here, but at least the podcasters that I come across, for the most part, most of them are trying to provide genuine information, legitimate information, legitimate intimate value on their shows. Are there exceptions? IA 100% believe there are exceptions and there are exceptions to that rule in every area, whether it's media, business or what have you. There's always going to be bad eggs. But I do think that in general, podcasters do take this on as a responsibility and do their best to report things factually as best they can.

58:08 And these days it's hard to know what's factual and what's not. And I think that's why a lot of the podcasts resonate so much with people is because a lot of the podcasts are bringing in experts that are sharing their experiences, their research, their knowledge. And I think that that's often communicated well. And if it's not, I encourage you to communicate that well, that these are opinions and information coming from the experiences of the hosts and guests, and to encourage your audience to go and research the information themselves. I think that's part of being a responsible podcaster. OK, so listen, here's what we're going to do. We are out of time.

58:49 And yes, tomorrow we are going to talk more about Apple's new video features that allows us to upload video as part of our podcast content. So we'll get into that and maybe get into a couple of other news stories as well since we had several more to share with you. So come join us at Podcasting Morning chat.com. And remember, also go to while you're typing in that URL, put a slash duo at the end of it if you want to win your Rd. caster duo. I think we've got about 40 people that have signed up so far. And as you know, you can get multiple entries, and I think those entries are now in A at least a few thousand at this point.

59:34 So people are taking advantage of getting more entries than just the initial ones that they get when they sign up. So I encourage you to do the same to increase your odds. We're back tomorrow. So until then, make it a great day everybody. Take care.