This Week’s Influencer: Introducing the Inaugural Indie PaC Awards, TikTok Resumes Its Long-Form Push, ORBIT Deems Niche Sports VIPs, and More…

This year, America celebrates its 250th birthday. Trust in institutions is at an all-time low. AI is landing like an alien invasion. Nobody knows what’s coming or who to trust.

So, is the American idea still alive? Meritocracy, free speech, open exchange? It’s hard, but it’s alive in podcasting and creator media. The greatest canvas for the free and open exchange of ideas, with no gatekeepers, no FCC, no program directors deciding what can and cannot be said.

That’s been the spirit of this medium for more than two decades. Pirate radio for the internet age. But as the money has flowed in, consolidation has followed. Networks bought up shows, platforms locked creators into exclusive contracts, and some shows now have 20 minutes of ads per hour. Some of us came from radio. We left for a reason. Now, we’re watching parts of this industry try to rebuild the thing we escaped from.

So, we decided to do something about it.

Today, we’re announcing the first-ever Independent Podcast and Creator Awards (Indie PaC), happening at SXSW in Austin on Sunday, March 15th. The ceremony will be hosted by Killer Mike, the Grammy-winning artist, entrepreneur, and advocate for creator ownership who has built his career on the same principles of independence the awards celebrate. There’s nobody better to host this.

Libsyn (Liberated Syndication Inc.), a longtime champion of independent creators and the leading podcasting platform for both creators and advertisers, is serving as the founding sponsor.

This is the only awards ceremony exclusively for independent creators. No corporate shows. No celebrity vehicles. No platform exclusives. Jury-voted awards judged by Ashley Flowers, James Cridland, Hernan Lopez, and Gladwell Mwangi. The ORBIT Influence Awards based on real performance data. Patron Awards for the brands investing most in independents. And The Oxford Prize in Podcasting for lifetime achievement.

Nominees include Steven Bartlett, Theo Von, Lex Fridman, Tim Ferriss, Shawn Ryan, Kill Tony, and dozens more, plus breakthrough creators like Kendall Rae, CreepCast, Jomboy, and Hala Taha, who are all building real audiences from the ground up.

When we look at our ORBIT rankings, built on over $1.6 billion in campaign data, the independents consistently win. They work harder, they care more, and they deliver better value. It’s the difference between going to a local restaurant where the owner is cooking the food and hitting a fast-food drive-thru.

This is Year One. It’ll be a little gritty, but independent creators tore down the gates and proved you don’t need anyone’s permission to build an audience that trusts you. And the establishment is starting to take notice.

Today, Caitlin Huston at The Hollywood Reporter broke the exclusive on the Indie PaC Awards, recognizing this movement and the creators who are driving it.

In a year when the American Experiment feels like it’s fraying, this is where it’s working. This is the new town square.

Sunday, March 15th. Sounds Profitable Stage at Skybox on 6th. Austin, TX. 4:30 PM.

Full details are available at IndiePaC.com. Listen to the full announcement on The Media Roundtable below, and read The Hollywood Reporter’s exclusive coverage here.

The Classifieds

These Famous Friends Stop Getting Nice, and Start Getting Real

Network: Nativ.ly / Monthly Downloads: 350k

In the first two minutes of this brand-new podcast, rapper Lil Dicky, joined by his wife Kristin Batalucco and friend Benny Blanco, exclaims, “… in this new multi-media format. Notice how I’m not using the word podcast…it’s so much more than a podcast.” Though our founder, Dan Granger, would likely disagree, it’s not surprising that this intrepid creator wants to emphasize the groundbreaking nature of this entry. Through his music videos and TV show Dave, Lil Dicky has always distinguished himself as a creator and comedian.

In this sit-down simulcast show, filmed with multiple cameras in his LA home, the hosts try to reestablish the idea of a hang sesh and enliven the medium through artistic editing and sight gags. Though the ad read will undoubtedly feature a creative and production value associated with brand dollars, the format’s flexibility also aligns closely with performance-based advertisers. You don’t have to “blow that bank” to get in on this amazing offer. It’s time to “$ave Dat Money” by clicking the link below.

