This Week’s Influencer: Investing in Integral News Creators Pays Off; Amazon Sells Merch to Recoup Costs; SQAD’s Major Update; and More…

Who should you trust your ad money with? That’s easy. Who do your listeners trust?

This week on The Media Roundtable, Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road) welcomes back Emmy, Murrow, and Webby Award-winning journalist Mosheh Oinounou (Founder & Host, Mo News) to discuss how he manages to keep his audience informed and entertained without sacrificing his morals or brand safety.

Mo shares the story of how he transformed his legacy news career into a trusted, independent podcast with an audience of +1M strong. Even better, he does it all with integrity, not outrage or clickbait. In a shifting news landscape, marketers need mo’ creators like Mo.

Join us as they talk: Leaving a Legacy, In Mo We Trust, and Journalistic FOMO.

“[Brands] shouldn’t just be cutting checks to the organizations, podcasts, or creators that just have the largest number of views. They should be rewarding people who are actually contributing to responsible information and dialogue, and frankly, trying to preserve and maybe improve our democracy.” – Mosheh Oinounou (Founder & Host, Mo News)

Leaving a Legacy – Mo isn’t the only journalist who has felt the pressure to transition away from traditional news media outlets. Brands and listeners are also leaving legacy news for new media like podcasts, which is a favored news medium for Gen Z. Should you follow their lead? If you’re buying legacy only, you’re missing out on the most trusted, most influential voices in the biz. But why pick one? If you can measure well and find good deals, keep a toe in each pond, so to speak. Just because something isn’t “enough” doesn’t mean it’s not valuable.

In Mo We Trust – Consumers only buy from creators they trust. What makes a trusted creator? Ones like Mo, who prioritize integrity over algorithmic growth. He fact-checks, responds to comments and DMs, and best of all, owns up when he’s made a mistake. Rage-bait and riding trends deliver short-term gains but don’t build long-term trust. Sticking to values and protecting listeners unlocks bigger long-term gains. Look for partners who play the long game, and you’ll win together.

Get Journalistic FOMO – Here’s the issue: brands can count on journalists like Mo, but the inverse isn’t always true. ORBIT shows the news genre is in the top 15% of all podcast genres for performance, and nothing beats it for scale. Yet brands still struggle to put their faith in creators like Mo, even when there is evidence that they are doing all of the right things. To beat the ad-sales roller coaster, Mo relies on ad-free subscribers. Marketers, we need great journalists, and we need to support them when we find them. It’s good for democracy and your ROI. The easiest of all win-wins. If you don’t support them now, they won’t stick around, or could go ad-free. It’s time to commit, before it’s too late.

If you want to learn how Mo builds trust while keeping brand safety top of mind, listen to the full episode at the link below.

The Classifieds

Venturing Into the Void with Some New Friends

Network: Moonbeam Media / Monthly Downloads: 500k

Our world is inherently political, whether we’re discussing the rising cost of goods/services or a celebrity’s PR nightmare. Matt Bernstein thrives, sitting at the intersection of culture and critique, using his platform to discuss high-level insights on seemingly low-level internet chatter. This year, the podcast has increased its publishing frequency and invited a pantheon of well-versed guests, from the likes of journalist Kat Tenbarge to political streamer Caroline Kwan, and TV host Krystal Ball.

These conversations often divert us into worlds we don’t want to visit ourselves, with influencers we may not have heard of, to make the journey feel less intimidating. Longtime sponsors of the podcast often include high-end DTC brands and female-skewed tech-related B2Bs. This is a recommended opportunity for Gen Z-skewing advertisers with a left-leaning consumer base. When life gives you lemons, grab some vodka for a lemon drop martini and get ready to gab away with your internet besties. You can reserve your seat via the link below.

