Audiences Trust Podcasts, HLS Could Upgrade RSS, & More

This is the download recap from Sounds Profitable, the most important news from this week, and why it matters to people in the business of podcasting. I'm Gavin Gaddis. The download recap is brought to you by Podscribe, and you can find out more at podscribe.com, as well as checking out their section in the newsletter version of the issue. This week, why podcast advertising's advantage is bigger than we thought.

HLS Streaming, the future video podcasts in RSS, and NPR CEO's Open Letter to Congress. Let's get started.

This week, Sounds Profitable published the second part of the advertising landscape, the largest study of podcast advertising effectiveness in the United States. Built from a survey of 5,005 American respondents age 18+, the report has been divided into sections to make the core findings digestible.

The newest section, part two, focuses on trust and attention specifically. And as Tom Webster's latest article highlights, podcasting comes with a lot of trust. 46% of Americans trust podcast content moderation. For comparison, Facebook is at 26% and Reddit is at 25%. 51% believe podcast content is factual and accurate, while 48% believe podcast advertising claims are true.

A quote from Tom Webster, quote, to put this into perspective, social media platforms average in the 30s for advertising claim believability. That's not just a small difference. That's a fundamentally different relationship between audience and content. Across virtually every trust metric we measured, social media platforms consistently ranked at the bottom. Discord, Facebook, Reddit, and Threads all scored between 19% and 25% on advertising message trust.

This creates what I'm calling a halo effect in reverse. The general lack of content credibility on these platforms creates a negative association that drags down advertising effectiveness. People don't just not trust the ads, they don't trust the environment in which the ads appear. Webster goes on to look at the high trust in podcast and podcast advertising found in multicultural audiences. Black respondents ranked 51% trust in podcast advertising voices.

Hispanic-slash-Latino audiences scored 49%, and Asian audiences ranked Podcast Ad Trust at 46%. Once again, for comparison's sake... Hispanic and Latino audiences rated podcast advertising 19 points higher in authenticity than social media. As Webster says in the conclusion of this section, that's not just a preference.

That's a revelation. To find out more about this new chapter of the advertising landscape, in addition to downloading it yourself, Digiday's Alexander Lee got an early look at the report, and I linked to that as well in today's story. And by the way... At the webpage for the download for the report, you can also watch Tom Webster's webinar where he debuted the report and went over key findings.

The Podcast Standards Project has a new proposal of bringing HLS streaming to the podcast mainstream. HLS, which stands for HTTP Live Streaming. originally developed by Apple, is a streaming protocol that uses adaptive bitrate to allow users to stream video without downloading an entire file, all while automatically adjusting quality based on internet connection speed.

to ensure steady playback. HLS would also have the benefits of streaming audio as well, giving RSS feeds more ability to report back consumption analytics and measurement capabilities. As the post says, HLS could give creators and hosting platforms YouTube-level insights into their podcast content and how it's consumed while still preserving the open, decentralized nature of RSS podcasting.

A quote from Justin Jackson's conclusion to the article, quote, If we don't nail this, we'll be essentially telling podcasters that their only real options for podcast video are YouTube and Spotify.

Here, Jackson hits the nail on the head. There is a time limit, and podcasting is on the clock. Without several big voices advocating for change, regardless of how difficult it might be to convince Walled Gardens to buy into that change, If podcasting waits too long, we as an industry will have no chance of maintaining, let alone growing, the core distribution method that made podcasting viable in the first place. Neighbor with no muffler seems to agree with me vehemently.

Catherine Marr has published a statement regarding a recent memo from the White House urging Congress to reverse course and pull funds already appropriated for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. funds that were intended for the fiscal year 2026-2027. A quote from Maher, quote, Contrary to reports, there is no federal funding earmarked for NPR and PBS programming. This Corporation for Public Broadcasting receives about $106 million, $9.58 million for radio, and $96.78 million for TV.

in annual funding that is set aside for public media program producers. If either PBS or NPR want to access this funding, they must apply to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in a competitive grant application process. End quote. Were the funds to be rescinded, a massive amount of public media stations across the country would be impacted. Since 1975, public media has received bipartisan support in Congress.

Mars says this move to quote-unquote save money while withdrawing already committed funds is the biggest threat to public media in United States history, with a stunt that would have negligible impact on the national deficit. or give any money back to taxpayers, all while simultaneously negatively impacting those taxpayers by deleting access to local news, national reporting, the arts, and emergency alert services.

Finally, it's time for our quick hits. These are articles that didn't quite make the cut for today's episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week, Jar Audio has a new piece about how they sell podcasts to skeptical decision makers. about their pitching process. QCode and the podcast And That's Why We Drink have teamed up to launch Parapods Network, a network designed to bring authentic, bold voices to the forefront.

WonderCraft has launched Convo Mode, a feature that allows users to script conversations like a screenplay. that WonderCraft then generates into a multi-speaker audio file using generative voices that mimic a podcast conversation. Forbes covers Stephen Bartlett becoming co-owner of creator commerce platform Stan.

Cast Media has finished their Chapter 11 restructuring, all while maintaining an operating profit during the process. And finally, Linkfire has a blog detailing lessons they learned at Podcast Show London. That was the download recap brought to you by sounds profitable. I know I go through today's stories fast.

So be sure to check out the links to every article mentioned right in your podcast listening app or at the download section of soundsprofitable.com. I'm Gavin Gaddis. Our producers are myself, Brian Barletta, and Tom Webster. And as usual, I'd like to end today with a special thanks to you for sticking with me as I brought you all the top stories you might have missed this past week. Robot? Download complete.