From our daily newsletter, the latest from podnews.net with Central Talent Booking, the guests your podcast needs. More attention to retention will be one of the trends in podcasting in 2025, says the founder of Pod Houston, Ozeal Debastos, in his yearly prediction piece for Podnews. He also predicts an audience-centric shift in the forthcoming year as well. You'll find that linked from our show notes and our newsletter at podnews.net.
In December, total overall podcast downloads on Buzzsprout were down 14% year-on-year. However, we'd not worry - both Spotify and Apple show increases in download share. And we covered a few days ago that the total number of podcasts being updated is up 2.5% year-on-year. And if you're getting plays on YouTube or uploading video to Spotify, those plays never get back to your podcast host anyway.
From the archives, back in February 2021, I wrote a personal blog about how to get another billion podcast listeners. It reflects the fact that while data costs are low for many in Western countries, that isn't the case in developing countries, particularly South Africa, where at the time, mobile data cost 23 times the cost of the U.S. So to download an episode of This American Life on your mobile could have cost you the equivalent of $3.52. More on that in our show notes today.
And thank you to Jeremie Mani, who has become our latest personal supporter. Jeremie is behind the Podcasthon charity event in March, which you can take part in. And supporters like Jeremie pay for Pod News for everyone. So if it's your New Year's resolution to support journalism, then you can support us at podnews.net/patreon.
And in podcast news, Happy Forgetting is an anthology about the racial justice histories we remember, the ones we forget, what we deny and what we bury and why those stories must be retold. It's new on Airwave and we thank them for their support this month. And The Binge Crime's "deadly Fortune" is new today and explores the saga of the Atlanta attorney, Tex McIver.
On a drive home in 2016, while a family friend was driving the car, Tex shot his wife, who left behind a fortune with no clear recipient. Tex is now set to be released from prison. And guess who might inherit his wife's fortune and estate? It's from Sony Music Entertainment. And this podcast is sponsored by Central Talent Booking, giving you the guests your podcast needs. From celebrities to experts, Central Talent Booking connects you with the right guests to captivate your listeners.
There's a link to learn more in the show notes. And that's the latest from our newsletter. To read all the stories and subscribe, we're at podnews.net.