Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is near a deal to buy E.W. Scripps Co.s Stitcher Inc. podcasting unit for around $300 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

The satellite-radio giant is working to expand into the rapidly growing podcasting industry, following similar moves by media and tech companies including Spotify Technology SA and iHeartMedia Inc.

In 2018, businesses spent $497 million on podcast advertising in 2018, and it’s estimated that by 2020, podcast ad spend will go up to a whopping $1 billion. So, podcasting is clearly big business.

How do you launch a business podcast?
So, there are a few steps when it comes to launching a podcast for your business – and it all starts with thinking about your aim.

What are you trying to achieve from your podcast? Is it to build trust with customers, or to drive more awareness with new prospects? In my case, I wanted to better position myself as a leader in the sales enablement space – so in addition to my blog over at Contemsa and posting on LinkedIn, I wanted to have a few different streams of content where my audience could gain insights about sales enablement.

With that aim in mind, it was important that my podcast was not about selling anything. Instead, it was about sharing insights and tips on B2B sales enablement topics such as How to Involve Sales Teams in Your Sales Playbook Process, for example. As you can see in this example episode, I am not selling anything: I am giving away useful tips and support for my customers and prospects.

Americans are listening to more business and finance podcasts, with downloads and streams up 78% week-over-week since the COVID-19 pandemic began, iHeartMedia reports.

In fact, as of April 2020, there are more than 30 million podcast episodes on the internet with numbers climbing daily. According to the Financial Times, podcasts have become one of the fastest-growing segments of the media market.

This surging level of interest and engagement in finance podcasts is a golden opportunity for financial advisors, especially those whose seminar and event marketing routines have been turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. During this transition into a new way of doing business, it is important for financial advisors to include creativity and innovation into their post-pandemic marketing and communication plans.

COVID-19 has threatened the key communication channels corporations need to survive. Workers are displaced. National meetings have been cancelled. Town halls and offsites are viable only through online platforms. In the face of the storm, companies are turning to new channels to keep the lines of communication open. For many organizations, podcasting is a timely and effective way to unite a fractured workforce.

Even before COVID shuttered offices, and work-from-home directives became commonplace, large organizations were discovering podcasting was a worthwhile addition to their communication mix. According to Forbes, the majority of Fortune 500 companies in the US already use podcasting as part of their internal communications. Ideal for a geographically-distanced and mobile audience, podcasting seems purpose built for the modern lifestyle, bringing content where the audience is. Add to the mix a pandemic that has scattered workers across the country, and podcasting makes more sense than ever.

Define your abandonment benchmark

On a recent episode of The Upgrade called How to Be a Better Reader, one of the questions we discussed was when to abandon a book. This question can apply more broadly to any entertainment that takes a commitment longer than two hours—including most podcast runs. So ask yourself: How many episodes should I listen before I commit to a series? How long am I willing to struggle before I abandon?

I recommend giving a series no more than three episodes to hook you into its hosts, topics and format. If you are sold, great, hit that subscribe button. But if not, don’t subscribe at all, or unsubscribe immediately. You can always find the podcast later if you want to check their feed, but chances are you won’t, because they were not a good fit for you anyway.

And now, with your new, clean podcast feed, the goal is to keep it that way. Keep the podcasts you love and allow yourself the freedom to unsubscribe from ones you don’t. Your listening will feel a little more like a pleasure again, and less like a chore.

The COVID-19 restrictions that many countries had to endure forced many people to seek alternative forms of entertainment. One such form is podcasting which has grown in popularity over recent years. According to the most recent financial reports, Spotify reported that 21% of the monthly active users (MUA) have engaged in at least one podcast in the past month.  Data presented by Stockapps.com breaks down the rise of podcasting.

Spotify Records 5% Increase in Podcast Engagement between Q4 of 2019 and Q2 of 2020

The Joe Rogan Experience – the title of Rogans podcast, was the highest-earning podcast of 2019 with revenue of $30M. In September 2020, Joe Rogan officially began his podcasting contract with media giants Spotify, which will eventually see his entire library of content migrate to the platform. The deal is reported to be over $100M.

Spotify has been expanding its podcasts catalogue as they continue to see strong growth in that particular segment. The rate of consumption of podcasts has been growing by triple-digit percentage numbers for the last few years. In Q4 of 2019 16% of Spotifys monthly active users engage in podcast content, by Q2 2020 that number had jumped to 21%.

Digital radio spending has declined during the pandemic, which is in line with reduced advertiser demand. We do, however, expect growth to rebound by 26.8% next year.

But podcast advertising remains a bright spot of growth within digital radio. Spending on all types of podcast ads, including host-read sponsorships, will rise by 10.4% this year to more than $780 million. Next year, podcast ad spending will surpass $1 billion in the US for the first time as growth rebounds to 44.9%. That will boost podcast advertising to almost one-quarter of the digital radio ad market.

The creator of the worlds first operating system for artificial intelligence, aiWARE, and provider of digital content licensing services on behalf of the world’s premier sports entities, news organizations and user-generated content networks has introduced a comprehensive audio content monetization and licensing services for audio creators, including podcasters, broadcasters and audio advertisers.

