The Download

The $2.86 Billion Pool: Why Everyone's Fighting Over the Same Ad Dollars

U.S. podcast advertising hit $2.86 billion in 2025, up 17.6% year over year according to the IAB and PwC's Internet Advertising Revenue Report. Host Reid Mercer digs bene

Follow the Money: Murdoch's $300M Bet, OpenAI's Ad Spend Spike, and the Talent Bidding War

This episode of The Download examines three separate deals that reveal where new capital is entering podcast audio right now, and why they point to two very different buy

The $100 Million Signal: Jay Shetty, the iHeart Exit, and the New Platform Wars

This episode breaks down the nine-figure deal that moved Jay Shetty's "On Purpose" off iHeartMedia and into a new home, and what it signals about the shifting economics o

The Merger Nobody Confirmed: SiriusXM's Numbers, the YouTube Deal, and the iHeart Whisper

SiriusXM's Q1 2026 numbers look strong on the surface: net income up 20% to $245 million, podcast ad revenue surging 37%, and a new YouTube ad-rep deal positioned as a st

The Ad Stack Land Grab: Murdoch's Vox Play, Sirius's Numbers, and the 44% Ad Load Nobody's Talking About

Three unrelated headlines turn out to be one story. This episode connects James Murdoch's Lupa Systems acquisition of New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network,

Netflix Wants Your Podcast, SXSW Wants Your Badge Money

This week on The Download, Reid Mercer follows the money behind four stories that look like culture headlines but read like balance-sheet decisions. The episode breaks do

Ad Load Hits a Ceiling, Disney Buys the Pitch, and the NFL's AI Denial

This week on The Download, Reid Mercer follows the money behind podcasting's fast-moving headlines. He breaks down Magellan AI's Q2 numbers showing a record ad load and a

Spotify Hands Listeners the Skip Button

This week on The Download, Reid Mercer breaks down Spotify's new Premium ad-skip test, iHeartMedia's licensing deal with Disney+ and Hulu, and a wave of high-profile podc

The Highest-Paid List, the Subscription Land Grab, and a $3B Video Ad Market

Reid Mercer breaks down the 2026 Forbes highest-paid podcasters list and argues the real story isn't the paycheck but who owns the audience. From Kelce's training-camp ti

The Billion Dollar Measurement Bet, Podium's Debut, and Bartlett's Run at Rogan

On this episode of The Download, Reid Mercer follows four stories that all trace back to where money is moving in podcasting. He opens with Comscore's new transcript-inte

The Numbers Netflix Won't Show You

This week on The Download, Reid Mercer examines what the audio and podcasting industry is revealing through its actions rather than its talking points. The episode covers

The Royal Booking, the Ad Money, and Who's Actually Listening

Reid Mercer flies solo this week to follow the money across podcasting's biggest stories. He breaks down Prince William's surprise New Heights appearance timed to Travis

Power Moves, Platform Bets, and a TV Host Who Learned Podcasting Has Consequences

This episode of The Download covers the business and strategic implications behind the week's biggest podcast industry moves—from distribution deals and ad tech data to A

Discovery, Netflix, and the Ad Market: What Executives Need to Watch This Week

This episode of The Download works through four major stories shaping the podcast industry right now: audience discovery data, Netflix's expanding content partnerships, t

Netflix, iHeart, and the Metrics That Actually Matter

This episode breaks down four intersecting stories shaping the business of podcasting: the Netflix and iHeartMedia celebrity deal expansion, competing models in talent de

Measurement Wars, Video Moves, and the Obama Effect: What's Actually Moving the Industry This Week

This episode of The Download examines four developments reshaping podcast business models, all converging on a single question: what is a podcast audience actually worth

James Murdoch, AI Slop, and the Ad Blind Spot Every Buyer Needs to Know About

This episode of The Download covers four of the most consequential stories shaping the podcast industry right now: James Murdoch's reported $300 million move on Vox Media

Netflix and Spotify Team Up, YouTube Hits a Billion, and the Industry Can't Agree What a Podcast Is

This week on The Download, host Reid Mercer breaks down four stories that, taken together, reveal a podcast industry under real structural pressure. The episode covers th

$9 Billion and Counting: Murdoch's Podcast Bet, AI Goes Personal, and Celebrity's New Mic

This episode covers the biggest business stories shaping the podcast industry right now: a $9.2 billion global revenue milestone, James Murdoch's reported $300 million ac

Amazon's Podcast Takeover, Video's Big Bet, and the Measurement Fix the Industry Actually Needs

This episode covers the wave of platform and infrastructure moves reshaping the podcast industry, from Amazon turning Alexa+ into an on-demand AI podcast generator to Par