PodMov Daily: Friday, August 23

Episode 29: Your Friday Findings

Apple Podcasts Expanding Transcription Search?

According to Podnews, Apple Podcasts appears to have turned on transcript search in their beta podcast apps. “A search for ‘Google Pixel’ appears to return a bunch of podcasts that have mentioned the device (albeit mainly in ad copy),” wrote James Cridland.

A response from Daniel J. Lewis on Twitter pointed out that transcription search has been available in a limited capacity, but that it may have been expanded. An iOS 13 announcement from June’s WWDC (Apple Worldwide Developers Conference) confirms:

“Apple Podcasts will allow listeners to discover shows based on audio transcripts, topics, and people […] These features will first be available for selected top shows in English; more shows will be added later this year.

Lewis reports also that Apple does transcribe shows themselves, but that “it’s only for search and you can’t overwrite it with your own text.” A fully functional transcript search would dramatically improve discoverability — we’ll be on the lookout for updates.

NYT's Third Annual Student Podcast Contest Announced

The New York Times‘ Third Annual Student Podcast Contest has been announced. This contest invites teenagers (middle and high school students) to submit original work of five minutes or less.

“Imagine yourself — or, perhaps, you and your friends — as hosts of your own podcast. What would you talk about?” the article asks. The Times has curated over 1,000 potential topics to aid inspiration. Final picks will be featured on The Learning Network, earning winning creators invaluable exposure and experience.

The contest’s concepts are explained in an open lesson plan, encouraging teachers to “merge project-based learning with digital media analysis and production skills.” The submission window officially opens April 9, 2020. Check out diverse and impressive winning submissions from 2018 and 2019.

So Much More: PM's Multimedia Intern on PM19

The New York Times‘ 20-minute news podcast The Daily has approximately 2 million listeners per day. Variety explores how former politics reporter Michael Barbaro went from having “no experience with radio or podcasting” to hit host in just 3 years.

The Daily began with The Run-Up, a podcast Barbaro hosted for the 2016 election, which led to a more robust newsroom partnership with journalists. After all, public radio and TV shows borrowing reporters’ commentary was nothing new.

Our guest article this Friday is a special behind-the-scenes feature from our Multimedia Intern, Shannon Poe. Shannon joined us this summer upon her graduation from Stephen F. Austin State University. From live streaming to creating colorful and engaging Instagram stories, her media skills have been an invaluable help.

Her first conference experience was quite hands-on — as a member of the “Livestream Team,” she worked long hours keeping the system running smoothly. From backstage, she even discovered a first favorite podcast! (Yusss.) Read on for the journey.

Birds of All Feathers and Flights — Introverts Welcome

Thank pod it’s Friday, readers. Today’s tweet highlights how Podcast Movement works for attendees of all kinds, not just high-octane networking pros. Thanks for the comment, Melanie!

Love,

Team PM

Here's what else is going on:

• TalkShoe’s recap: The company’s look back PM19 includes the ElectroVoice microphone sets at their interactive booth. Attendees could “record on TalkShoe live from the convention.” Some were lucky enough to win big — four raffle winners each took home an RE320 mic.
• Smart speaker lag: Steven Goldstein, CEO of Amplifi Media, explores the data on why smart speakers aren’t being used to listen to podcasts. Among findings: Most podcast listeners curate their listening on an app, and the devices aren’t set up for efficient new show discovery.
• Festival fiction: The London Podcast Festival, the largest of its kind in the British Isles, will be September 6-15 at King’s Place. Martin Zaltz Austwick (Answer Me This!, Song by Song) has added an Audio Fiction cluster to this year’s Podcast Maker’s Weekend session.
• Platform tradeoff: PodcastOne has recently announced Launchpad, a hosting and launch platform. Podcasters are given an RSS feed and instructions to distribute anywhere. The service is free. How? Launchpad sells 2 minutes of digitally inserted ads and retains the revenue.