Get The Deal

This Alien Invasion Comes with Wheels and Laughter

Network: Backyard Ventures / Monthly Downloads: 50k

Sam Tripoli has been building a podcasting empire, brick by brick, for years, and with his eighth new podcast from Backyard Ventures, his kingdom has yet another banger of a comedy podcast. Tripoli has a storied career as a stand-up comedian and conspiracy theorist, two things that have long appealed to an older, open-minded male audience. Like the title suggests, each week Tripoli and co-host Midnight Mike sit down at the Wheel of Doom and spin continually to find videos from all corners of the internet.

Topics include conspiracy theories, tales of UFO sightings, random rants about the internet, and so much more. Viewers and listeners alike are along for the ride, and it’s no surprise that advertisers have found early success with Q1 performance. This is highly recommended for anyone interested in efficient comedy opportunities or looking for similar offerings to their core YouTube buys. If you’re ready to see what lies beyond, zap yourself up via the link below.

Get The Deal

In Case You Missed It

Amazon Leans In To Their Original Business To Recoup Podcast Losses

TechCrunch is talking about an NYT report on Amazon’s restructured podcast business that points out how the giant plans on recovering from recent losses. Wondery lost 100+ jobs in August 2025, their audio-only podcasts moved under Audible, and a new Creator Services division now manages on-camera talent. Amazon’s strategy has shifted to integrate commerce directly with content, exemplified by the New Heights’ Kelce Clubhouse. This single storefront consolidates product recommendations, documentaries, and merchandise sales. We often assume tech giants can transfer success into any adjacent category simply because they are already successful, but podcasting is not commerce or cloud infrastructure. Big creator deals were never likely to pay back through ads alone. “Monetize everything” is closer to Amazon’s strengths, but they’re going to have to sell a lot of merch to recoup their hundreds of millions in podcast investments.

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Branded Integrations Are on the Rise, Both Here and Abroad

Fresh Air founder Neil Cowling is discussing with IPA how podcasting has crossed into its commercial era. Natural selection has produced a powerful tier of premium publishers, while measurement tools like Podscribe and Magellan AI now enable KPI alignment with other media, and video integration has made podcasting a multi-touchpoint brand vehicle. He cites a Waitrose-branded podcast moving brand metrics and a Cartier/NYT Modern Love campaign as proof that premium contextual integration outperforms standard ad placements. Podcasting’s commercial maturity is spreading beyond the U.S. That matters for global marketers who want a consistent audio strategy across markets. The U.S. podcast market has had a head start, but as this article points out, it is only a matter of time before international markets catch up. Don’t wait to get in on the trend, though, or you’ll be fighting with other brands for the same attention.

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SQAD Brings Their Industry Standard-Setting Tools To Podcasts & CTV

Guideline is expanding its SQADCosts Local platform — which has long been the standard CPM benchmarking reference for local linear TV and radio buys — to include geo-targeted CPMs for digital audio and podcasts across 60+ top U.S. publishers, using the same framework buyers already rely on. The extension normalizes CPMs, ad lengths, and content types across publishers, uses a directly comparable baseline for targeting, and adds CTV benchmarks alongside audio. If you’ve bought local radio or TV, you may be familiar with SQAD as a cost source. Those same guidelines are now being extended to CTV, streaming audio, and podcasts, giving marketers a useful new pricing reference.

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#SaveTheLiveReads

These Tecovas Boots Are Circling Back To a Country Two Step

Dillon Cheverere, Dave Ruff, and part-time former co-host Will deFries on the Circling Back podcast are making plans and looking great, thanks to Tecovas. After some killer intro sound effects that make you want to two-step, these guys launch into their love for Tecovas like it’s a hangout over a cold one. Their natural, almost throwaway delivery is exactly what makes it work. They’re not selling boots. They’re just hyping up the weekend in Tecovas like they’re about to ride off into the sunset.

The back-and-forth about a pair of sharp black Cartwrights turns the ad into two guys hyping each other up in front of a closet, and somehow you want in. Product details sneak in perfectly, with just enough dramatic flair on the word “meticulous” to make you actually laugh out loud. Clean 10% off offer, easy URL, and suddenly buying cowboy boots feels like the most logical decision you’ve made all week. Point your toes west via the link below.

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