The Hollywood Reporter (THR) reaches an audience of approximately 7.7 million readers in the United States. Across its global digital platforms, the entertainment trade publication garners around 16.2 million unique monthly views and reaches up to 30 million readers a month when including its sister brand Billboard. Variety reaches a total digital audience of over 32 million unique monthly visitors to its website, according to Statista.
Approximately 405,000 to 407,000 individuals work in film, television, and audio production. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) represent over 170,000 workers, and SAG-AFTRA, the primary acting union, boasts a membership of approximately 160,000 to 170,000, all according to Statista.
Even factoring in other trade unions, that’s about one million people in the industry. Therefore, the readership of just these two prominent and legacy entertainment publications far outnumbers people who work in the industry.
The point is that many more people who are not “insiders” read these publications for a variety of reasons. According to Mediamax Network, these industry publications enable people to read about celebrities, movies, or music, creating a shared cultural language. They allow people to bond, gossip, and discuss the latest trends with friends, coworkers, and fan communities.
There is a similar trend in podcasting. Numbers are admittedly squishy on this, but about 40,000 people work professionally in podcasting with several hundred thousand independent creators in various stages of development, according to RSS.Com. For example, Podnews, arguably the dominant daily communications tool in podcasting, has an active newsletter subscriber circulation of 33,639 readers worldwide. Editorial articles and daily briefing pages average approximately 26 million views over a 30-day period. Clearly, readership includes more professional podcasters, and independents. When you factor in the 158 million U.S. listeners monthly podcast consumers, there is a vibrant interest in reading about podcasts, and it is a growth industry.
All of these podcast news resources share one common attribute: a sincere desire to inform podcast listeners and assist podcasting creators. It is a more collegial environment than the cutthroat journalism in the entertainment industry.
Let’s review some of the primary access points for reading about podcasting. This is in no way a comprehensive list, but instead more of a snapshot of the prominent players. Podcasting, by its nature being decentralized, has multiple communications access points for its creators, professionals, and interested consumers.
What you will notice is that podcasting has indeed become global, and unlike the TV and film industries that are often segmented by nation or continent, podcasting has a more inclusive,globalized view of the industry, which is reflected in the following communications tools.
Podnews – The elephant in the room
Podnews, founded and managed by James Cridland, is billed as “your daily briefing for podcasting and on-demand.”
Since its inception in June2017, Podnews is the default destination every morning for people in the podcasting industry, enthusiastic consumers, advertising and marketing companies, and thousands of indie podcasters who use the newsletter as their personal Oracle of Delphi.
The newsletter offers daily updates on podcast developments like the winners of the iHeart Podcast Awards, filmmaker Ava DuVernany signing with Spotify for podcast development, and a tips and tricks section for podcasters, a technology update section, a jobs board, incisive essays, and an updated list of podcast conferences of live and/or remote-viewed events.
Here, hosts James Cridland (l) and Sam Sethi (r) perform a live show at The Podcast Show In London this year.
Podnews
Every year, Podnews releases its highly anticipated Podnews Report Card. The annual research project polls hundreds of podcast creators on their sentiment, pain points, and scoring for the major listening platforms. Podnews also publishes a weekly podcast, named appropriately Podcast Weekly Review with James Cridland and Sam Sethi.
The newsletter, its complementary weekly podcast, and essays and data-driven reports on the state of the industry make Podnews “the big dog” in the podcasting industry.
Sounds Profitable
If Podnews is indeed “the big dog, then Sounds Profitable is its nerdy, polymath second in command. Sounds Profitable is a leading media, research, and advocacy organization for the podcasting and digital audio industry. Founded by AdTech veteran Bryan Barletta, it functions as a trade association that educates, connects, and champions podcast creators, brands, and advertising networks.
In August 2025, Podcast Movement and Sounds Profitable merged in a seven-figure deal. Bryan Barletta became President of Podcast Movement, which is a prominent podcasting event company.
Sounds Profitable
Recent studies include U.K. Advertising landscape, the Sports Podcast Audience, and Audio Primes, people who prefer audio in this funnel cloud of video podcasting.
This is the publication to understand trends in the industry. Is video podcasting taking over? Why do sports podcasts engender so much trust from their audience?
It must be frightening to be in the brains of Sounds Profitable founder Bryan Barletta and partner Tom Webster. Their newsletter contains so much encyclopedic data about the podcasting industry. If I have question via Head of Communications Molly DeMellier, they have an answer. I have been crafting a “gotcha” question for Messrs. Barletta and Webster, hoping for the day that their response to my query is “I don’t know.” since these two are annoying in their ability to know so much about podcasting, I am carefully putting together that question and will be ready by sometime mid-2028.
