Audioboom's Strong First Half, Maturing Creator Brand Safety, & More

Today in the business of podcasting:

• Audioboom posted record H1 2026 results, with revenue up 30% year-on-year to $45.7 million and adjusted EBITDA up 80% to $3.2 million, while also ending its strategic review and unveiling Spotify and Apple partnerships to power video monetization later this year.
• Creator economy newsletter Scalable finds brand safety concerns among US enterprise marketers have plummeted from 50% in 2023 to just 10% in 2025, as the industry pivots toward brand fit over blanket caution, a shift with clear implications for podcast advertising.
• The BBC's newly released annual report shows its ad-funded podcasts outside the UK drew over 515 million downloads and 116 million listeners, offering a rare public benchmark for global podcast monetization.
• Netflix subscribers on ad-free tiers keep getting blindsided by ads during live sports events like the Home Run Derby, a trust gap podcasting has largely sidestepped by setting clear ad expectations upfront.
• Media analyst Brian Morrissey argues publishers' second attempt at video is built for durability, using platforms like YouTube and TikTok as acquisition funnels toward owned audiences and revenue, a strategy many podcast publishers are already running on YouTube.

To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.