It’s another podcast news special as we close out the first year of the Q’d Up Podcast on Podcasting. On this week’s episode, Matt and John break down some recent podcast tech news, further pointing to the changing industry landscape and how it’ll impact independent podcasters. 

John and Matt kick off the show by flying high with Virgin Atlantic after they inked an exclusive deal to make the “Celebrity Catchup” podcast a part of its in-flight entertainment options. YouTube is launching its first original podcast, which could speak to Google’s desire to become a bigger name in podcasting after Google Podcasts’ poor beginnings. Finally, the guys break down some news that Apple Podcasts is aiming to improve podcasts discoverability with the iOS 15 release, but will it truly help or will it be taken over by podcasts with big marketing budgets?

Listen as John and Matt discuss the latest podcast news: 

Podcasts on a plane (1:25)

The folks on Virgin Atlantic flights will now be able to get podcasts while thousands of feet in the air. Virgin Atlantic has signed an exclusive deal with the “Celebrity Catch Up” podcast, formally adding podcasting to its in-flight entertainment.

YouTube is getting into podcasting (9:25)

Potentially marking their entry into the podcasting game, YouTube is launching their first original podcast, “The Upload The Rise of the Creator Economy.” John and Matt discuss what this could mean for YouTube and if this is Google’s path to a larger marketshare in podcasting.

Apple Podcasts getting key new features (25:33)

With the update to iOS 15, Apple Podcasts will begin giving personalized recommendations. However, Matt and John wonder just how good the recommendations will be or if this will be a pay-to-play situation that caters to the biggest budgets over functionality.

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Links from the show:

Podnews - Virgin Atlantic signs exclusive deal with podcast Celebrity Catch Up

Inside Radio - For the first time YouTube won’t just distribute a podcast, it will create one

9 to 5 Mac - iOS 15 adds personalized recommendations to ‘listen now’ tab in podcasts