Podcast Movement NYC Recap, Podcast Video Data, and Giggly Squad’s $140M Deal

About this episode

Rob Walch returns from Podcast Movement NYC with a recap of the Terminal 5 venue, meetings with industry peers, Captivate’s new partnership with TWiT, and the presentation moment when his screen went black. His talk challenged advice built for podcasting’s top tier and tested the claim that video is now the baseline. Rob shares his comparison of Apple Podcasts downloads for more than 100 shows before and after they added HLS video, along with Acast’s Podcast Pulse findings on audio choice, discovery through social clips, and rising trust in podcasters. Beyond Podcast Movement, Elsie and Rob discuss Apple Podcasts chapter settings, Spotify’s ad-skipping feature, Apple Podcasts subscription video and new playback features, Threads’ expanded podcast tools, and sponsor reads designed to work for people watching or listening. A reported $140 million SiriusXM deal for Giggly Squad opens a wider conversation about the value Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo built across podcasting, video, social media, touring, publishing, and entertainment. Global also announces the upcoming investigative series A Very British Epstein. The episode also visits Apple Maps’ Hidden Histories guides, the Inte