by Gavin Gaddis
The inaugural Sounds Profitable Business Summit takes over Terminal 5 in New York City on September 14-15. This exclusive, partner-only event brings together the industry's top brands, agencies, publishers, and platforms for two days of research-backed insights, strategic conversations, and meaningful networking. Already a Sounds Profitable Partner? Claim your ticket today. Not a partner yet? Become one now to buy your Summit pass and join the conversation shaping what's next in podcast advertising.
Sounds Profitable's upcoming Ask a Marketer webinar puts fresh research in front of the people who buy the media. On Tuesday, August 18 at 1:00 pm ET, Right Side Up’s Krystina Rubino and Quo’s Tori Murray will join Tom Webster to work through The Podcast Atlas. Built from a survey of 5,061 U.S. consumers, the Atlas focuses on how creator-based advertising performs across audio, video, social, and newsletters. From the buyer's chair, the two will sort which findings actually move a media plan, which are merely interesting, and how to make the case for podcast spend to people who do not follow podcasting. Grab your virtual seat now!
The FCC voted 2-1 to repeal the rule barring a single broadcaster from reaching more than 39% of U.S. TV households, replacing the fixed national ownership cap with case-by-case public-interest reviews. The change removes a longstanding barrier to station-group consolidation and shifts oversight toward antitrust courts and state attorneys general rather than a clear FCC threshold. Larger groups gain leverage in retransmission and affiliation negotiations and more inventory for FAST channels and connected-TV advertising, though deal economics remain constrained by antitrust enforcement.
RSS.com launched a new Max plan that lets creators publish video episodes to Apple Podcasts via HLS streaming, with programmatic ads inserted dynamically from the first episode. Creators earn 70% of ad revenue with no audience threshold, a contrast to YouTube's monetization requirements of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours. A single upload syndicates video to both Apple Podcasts and YouTube while delivering audio-only to other platforms and preserving existing listener history.
Nielsen agreed to acquire media-verification company DoubleVerify in a $2.15 billion all-cash deal, valuing shares at $13.60, a roughly 30% premium. DoubleVerify handles viewability, brand safety, invalid-traffic detection, and media-quality verification, and will operate as a privately held subsidiary under its own brand. The combined company spans television, streaming, digital, social, mobile, audio, and AI-driven ad platforms, with more than $4 billion in combined annual revenue and clients responsible for over $300 billion in ad spend. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, pending shareholder and regulatory approval.
The Association of National Advertisers, the 4As, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau are aligning for the first time in nearly a decade on a joint effort spanning AI governance, retail media and commerce standards, and workforce development. The collaboration, which follows a meeting in Cannes, will culminate in an inaugural Industry Leadership Summit this October during the ANA Masters of Marketing Conference. The effort sits within the broader advertising ecosystem rather than podcasting specifically, but its AI-governance and measurement work could shape standards that reach audio.
…as for the rest of the news:
Sounds Profitable is proud to sponsor the 2026 International Women's Podcast Awards hosted by Tink Media. Entries for this year close August 14, with the submission fee set at $50 and scholarship options available. Sounds Profitable partners can receive free submission, so hit reply or check the official Slack server for more details.
Cumulus Media laid off a number of staff across its podcast network, and while some reports suggested the division had been gutted, the company says those reports are inaccurate and that it remains committed to the network.
Realm announced a partnership with Disney to produce, distribute, and monetize audio from Disney, National Geographic Kids, and Marvel, including a return of the 80-million-download Greeking Out.
Airwave Media named advertising executive Charles Dannison its Senior Vice President of Podcast Sales.
Betches Media, a millennial-focused creator company with 70 employees, reported 70% revenue growth over 2025 on the strength of brand partnerships across podcasts, newsletters, social, and microdramas, and recently signed with CAA while weighing potential M&A.
SiriusXM named Jenny Tartikoff its Senior Vice President and Head of Communications, effective today, bringing experience from prior roles at Spotify and Paramount Pictures.
WABC Radio and the Red Apple Podcast Network joined Spreaker Prime, Triton Digital's premium publisher program, gaining access to programmatic advertising and premium demand.
