The takeaways
- Apple News Today, an original podcast show is coming to Apple News listeners in the United States.
- Alongside its OS updates, Apple is bringing new subscriber content to Apple News+, including audio stories and local news.
- As podcasting revenues grow, Apple, like Google, is showing support for struggling news publishers.
What happened?
Apple announced new podcast content in its OS updates yesterday, including the launch of a daily podcast named Apple News Today. Also in the pipeline are 20 weekly Apple News+ audio stories and curated local Apple News collections. Finally, Apple will curate local and regional news, featuring a major newspaper in each area. These include communities in New York, San Francisco, the Bay Area, Houston and Los Angeles.
U.S. Apple News+ subscribers can now access papers including The News & Observer, The Kansas City Star and the Miami Herald. Canadian subscribers, meanwhile, can now read Le Devoir and The Globe and Mail.
Why it matters
Via eMarketer
With podcasting now advertising’s fastest-growing medium, Apple is responding to new opportunities. Before now, Apple has shied away from producing its own podcasts, instead boosting curated lists of others’ content. The daily Apple News Today, besides being free, is notable for entering a crowded market, with The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and others already running daily news shows. The audio stories, aimed at Apple News+’s subscriber-only audience, are high-end productions voiced by professional actors. The likes of GQ, Esquire, Vanity Fair and New York Magazine will also publish narrated long-form pieces for subscribers.
As noted in the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s new report, podcasting is becoming a reliable source for long-term ad investments. Apple’s deals with local media, much like Google’s international news purchasing, also offer them new audiences, as well as crucial support in an age of rising layoffs.
