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Every episode
The Download
20 episodes
Spotify Hands Listeners the Skip Button
Ep 24 · Aug 11, 2026 · 8 min
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 podcast launches from Obama, Joe Budden, and Joe Rogan. He closes with a look at July's ad-spend data and what it signals for the rest of 2026. Listeners will learn why the skip-button controversy is really a measurement problem for host-read ads, why the Disney-iHeart deal echoes 1990s cable carriage economics more than a streaming…
The Highest-Paid List, the Subscription Land Grab, and a $3B Video Ad Market
Ep 23 · Aug 4, 2026 · 12 min
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 timing to Jay Shetty's nine-figure deal and Joe Budden's independent bet, this episode follows the money through talent economics, owned distribution land grabs, and a video ad market that may not add up the way it's reported. Listeners will get a clear-eyed look at why ABC, Don Lemon, and Tony Khan are all chasing owned distribut…
The Billion Dollar Measurement Bet, Podium's Debut, and Bartlett's Run at Rogan
Ep 22 · Jul 28, 2026 · 13 min
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-intelligence integration across Spotify, Acast, Sirius, and Triton, stress-testing the claim that podcast ads can finally buy like CTV against past standardization promises that fell short. From there, Reid connects Podium's rebrand and the Trisha Paytas signing to a consolidation playbook straight out of 1990s radio, reads Triton's…
The Numbers Netflix Won't Show You
Ep 21 · Jul 21, 2026 · 10 min
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 Netflix's carefully worded enthusiasm for video podcasts, the celebrity-driven talent rush reshaping the space, the concentration risk hiding behind steady podcast ad spend numbers, and a major shift in how audiences discover new shows. Listeners will get a clear-eyed look at why Netflix's silence on specific podcast metrics ma…
The Royal Booking, the Ad Money, and Who's Actually Listening
Ep 17 · Jul 7, 2026 · 12 min
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 Kelce and Taylor Swift's wedding, questions Shopify's third straight month atop the podcast ad spend rankings, and reframes Mel Robbins' Cannes AI talk around the real story of audience-data ownership. He also digs into new Edison Research data on Black and Latino podcast listeners, and closes by tracking where platform power is…
Power Moves, Platform Bets, and a TV Host Who Learned Podcasting Has Consequences
Ep 16 · Jun 30, 2026 · 11 min
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 AI-driven discovery and network liability exposure. Reid cuts through the surface-level headlines to identify what each development actually means for network executives, ad buyers, and creators. Whether you run a podcast portfolio, sell host-read inventory, or manage talent contracts, the frameworks here are the ones worth stres…
Discovery, Netflix, and the Ad Market: What Executives Need to Watch This Week
Ep 15 · Jun 23, 2026 · 11 min
This episode of The Download works through four major stories shaping the podcast industry right now: audience discovery data, Netflix's expanding content partnerships, the state of podcast advertising, and what a decade of vertical-focused network building actually produces. Host Reid Mercer cuts through the optimistic framing on each story to surface what the numbers actually suggest for networks, advertisers, and creators making strategic decisions. Whether it's treating consumption growth as…
Netflix, iHeart, and the Metrics That Actually Matter
Ep 14 · Jun 16, 2026 · 12 min
This episode breaks down four intersecting stories shaping the business of podcasting: the Netflix and iHeartMedia celebrity deal expansion, competing models in talent dealmaking, Spotify's redefinition of what counts as a play, and the arrival of AI-driven production tools that could reprice the entire industry. Reid Mercer examines each story through a structural lens rather than a headline one. The Netflix-iHeart deal is used to illustrate who absorbs production risk versus who captures distr…
Measurement Wars, Video Moves, and the Obama Effect: What's Actually Moving the Industry This Week
Ep 13 · Jun 9, 2026 · 10 min
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 in 2026? Host Reid Mercer works through the week's most consequential stories for anyone in podcast media, advertising, or content strategy. From new measurement standards to platform video deals to talent announcements, Reid cuts past the surface narratives to focus on the underlying economics and what they mean for networks, b…
James Murdoch, AI Slop, and the Ad Blind Spot Every Buyer Needs to Know About
Ep 9 · Jun 5, 2026 · 14 min
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's podcast unit and New York Magazine, the accelerating rise of AI-generated content in podcast catalogs, iHeart's Q1 earnings and the structural measurement gap undermining advertiser confidence, and new research from the Reuters Institute challenging the video-first pivot. Host Reid Mercer works through each story with a focus…
Netflix and Spotify Team Up, YouTube Hits a Billion, and the Industry Can't Agree What a Podcast Is
Ep 12 · Jun 2, 2026 · 13 min
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 the unprecedented Netflix-Spotify joint acquisition of Jay Shetty's On Purpose, YouTube's crossing of one billion monthly podcast viewers, a 79% surge in non-US podcast ad spending, and the formation of an industry taskforce to define what a podcast actually is. Each story carries implications that go beyond the headline. Reid str…
