Night Talent Management, which represents high-profile YouTubers and Twitch streamers like Mr Beast and Kai Cenat, has acquired The Roost podcast network (formerly of Warner Bros. Discovery’s Rooster Teeth). While the specifics of the deal have not been disclosed, Night has said the majority of the network’s 47 shows and team will remain, including The Roost head A.J. Feliciano. The acquisition creates a Rooster Teeth bond between the companies, as current Night president Ezra Cooperstein was President of RT from 2018 to 2019. Sources: [The Verge], [Variety], [Bloomberg], [The Hollywood Reporter]

In an online world where many corners of the internet have a single leader or handful of pseudo-monopolies that have become the defacto options, podcasting remains one of the few bastions of open internet philosophy. While walled gardens can and have existed, on a long enough timeline the majority of podcasting gravitates towards the Open Internet philosophy of distributing via RSS feeds. [Source]

A core selling point of what made the iconic first season of Serial work is in the name: a podcast that took reporting for a This American Life segment and expanded it into a 12 part serial, complete with cliffhangers and open questions motivating audiences to return each week. Miller argues each following season of Serial has drifted further away from that tight, compelling format and devolved into more of an anthology of years-old reporting done by other outlets. A reminder of the importance of keeping a podcast on track and remembering what premise attracted the audience in the first place. [Source]

Morning Consult’s second annual report on Generation Alpha finds children ten and younger are already engaged with streaming and social media, including sports content. 60% of respondents have watched a pro sports event on TV and 47% have watched a college game on TV. 18% have already participated in fantasy leagues. Given the momentum of both Kids & Family and sports as podcast genres, there’s potential synergy for podcasts that combine the two. [Source]

It’s TV upfront season in the U.S., a tradition that traces back to the 1960s when all three broadcast networks got together to show their programming schedules to advertisers in hopes of filling inventory. Now, sixty years later, the landscape of media has changed drastically, and some interviewed by Digiday argue there’s not as much need for big upfront networking events, parties, and presentations. The challenge will be getting momentum needed to implement any fundamental changes to the upfront structure. [Source]

…as for the rest of the news:

• IAB Australia’s Audio Summit panels are now available as podcasts.

• Seth Meyers teams up with The Lonely Island to produce an SNL Digital Shorts rewatch podcast.

• Forbes covers PRX’s all-ages Greek mythology podcast Live from Mount Olympus and how accessibility is woven into both the show and its production.

Research Database Snapshot

What it says: The report demonstrates differential brand lift metrics for host and announcer read spots in a structured test

What it means: Host-read ads continue to perform the best, while talent-read ads, executed properly, perform very well with “adjacent,” related podcasts

Why it’s cool: Host vs. Talent is a false choice - this experiment shows that both have their place at varying points in the customer journey

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