This Week's Influencer: AI’s Place in Content Creation; Women's Health Has A New Champion; Don’t Leave True Crime Money on the Table; and More…

Can you lean into AI advancements without losing human connection? Find out on a new Media Roundtable.

During SXSW, Will Pearson (President, iHeartPodcasts) hosted “The Guaranteed Human In An Artificial World.” Will took the stage with some of the sharpest thinkers in podcasting: Brendan Monaghan (CEO, Libsyn), Gladwell Mwangi (Paid Media Enablement Lead, Whole Foods Market), and Richard Case (VP, Growth Marketing, GoodRX).

Join us as they cover: The Guaranteed Human, Finding your Center, AI-Augmented, and more. Let’s dig in.

“There’s a ton more [AI content] being created, but at the end of the day, listeners can tell. And they place a high level of expectation on those creators to deliver an authentic experience.” – Brendan Monaghan (CEO, Libsyn)

The Guaranteed Human  – Podcasting’s magic relies on human connection. A host really believes in a brand, so they endorse it, and listeners really want to buy it. If any part of that chain of trust is broken, it doesn’t work. AI can sound human, but we don’t trust it like a human. iHeart’s emphasis on human-voiced content reinforces the trust that underpins audio’s unique connection

Find your Center – I tools are just that: tools. They can be great for accomplishing tasks, but they can’t tell you what’s important in the first place. If you want to succeed with AI tools (or without them), focus on what matters to you. For Brendan, that’s supporting creators. So Libsyn uses AI to automate workflow, surface audience insights, and optimize monetization. Marketers, to avoid AI burnout, go back to the source. Who are you trying to help? Then see if there are new tools to make it

AI-Augmented, not AI-Generated – Creators are singular talents with unique voices in every sense of the word. Audiences are tuning in for real human expertise and experience. Any help that AI is providing to content can’t overshadow the human creating it. In Brendan’s words: “Listeners can tell.” The same goes for marketers. There is something unique about how you understand your brand and your customers. If you abdicate that unique vision for the same tools everyone has access to, your creative will be wholly indistinguishable, and you’ll have given up your advantage.

For more insights from industry leaders working to use AI while staying human, check out the full chat here.

The Classifieds

These Tech Grandpas Have a Lot to Say

Network: Backbeat Media / Monthly Downloads: 6k

Tech news is filtered through many sources: the insider, the journalist, the academic, and the futurist are the most visible. What if you learned about new product updates and company news from three older geeks with an axe to grind? As hosts Jason DeFillippo, Brian Schulmeister, and Dave Bittner crack non-stop jokes, difficult-to-understand concepts suddenly feel coherent, and the absurdity of this world becomes that much more stark.

Often described as “Tech’s Walk of Shame,” there is a heavy emphasis on roasting tech CEO’s failures from a consumer POV. Their ribald language often lends to long rants that feel akin to a comedy podcast while making a strong impact with an older male consumer demographic. For those looking for highly efficient offerings targeting lifelong learners interested in internet culture, this is highly recommended. There’s no possible user error in finding more info. It’s at the link below.

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Press Play on Your Health

Network: Audacy / Monthly Downloads: 200k

Tech is a non-stop industry, but when it comes to women’s health, we’re still very much at a standstill. Before 1993, women were rarely included in medical trials, and even today their levels of participation remain disparate with the US population. Dr. Mary Claire Haver knows this reality all too well as a board-certified OB/GYN and certified menopause practitioner with two decades of experience.

In her weekly sit-down with fellow experts, Haver discusses the personalized strategies and infallible advice that serve her patients and listeners alike. For women with unanswered questions around brain fog, libido decreases, and longevity, this is a must-listen opportunity that has grown immensely since launching last year. For those in the health and wellness space, this is a key offering that yields a strong consumer base of self-improvement minded listeners. Feel free to pause your reading, click below, and learn more about this podcast.

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In Case You Missed It

Oh Canada, How We Study Your Audio Trends

Signal Hill Insights is launching Audio on the Move, a new subscription study designed to give the Canadian audio industry a holistic view of how consumers spend time across terrestrial and digital radio, streaming, podcasts, satellite, and emerging audio platforms. For marketers, the value here is finally getting a clearer picture of how audio channels work together, with highlights available for clients interested in the broader read. Edison’s Infinite Dial has provided a digital audio view of Canada, but the latest public report on Edison’s site appears to be from 2022. Signal Hill is widening the lens by bringing terrestrial into the mix, too. That matters for marketers who want a clearer view of the full audio marketplace. Ping us if you want highlights. We’ve got ‘em.