$9 Billion and Counting: Murdoch's Podcast Bet, AI Goes Personal, and Celebrity's New Mic
Ep 11 · May 26, 2026 · 14 min
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 acquisition of the Vox Media Podcast Network and New York Magazine, simultaneous AI podcast launches from Spotify and Amazon, and two very different celebrity audio plays from the Jonas Brothers and LeBron James. Rather than taking industry headlines at face value, the episode stress-tests the strategic logic and unit economics be…
Amazon's Podcast Takeover, Video's Big Bet, and the Measurement Fix the Industry Actually Needs
Ep 10 · May 19, 2026 · 14 min
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 Paramount and HBO Max entering serious talks about podcast acquisitions as a streaming retention strategy. Listeners will come away with a clearer read on which industry moves are structural and which are cosmetic, including why iHeart's 26.9% podcast revenue growth tells only half the story, how the Triton-Nielsen measurement deal…
SiriusXM's Surge, Amazon's AI Hustle, and the Measurement Shift That Changes the Ad Game
Ep 8 · May 5, 2026 · 15 min
This week on The Download, host Reid Mercer breaks down a packed news cycle that signals the audio industry is growing in scale and maturing as a prestige medium — all at the same time. From SiriusXM's Q1 earnings to a historic Pulitzer Prize win, from video podcast infrastructure to AI-generated content flooding the feed, Reid connects the dots between headlines and what they mean for advertisers, networks, and the business of podcasting heading into H2 2026. Each segment goes beyond the surfac…
Netflix’s Podcast Land Grab, AI Studios, and Where the Ad Money Is Actually Going
Ep 7 · Apr 21, 2026 · 15 min
This episode of The Download examines how Netflix, RØDE, Hulu, CNN, and major publishers are reshaping podcasting into a cross-format, IP-first business rather than a pure audio or ad-driven channel. Reid unpacks platform strategy, production technology, ad spend data, and talent economics so operators can understand where the real leverage is moving. Listeners will learn how Netflix’s prestige podcast slate fits into its churn and IP agenda, why AI-enabled studio hardware and video-first talk f…
Patreon’s $629M Shockwave, Spotify’s Discovery Bet, RFK’s Mic Play, and the New Hit Factories
Ep 6 · Apr 14, 2026 · 16 min
This episode of The Download examines how podcast revenue, discovery, and IP strategy are shifting across fan funding, platform products, and network playbooks. Reid unpacks Patreon’s rise as a parallel income stack, Spotify’s push into algorithmic podcast sampling, the New York Times’ cross-format discovery moves, and how iHeart and Vox are building repeatable IP machines around true crime, scandal, and comedy. Listeners will learn how mid-tier and niche shows are turning fan devotion into high…
Vox on the Block, Apple Goes Full Video, and the Quiet Ad Money No One Tracks
Ep 4 · Mar 31, 2026 · 17 min
This episode of The Download examines the rumored sale of Vox Media’s podcast unit to Versant and what it means for how mid-tier podcast networks are valued. Reid connects that M&A moment to Apple’s move into HLS video, Netflix’s evolving audio and video strategy, and how shifting platform economics are reshaping what counts as a valuable podcast asset. Listeners will learn how financial buyers underwrite aging slates, which levers actually drive podcast multiples, and why platform risk now sits…
Amazon Folds Wondery, AI Deepfakes Escalate, and the Battle for Political Earballs
Ep 3 · Mar 16, 2026 · 19 min
🎙️ Amazon just folded Wondery into Audible—and this episode pulls apart what that really means for podcast platforms, talent, and every revenue leader betting on audio. In this episode of The Download, host Reid dissects Amazon’s Wondery–Audible pivot as a subscription-first power move, then jumps into AI deepfakes, contracts, and liability in an election-fueled ad market. From Fox reviving O’Reilly and doubling down on Hannity to the hard truth about DMA-level attribution and “clean pipes,” th…
iHeart’s Podcast Surge, Video’s Identity Crisis, and the Sports Audio Arms Race
Ep 2 · Mar 16, 2026 · 17 min
🎙️ When a “24% podcast revenue jump” is just the headline, The Download is here to unpack the strategy, contracts, and market math hiding underneath it. In this episode of The Download, Reid pulls apart iHeart’s latest earnings flex, the Black Effect Podcast Festival, and the industry-wide video pivot to reveal what’s actually driving podcast growth. From community-as-moat strategy and event-led valuations to YouTube-driven video economics and looming SAG-AFTRA labor risk, this conversation is…
The Video Pivot, Apple's Bet, and Why Rich Paul's Podcast Tells You Everything
Ep 1 · Mar 16, 2026 · 16 min
🎙️ Apple's video podcast push isn't what it looks like — and Reid Mercer has the receipts. This week on The Download, Reid cuts through the hype to reveal what's really driving platform decisions, where the money is quietly moving, and which regulatory deadlines executives can no longer afford to ignore. In this episode, Reid deconstructs Apple's video podcast rollout as a defensive retention play — not a bold video-first strategy — and flags Netflix's growing role in podcast talent conversatio…
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