Sounds Profitable, Coleman Insights and Locked On Podcast Network are hosting The Power of Community: Why Podcasts Matter on Thursday, November 5 at 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT. The webinar covers new research among 2,000 Americans on how podcasts build connections with listeners. That includes why some hosts feel like friends and how audiences engage beyond listening. The session will look at what the findings mean for creators, networks, advertisers and brands. Registration is open now.

Instagram is dipping its toes into longform video, with a new feature dubbed Features beginning testing this week. Features plays horizontal videos up to 90 minutes long, opening the door to more traditional longform content on Instagram instead of exclusively shortform content and clips that direct users to other platforms to see the whole thing. The current iteration of the Features test includes select U.S. creators, following an earlier test in Brazil. Features is aimed at podcasters, comedians and other long-form creators. Similarly to YouTube Shorts, Instagram creators will be able to link their Reels to full videos, directing viewers of clips to keep watching without leaving the Meta ecosystem. Features videos will also be recommended on the Explore page. Instagram VP of product Tessa Lyons tells The Hollywood Reporter the company is working on deals with some early creators. There is no exclusivity requirement. Creators can bring existing ad deals into their videos, and Instagram will help others find sponsors. Matching YouTube remains a challenge, since YouTube pays qualified creators 55% of ad revenue. Features works on mobile, but Lyons expects most long-form viewing to happen on TV.

Former Apple Podcasts executive Steve Wilson has joined Netflix to lead podcast content acquisition. He will start as a consultant. Bloomberg first reported the hire, and Netflix has confirmed it. Wilson spent 15 years at Apple, working in editorial, partner relations and show marketing for Apple Podcasts. He later served as chief strategy officer at QCODE and most recently worked at podcast and creator company Daylight Media. The hire comes as Netflix cuts about 6% of its workforce, or roughly 1,000 people. The Hollywood Reporter calls it the company's largest staff reduction since 2022.

Supporting Cast looked at member churn across six partners: City Cast, Defector, The Dispatch, Slate, The Verge and Vox. Members who activated their audio benefits churned at an average of 1.3% a month. Members who did not churned at 3%. Depending on the partner, listeners were 28% to 81% less likely to cancel. Every partner came in under Recurly's 4.14% monthly churn benchmark for digital media. The gap grows over time. Out of 1,000 non-listeners, about 350 cancel within a year. Only about 145 listeners do. After three years, nearly three-quarters of non-listeners are gone. Fewer than 40% of listeners have left. Stern estimates 1,000 members paying $10 a month bring in about $289,000 over three years if they churn like listeners. That falls to about $207,000 if they churn like non-listeners. Supporting Cast counts anyone who has ever downloaded an episode as a listener. Stern acknowledges the data cannot fully separate cause from effect. Loyal members may simply be more likely to listen. He suggests publishers make feed setup easier, include it in welcome emails and promote the members-only feed on the show.

Nearly 60% of Americans regularly get news from social media, according to a Syracuse University study cited by Digiday. News creators say that audience is still hard to monetize. Pearpop VP of talent management Kurt Stadelman calls news one of the toughest creator categories. He points to brand safety concerns around political and controversial content. Creators are also picky about sponsors. Former local anchor Mark Istook says he turns down brands that would not feel authentic to his audience. Several of the five creators Digiday spoke with say TikTok has been unpredictable since its U.S. ownership deal closed in January. YouTube's Brendan Feldman, director of news, civics and podcast partnerships, says the platform is courting journalists who leave traditional outlets. Most of the creators see subscriptions as steadier than ads or brand deals.

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