Get The Deal

Lore No Longer, the Spotlight Is Here

Network: Podcast Nation / Monthly Downloads: 800k

Though Eleanor Neale is quite young (she’s only 27), she has already been crowned the queen of the UK YouTube True Crime scene. Since 2018, the redheaded Brit has been making long-form content on famous murder cases, unsettling topics, and deep dives into little-known lore.  Her channel and podcast have amassed millions of loyal followers who tune in each week to hear her clear-cut reporting on distinctly unsettling information, delivered in her signature straightforward manner.

Her brand is closely aligned with a research-based approach with an earnest focus on victims’ rights. Her long-running podcast recently found a new home with Podcast Nation, which is offering placements in both new episode releases and the extensive back catalogue. Clients with an international consumer base are strongly recommended to test into this female-skewing offering. This might seem like a folktale, but you can discover the real value of this opportunity via the link below.

Get The Deal

In Case You Missed It

TikTok Goes Long…Form

TikTok continues its long-form podcasting push with “TikTok in the Mix,” a four-episode live series featuring artists who broke out on the platform. This comes on the heels of TikTok’s November 2025 partnership with iHeartMedia to launch the TikTok Podcast Network. If you think of TikTok as a place for short-form content, please pay close attention. TikTok is branching out into long-form content. Keep an eye on the platform for investing in independent creators and their fandoms to capture highly loyal audiences for branded content. Of course, wait until there’s a way to measure performance, because that should be an industry requisite for anyone entering into the space.

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Stop Renting Fans – Start Joining Them

The Drum’s roundup of 15+ agency leaders argues sports marketing is shifting from “renting attention” via logo placement to earning relevance inside fan communities. Tentpole sponsorships matter, but brands can make those investments work harder through social, creator partnerships, and always-on engagement. Emerging leagues and niche communities are efficient campaign add-ons where brands can participate more authentically and measure impact directly. Keep the NFL money where it is. Tentpole rights buy reach and legitimacy; sports radio, podcasts, and creator partnerships are complementary, delivering credible, always-on access to the fan’s daily routine. Shift a portion of the budget to extend the sponsorship into community participation between games, not just on game day.

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You Don’t Want to Skip This Revelation

In a recently released report, Bumper argues that podcast ad skipping is real, but routinely overstated when measured via surveys. Using episode retention histograms from Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, they quantify “ad retention” by comparing the audience present during an ad break vs. the audience that likely would have been absent, skipping. Across many client shows, they often see 90%+ ad retention. However, longer ad breaks correlate with more avoidance (publishers: please note). In conclusion, don’t default to “everyone skips”; it’s more nuanced than that: consumers don’t do what they say they do. They over-claim ad skipping in surveys. Plan on observed, measurable retention, not self-reported attitudes.

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#SaveTheLiveReads

The Professor’s Lesson On Attracting the Best Talent Is Indeed Perfection

In this week’s entry, we get to see how Scott Galloway makes Indeed feel like an absolute essential tool for those who want to get serious about hiring. On his hit show, Prof G Markets, he speaks directly to his audience of founders and business decision-makers who understand that talent is leverage, and leverage drives growth. By spotlighting the 90% higher likelihood of making a hire with Indeed’s sponsored job feature, Scott anchors the message in performance and ROI, the language his audience respects. He cuts through the chaos of sorting through resumes and reframes hiring as a competitive advantage, not a chore.

The $75 job credit lowers the barrier to entry for anyone interested, making it an easy, smart move for those ready to scale. In classic Galloway fashion, this feels less like an ad and more like sharp business advice: build the right team, win the market. His tone is also calm and soothing, fostering quiet trust in his recommendation that is neither forced nor inauthentic. If you want to hear how a pro gets things done, listen via the link below.

Listen Here

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OXFORd In The News

For Sports, ORBIT Says Niche Is the New Major

You read it here first, but our latest ORBIT rankings on the top-performing sports podcasts were featured in eMarketer, highlighting how niche categories are outpacing the major leagues in advertiser ROI. The coverage explores our findings that motorsports, participatory sports such as fantasy sports and golf, and even NFL off-season content are generating stronger results than traditional in-season programming. The takeaway for marketers? Passion beats popularity, and we have the data that backs it up.

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