If Netflix were ever to go the exclusive podcast route, I think they’d likely include them in its own app – why would it cede any of viewers’ attention to Spotify?
In Denmark, Strunge says the company has 100,000 paying subscribers out of a market of 6 million people. “What’s been important for us is to show that this is not a niche thing, but it’s actually a 
mass market thing, something that millions of people would subscribe to in a market like Germany and not thousands of people.”
It’s all very similar to the big subscription dreams of Luminary and Himalaya. Both were focused on the US, and neither panned out as expected. But maybe going abroad changes that outcome, especially with so many shows under its exclusive offering.
Last week, I reported on issues podcasters were having with the RadioPublic app – their RSS feeds weren’t updating; they couldn’t get in touch with anyone from the company; and new shows couldn’t be added to the catalog
Phew, we’re past the two big pieces and can get you onto more news. I don’t want to spend too much time here, so I’m just going to drop a few things to think about, and we’ll get either more into later this week for you paying subscribers or onto new things. Who can say!
The company tells me it has now fixed the issue. Matt MacDonald, CPO at Acast and RadioPublic co-founder, says the issue had to do with an expired SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt. Here’s what MacDonald had to say about the issue:
“We have systems in place to readily catch bugs, problems our podcasters encounter, and issues affecting feeds. This issue in particular was of a nature that evaded those systems. It’s one we regrettably missed and should have caught.
Since resolving the issue, we’ve updated RadioPublic’s systems to avoid future problems of this nature. Our team continues to monitor that all our services are running smoothly, and when our Pro users encounter issues and contact us, we continue to provide individualized support.”
Apple Podcasts is getting into the end-of-year content early with new charts and curated content. The company released its curated selection of the best shows and episodes of the year just around an hour ago – A Slight Change of Plan from Pushkin is its top pick – as well as new charts around free and paid shows.
I’m including screenshots of the full list below, but I want to specifically call attention to the top paid shows. Three Uncanny Four’s Bad Blood: The Final Chapter is the top paid show, which, as we last know from September, had 6,000 paying subscribers. We can probably presume that’s gone up a bit since the Theranos trial has picked up, but that’s essentially the ceiling. (What happens to this feed when the trial ends?) Otherwise, Betches has two shows in the top 10 individual subscription shows, and people are apparently paying for Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon’s program, too, which hm, who knows what’s going to happen after all this recent Cuomo controversy. Apple spokesperson Zach Kahn had nothing to share around when or if these charts might get updated again. I might have more on this on Thursday once I have time to parse, but if you have thoughts, let me know!
I have seen a lot of hype over Spotify and Netflix’s news last week that they’re partnering to launch an audio hub on the Spotify app. This means Netflix’s publicly available podcasts (read: available everywhere) are now in one place on the Spotify app, along with music from popular programs. Currently, one soundtrack, The Harder They Fall, is called an “enhanced album” with the Spotify logo on the cover, which means it includes a video intro from writer, director, and soundtrack EP Jeymes Samuel. Despite the hype, I’m unconvinced this is a monumental moment.