The path to podcast discovery
Earbuds Podcast Collective Founder and Executive Editor Arielle Nissenblatt has kept the publication vibrant and in demand over the nine years that it has been in existence.
Earbuds Podcast Collective
EarBuds Podcast Collective is a community-driven podcast discovery platform and email newsletter that helps listeners find new shows. Founded in 2017 by recent podcast Hall of Fame inductee, Arielle Nissenblatt, the service curates podcast episodes based on a specific theme, with a different guest curator—ranging from industry experts to casual listeners—taking the reins each week A weekly newsletter where each issue is crowdsourced and themed, curated by a different guest host to bring you five distinct episode recommendations.
Here are three examples of weekly curated lists – Podcasts Full of Tiny Pep Talks and Practical Ideas, 5 Pop Culture Podcasts, and Podcasts to Future-Proof Your Career. In addition, the collective has an extensive archive where you can find thousands of podcasts worth your eye and eye time.
Substack as a resource
There are many iterations of citizen journalism, some successful like Medium.Com with over 100 million users monthly. Yet the comparative “new kid on the block” is Substack, which is a publishing platform that allows writers, creators, and journalists to send digital newsletters directly to their subscribers’ inboxes. It acts as a hybrid of a blog, an email marketing service, and a social media network.
Substack has been an oasis for newsletters about podcasting. There are over a hundred of them. Let’s look at some of the most popular and interesting related to podcasting.
Samantha Hodder is an award-winning audio producer and writer. She has been making media across multiple formats for over two decades. She publishes regularly on Medium and on Substack. Her narrative storytelling podcast This is Our Time launched in 2017.
Samantha Hodder
Samantha Hodder’s Substack newsletter Bingeworthy is the mother ship for narrative podcast opinion, review, trends, and analysis. Hodder began the newsletter in September 2022 and has already amassed an impressive following. Narrative podcasts are under threat primarily because of high production costs, a shift in listener habits toward video formats, and the difficulty of standing out in a crowded market. These pressures make it difficult to sustain the time-consuming and expensive process of audio storytelling.
Samantha explains that, “I want Bingeworthy to help readers see narrative podcasts as their own thing. Not chatcasts. Not celeb gossip. Not short news segments. Narrative podcasts, or narrative audio, or narrative storytelling…whatever you want to call it…is its own thing.”
You can subscribe to Bingeworthy here.
Bad news for America First advocates because Canada regularly tops the U.S. – and most other nations – in podcast listenership. According to Buzzsprout, Canada ranks among the global leaders in per-capita audio consumption. If you’re interested in podcasting in Canada, be sure to check out the Pod The North Substack newsletter by Kattie Laur. Pod the North is a free, biweekly newsletter aimed at uplifting the Canadian podcast ecosystem and fostering community. In each issue, you’ll podcast recommendations, updates on Canadian podcasts and podcasters, and digestible interviews with Canadian podcasters of note.
Kattie Laur is an Award-Winning Freelance Podcast Producer, Consultant, and Writer based in the Greater Toronto Area. Kattie recently joined CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Podcasts.
Kattie Laur
As creator Kattie Laur explains: “Pod the North is a bold attempt to uplift the Canadian podcast ecosystem and foster community in this fractured space. Every other Tuesday, get a fresh issue of Pod the North that includes recent articles titled, Are podcasts blurring truth and trust? 7 Podcasts Every Canadian Should Subscribe to in 2026 and Why Canada needs a thriving podcast community.”
The newsletter was started by Tink Media founder Lauren Passell and has grown to include the voices of Shreya Sharma, writer of Shreya’s Audio Affairs, Wil Williams, CEO of Hug House Productions and writer of Podcast Promise, and Devin Andrade, writer of Podstack.
Tink Media
While marketing for TV shows, movies, and books follows a more defined process, podcast marketing is still a combination of trial and error, creative outlandishness, and pointing the potential audience to your needle in the haystack.
Podcast Marketing Magic is a valuable destination for podcasters, primarily but not always independent, for making podcast marketing relatable, digestible, and accessible for podcasters at any stage of creation. The newsletter’s issues feature a mix of best practices and how-tos, creative strategies and how to implement them, case studies and deep dives into effective podcast marketing campaigns, interviews with industry experts, and roundups of resources to help podcasters stay in the know.
Emphasizing podcasting’s global scope, Into The Podverse by Tony Doe is “your gateway to the dynamic world of podcasts with a uniquely African perspective.” Formerly known as Podcast Related: This Week In The Podverse, the publication has rebranded to create a unified brand that encapsulates the essence of who they are and what they bring to your podcasting experience.
Tony Onwuchekwa (Doe) is a Radio and Podcast Consultant with international experience and extensive media knowledge. Tony also hosts a podcast called Into The Podverse.