Introducting Veritones premium audio licensing library and services, designed to enable podcasters, broadcasters and other audio creators to easily license clips of premium audio content from major media brands for their programs, as well as monetize their own content.

Original podcasts from SiriusXM that chronicle sports greatest rivalries, comedys biggest legends, country stars humble beginnings, and gripping first-person tales from medicines front lines

Plus, influential podcasts from FOX News and popular podcasts from leading creators and providers including Stitcher, NBC News, CNN, NPR, ViacomCBS, The Wall Street Journal, HBO, Wondery, ESPN, Barstool, TNT, Joel Osteen Ministries, WNYC Studios, Slate, TED, Westwood One, PRX, and many more

Podcast-listening has skyrocketed over the past couple of years. In fact, it’s quickly becoming one of the fastest-growing mediums, with forecasts predicting the number of podcast users to exceed 160 million by 2023.

Do you have a niche?
Podcasts that focus on a specific niche or subject matter tend to perform better and garner more regular listeners than those covering broad topics.

Do you have the time?
Although the best podcasts come off as being off-the-cuff conversations, the truth is that a lot of time and commitment are involved in bringing them to life.

Do you want to raise your profile or make money?
Podcasts can be great tools for raising your thought leadership profile, but if monetization is your primary goal, you will probably want to invest your time and money somewhere else.

When the pandemic hit us, nobody anticipated the extent to which it would alter our lives. Just over a year ago, the coronavirus was spreading only in the unfamiliar region of China’s Hubei province. Today, every major country is reeling under its effects, with people trying to balance work, home and social wellbeing. While our routines remained restricted due to imposed limitations on movement, it has provided us additional time to spend at home.

Moreover, the work-from-home phenomenon has given employees the flexibility to accommodate the various facets of everyday life. People now have a myriad of options to pick and keep them entertained and connected to the world. Over the months since the initial lockdowns, there is a significant buzz, with reports suggesting a spike in mobile phone usage, online shopping, OTT video content and podcasting.

TV meant to be responsive to the moment seemed distant. But podcasts, with the intimate production values, felt more immediate and relevant than ever before.

In a year otherwise defined by loss, one area of our lives has remained untouched; abundant, even. Movie theaters closed and blockbusters were delayed. Music and theater venues shuttered. But TV marched on. The number of original scripted shows dipped slightly, but international series and older shows arriving on the streaming platforms more than filled the void of shows canceled or delayed.

And yet, as the pandemic months piled up, TVs seeming imperviousness to the halt of all other cultural activities started seeming less like a virtue and more like a vice, like denial, like a dispatch from a faker world.

Apple to switch its 'Subscribe' button to 'Follow' on Podcasts

It’s not every employee’s favorite task but it’s time for your online training course and you would rather sift through your emails than make the time to log on. But you know you have to get it done. Don’t let other work distractions get in the way of your course; here are 5 tricks to stay focused:

Schedule it: Depending on how long your online course is, schedule it into your calendar and set a reminder. Making time for it, instead of just finding the time, will help you actually complete the work. Adjust your day accordingly to fit around your training course.

Time it: Choose to take the course during your lightest time of the day and when you are most ready to work. Typically the first two hours after lunch or when you first arrive at work are good times. 

Close your door: Don’t be afraid to close your door and post a ‘do not disturb’ sign. Keeping your door closed will deter people from walking into your office and distracting you.

Log off: Log off your email and any other websites that are distracting, including your company's internal instant message application. Log off and stay off until your course is complete.

Turn off notifications: Turn your phone ringer off on both your cell phone and work phone until you complete your course. You can even turn off your email notifications to help you remain on task.

Times are tight. Though you may have found an online training program that will teach you the skills you need to get to the next level in your career or at your company, your boss may not want to pay for the training. With so many companies cutting their budgets and freezing spending, not many managers are open to what they see as "unnecessary" spending for employee training.

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MacWise terminal emulation supports AppleScript commands. Many functions of MacWise can be controlled by a script (such as transferring data to and from the host and sending commands to the host.

iPod Halo effect Brightnens Mac sales according to an article in the Australian IT News

We are pleased to announce that the price per user has been lowered to $65 per user for site licenses of 20 to 49 users.

By now you have, no doubt, heard that Macs will be running with Intel processors next year. The phase-in will start in 2006 and by 2007, all Macs will be running on Intel chips.

If you are planning a MacWise upgrade soon, this week would be a good time to do it before the price increase.

Many web sites have not been able to play QuickTime movies during the past few days.
The symptom is that you click to play the movie and the movie window turns black and never plays the movie.
Here is a temporary fix for web site developers.

When PCL commands are included in the print job sent from the host to MacWise, the host can control printer features such as bold text, lines per inch, margins and much more. When this option is enabled in Printer Setup under the FIle Menu, the standard Mac Print dialog box is bypassed and the print job is sent directly to the Mac default printer...

Carnation Software has been providing Macintosh terminal emulation software for over 23 years. But did you know we also have other software for Mac and apps for iPhone and iPad? 'Say it & Mail it' is a quick way to email voice memos to yourself and others.

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