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Gen Z Avoids the News Desks in Favor of Podcasts

Reuters Institute’s Young People and the News report finds 18-24 year olds are more engaged with podcasts than older demographics, but not with news podcasts. Joe Rogan tops their “news podcast” list despite not fitting traditional definitions. 64% of 18-24s consume news daily vs. 87% of those 55+; only 35% are “very or extremely” interested in news. 51% of young people pay more attention to individual creators vs. 39% for traditional news brands. TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube now surpass Facebook as primary news discovery platforms, with direct publisher access at just 14%. Young audiences are not tuning out news; they are just redefining what counts as news and who gets to deliver it. For marketers and publishers alike, that is a reminder that trust increasingly sits with creators and personalities.

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IAB Confirms Podcasting Is Still Growing

The IAB/PwC 2025 Internet Advertising Revenue Report says digital audio ad spending reached a record $8.4 billion in 2025, up 10.2% year over year, with podcasting growing even faster at 17.6% to $2.9 billion. The report also notes that podcast revenue likely understates the category’s full size as video podcast consumption grows, while broader shifts toward programmatic buying, creator media, and performance accountability continue to reshape how audio is bought and measured. Digital audio’s continued growth is a good reminder that the medium is working, even in a shaky market. The bigger story is that as video expands and measurement expectations rise, podcasting is starting to blur into the broader digital video and creator economy. That creates opportunity, but it also means the market will get messier until measurement catches up.

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#SaveTheLiveReads

So Money Has “Found” Financial Clarity

Farnoosh Torabi on her podcast, So Money, strikes a thoughtful and light-hearted stellar live read for Found. She opens with a relatable question that immediately draws in small business owners, prompting an honest moment of reflection about how in control their finances really feel. Her tone stays conversational and light as she walks through the common chaos of managing expenses, invoices, and taxes, making the pain points feel real and widely shared. Her transition into Found is seamless, presenting it as a clear, streamlined solution without overcomplicating the explanation.

The standout moment is her personal example of running two podcasts with separate financial systems, adding credibility while also bringing in a touch of humor that keeps her read engaging. Throughout, she maintains a friendly, supportive tone that aligns well with her brand, making the recommendation feel trustworthy and practical. By the time she lands on the call to action, it comes across as a smart, helpful next step rather than a hard sell.

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OXFORd In The News

ORBIT’s True Crime Report Refuses to Go Cold

The ORBIT coverage keeps coming. Our Top 15 Performing True Crime Podcasts report has now been picked up by Sounds Profitable, Podnews, Podcast News Daily, Podcast Business Journal, Ads Of Brands, and Roastbrief. The consensus is hard to ignore: True Crime ranks in the top 20% of genres for ad efficiency, and most brands are still underinvesting by treating it as a single audience rather than the nuanced, high-performing genre it is.

The data is ours. The press is talking. The question is whether your brand is in the conversation.

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ORBIT Goes to Bat for Independent Podcasts

Ben Robins of The Sound Insights Report built his latest piece around a single data point from ORBIT: 80% of the top 15 performing podcasts for advertisers are independent. Not network flagships. Not platform exclusives. Independent shows with loyal, niche audiences deliver outsized results. Robins uses our findings as the backbone of a broader argument that scale and effectiveness are not the same thing in podcasting, and are often in direct tension. The piece is a smart, well-sourced read, and the fact that ORBIT data is anchoring the conversation is exactly where we want to be.

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Bill Burr’s Host-Reads Are So Good, They’re Pressing Vinyl

Our November ranking of the Top 15 Performing Comedy Podcasts just got a real-world encore. Literally. Podnews reported that after Bill Burr landed the #1 spot for comedy podcasts among advertisers, his ad sales team at Impressions.fm celebrated the only way that felt right: by pressing his best host-read ads onto a vinyl record and shipping them to buyers. A sizzle reel for people who still own a turntable. Burr isn’t for every client, but for those who get it, the returns speak for themselves. After more than a decade perfecting his singular approach to podcast endorsements, it’s safe to say the bit has landed. We’re thrilled to see Bill get the recognition he so richly deserves.

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