Podkite launches; Acast adds a voice app (in Swedish)

Podkite launched today. “It’s an analytics and intelligence platform for individual podcasters, larger publishers and advertisers”, they tell us, and they measure both Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.

• This might be the first platform to measure Google Podcasts in a public way; of interest for algorithm-watchers, in the last 30 days, the TED Radio Hour has consistently been #3 on Google Podcasts since August 2; before that, it was consistently #4. In the same timeframe on Apple Podcasts, it’s fluctuated between #25 and #43, very rarely staying still. (Now, if we can only get this podcast trending on Google.)

Google Assistant släppt i Sverige! The Google Assistant has been launched in Sweden today (which powers Google Home and other devices). Stockholm-based Acast are a launch partner, and have today announced a voice app to allow people to listen to shows directly on smart speakers.

The Edinburgh TV Festival, the UK’s flagship television event, has a session on podcasting hosted by Somethin’Else.

The BBC Studios Voice, a viewer/listener panel for the BBC, says this in a recent communication: “We were surprised to learn 38% of [our] panellists have never listened to a podcast before. Accessibility and awareness of interesting, quality podcasts were cited as barriers to listening. For those that do listen regularly, commuting has become a time to embed podcasts into people’s daily lives, with comedy coming through as a popular genre.”

Interviews with podcasters: Alex Goldman from Reply All is interviewed in Podchaser today; Ear Hustle’s Nigel Poor joins to talk about Raymond Carver’s writing, a lifelong habit of eavesdropping, and her time working at San Quentin, in But That’s Another Story; Gimlet’s Matt Lieber and NPR’s Neal Carruth are interviewed in Space Daily.

A new reason to make a podcast: to defend charges of road rage that got you taken off the radio.

Podtrac have released their US top podcast publishers data for July. Total global downloads is down by 2% month-on-month, in spite of July being 3% longer than June. WNYC Studios is down by nearly a quarter.

Out today for preschoolers in Australia: Classic Kids: Music for The Dreaming, a podcast featuring new compositions by Yuin woman and composer, Aunty Brenda Gifford.

Media commentator Adam Bowie doesn’t like “overly mannered podcast presentation”. "I just want podcast and radio presenters to be a little more original, and mostly natural."

From Nashville, Without Warning, a campaigning podcast about Lauren Agee’s death, has been covered by local TV newsteam Fox 17.

Audioburst has added personalised audio clips to two news apps, TopBuzz and News Republic.