Into The podverse
Creator Tony Doe said in our interview, “Into The Podverse delves into the latest releases, industry news, and emerging trends, offering a comprehensive view that reflects the richness of the podcasting world from a Nigerian and African standpoint. Its mission is to be your go-to destination for podcasting insights. Whether you’re a podcaster looking to stay ahead of trends, an industry professional seeking valuable perspective, or someone simply curious about the diverse and exciting African podcast landscape, Into The Podverse has you covered.”
Eurowaves is a Substack newsletter and website that focuses on the European podcasting scene. Andreea said in an interview: “The podcasting scene in Europe is very diverse. Each country has its own approach, but the more you look at it closely, you’ll see surprising similarities. Compared to the U.S. space which is well-developed (although debatably shaky), there’s plenty of room and need for growth, funding, and support. The great news is there are many wonderful podcasters working to build those bridges and grow the European podcasting community. And I’m joining in!”
Andrea Coscai is an advocate for multicultural, cross-border storytelling. She is also founder of HerTime Romania, a non-profit dedicated to young women’s leadership and development. Andreea is also Co-Founder of PodVision as well as Founder and editor of Eurowaves, the go-to European podcasting newsletter.
Andreea Coscai
Eurowaves is filled with podcast recommendations from Andreea, industry insights, interviews with European podcast professionals, upcoming events and opportunities, spotlights on companies, and organizations driving change in European podcasting.
Andreea said in our interview, “The great news is there are many wonderful podcasters working to build those bridges and grow the European podcasting community.”
In Eurowaves, Andreea recommends European podcasts from around the continent. Here’s a recommendation from the May 29th issue: “Nikotellen is one of Finland’s most popular podcasts and just released its 400th episode in January 2026. The amazingly successful show is hosted by a very well-known media personality, Niko Saarinen, who has been awarded as the Radio Host of the Year four times in a row. Nikotellen presents itself as Finland’s funniest, most sexy and beloved, most straightforward and undoubtedly most talked-about podcast.”
The age of podcast discovery
In any social setting where podcasts may come up in the conversation, it’s a guarantee that someone will suggest a podcast you’ve never heard of. That’s primarily because there about 40,000 of them in some degree of active development. Hence, podcast discoverability is key. That’s the objective of Great Pods.
Great Pods is one of the most comprehensive podcast recommendation sites available for people searching for new podcasts.
Great Pods
Great Pods is run by Imran Ahmed (often known as Captain Ron), a podcast creator and audio industry veteran with over 15 years of experience. He previously spent nearly eight years working at the audio platform TuneIn. He founded the platform to bring transparent, human-curated editorial judgment back to podcast discovery—creating an experience similar to trusted film and book critics
Imran Ahmed said in an interview, “That’s what makes Great Pods different. Every critic has a name. Every review has attribution. You can click through and read the full piece. It’s transparent. It’s honest. And even when you disagree with a review, you know exactly who wrote it and why they think that way. Just like Siskel & Ebert… you didn’t always agree with their thumbs up or down, but you trusted them because they were real people giving real opinions.”
Finally, Discover Pods is a digital platform and publication designed to help listeners find new podcasts and assist independent podcasters in growing their audiences. It acts as an antidote to algorithmic podcast charts, giving smaller shows a chance to be heard. Founded by Kevin Goldberg in 2017 and managed by James Griffin, The platform provides an unbiased, community-driven space to explore the massive world of audio , including articles that group and review podcasts by topic (e.g., history, true crime, gig economy) so listeners can find exactly what they are in the mood for. There are the annual Discover Pods Awards, where listeners vote to celebrate the best audio creators of the year across various categories, and a Hall of Fame, which is a curated list of highly celebrated and award-winning shows that have resonated most with audiences.
Why are so many talking about podcasting?
Podcasting is suffering from an identity crisis? Video? Audio? Is it cheap TV? Is it social media? What’s happening to the tens of thousands of independent podcasters?
“How well we communicate is not determined by how well we say things but how well we are understood.” – Andrew Grove, engineer, CEO
Ear Worthy
Just as podcasting as an industry is developing compatible technical standards and attempting to better organize its content and creative community, what must accompany such improvements is the growth of professional podcast journalism. Such journalism and communications vectors must address the needs of a wide swath of the podcasting world – from the tens of thousands of indie podcasters to the ever expanding podcast audience.
The communications mechanisms discussed in this article are, as mentioned earlier, not a comprehensive list, but a summary of the digital media that best serves podcasting, its creators, its advertisers, and its audience.
As Ira Glass from This American Life once said, ““Podcasting is a democratizing force, giving anyone with a message and a microphone the ability to reach a global audience.”