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Comedian Hasan Minhaj returns as The Riddler in new Spotify podcast series

Among the wave of Spotify announcements coming out of today’s Spotify Stream On event, the company shared some exciting news with podcast listeners — in particular, Batman fans. Spotify is launching a new podcast series “The Riddler: Secrets in the Dark,” starring comedian-actor Hasan Minhaj as The Riddler.
As part of Spotify’s exclusive multiyear partnership with DC and Warner Bros, “The Riddler: Secrets in the Dark” will premiere later this year and will see Minhaj reprise his role as the supervillain. Minhaj starred in the 2022 Spotify podcast “Batman Unburied,” which starred Winston Duke as the Dark Knight. Batman/Bruce Wayne will also appear in the new podcast series along with Barbara Gordon and Alfred.
“The Riddler: Secrets in the Dark” is a scripted “Batman” spinoff series that follows an unexpected duo — The Riddler and Batman — as they bring down another villain tormenting the streets of Gotham City.
“Audiences are going to travel back to Gotham City with me in a story that leaves clues, puzzles and shines a spotlight on my personal favorite character, The Riddler,” Minhaj said in the announcement video.

“Batman Unburied” premiered on the audio streaming service in May 2022 and climbed its way up Spotify’s top podcast charts. At one point, it even took the crown from “The Joe Rogan Experience,” which was the No. 1 podcast globally on Spotify in 2022 despite its controversial host.
Plus, Spotify recently launched “Harley Quinn and The Joker: Sound Mind,” which was also a huge hit among fans, reaching the top of the charts in six markets, according to the company.
As Spotify bets on original programming to boost its overall podcast strategy, the DC podcasts are certainly a smart move being that podcasts with recognizable characters, especially from the Batman franchise, will likely perform well in this IP-driven world we live in.

Podcast series ‘Batman Unburied’ set to premiere on Spotify after ‘The Batman’ heads to HBO Max

Speaking of recognizable voices, Spotify also announced today an exclusive video partnership with Markiplier (Mark Fischbach), the popular YouTuber with 34.5 million subscribers and approximately over 19 billion views. The partnership allows for Markiplier to produce exclusive video episodes of “Distractible” and “Go! My Favorite Sports Team.”
“While we love the audio world and still aim to bring you the very best in auditory experiences, by bringing our faces into the mix, we aim to give you an as-yet-unseen dimension to your listening experience. Imagine if you could smell a movie, imagine if you could smell us . . . who knows what the future will bring?” Markiplier said in a hilarious and thought-provoking statement.
Now, instead of just listening to his voice, Spotify users will also get to watch videos of Markiplier alongside his content creator friends Wade Barnes and Bob Muysken.
Another podcast getting the video treatment is “Forbidden Fruits” with actresses Julia Fox and Niki Takesh, which will return for a second season on March 17. The new episodes will be released as an all-video podcast, reflecting the growing trend of video-led podcasting.
According to Spotify, there are over 70,000 video creators on the platform. In April 2022, Spotify expanded the ability for creators to publish video podcasts in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the U.K.
Separately, the company revealed that “The Comment Section” hosted by TikTok star Drew Afualo, would be moving exclusively to Spotify on April 5.
During today’s event, Spotify announced an array of new podcaster tools, such as a redesigned Podcasters dashboard that includes an Anchor integration and the launch of a new feature “Autoplay for Podcasts.” Plus, the company is teaming up with Patreon to allow users to listen to Patreon content on Spotify.

Spotify is revamping its podcaster tools, including Anchor, and is partnering with Patreon

Comedian Hasan Minhaj returns as The Riddler in new Spotify podcast series by Lauren Forristal originally published on TechCrunch
Comedian Hasan Minhaj returns as The Riddler in new Spotify podcast series

Google winds down feature that put playable podcasts directly in search results

Google confirmed it’s putting an end to a feature that allowed users to access playable podcasts directly from the Google Search results in favor of offering podcast recommendations. Officially launched in 2019, the feature surfaced podcasts when they matched a user’s query, including in those cases where a user specifically included the word “podcast” in their search terms. But a few weeks ago, some creators began noticing the podcast carousels had disappeared from Google Search results — and now the company is explaining why that’s the case.
The disappearance was first spotted by Podnews.net, which noted in January that searches for podcasts no longer returned any play buttons or links to Google Podcasts itself. When they tested the feature by searching for “history podcasts” they were only provided with a list of shows alongside links to podcast reviews, Apple Podcast pages and other places to stream.
At the time, Google simply told the site the feature was working “as intended.”
But a new announcement in Google Podcasts Manager indicates the feature is officially being shut down as of February 13.
“Google Search will stop showing podcast carousels by February 13. As a result, clicks and impressions in How people find your show will drop to zero after that date,” the message states. Podcasters are also being instructed to download any historical data they want to keep in advance of this final closure.
Of course, as many podcasters already discovered, their metrics had already declined as the feature was being wound down.
To be fair, playable podcasts in search wasn’t a remarkably well-executed product as it didn’t offer a way to do much more than click to play an episode. On YouTube’s Podcasts vertical, by comparison, podcast creators can create an index to the various parts of an episode, allowing users to jump directly to the section they wanted to hear. Plus, users can watch a video of the podcast, if the creator chooses to film.
YouTube has also proven to be more popular than Google Podcasts and other competitors. In a 2022 market survey of podcast listeners, for example, YouTube came out ahead of Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts as users’ preferred podcast platform. Though many podcast market analysis reports don’t consider YouTube when comparing the popularity of various podcast apps, one recent report by Buzzsprout at least suggests that using web browser as a listening app had a very small market share of just 3.5%. And that share had barely increased over the years, despite Google’s indexing of shows.
Reached for comment, Google explained its decision to wind down playable podcasts in Search will allow it to focus on a new addition instead.
“Our existing podcast features will gradually be replaced with a new, single feature, What to Podcast,” a spokesperson told us. They noted the feature is currently live on mobile for English users in the U.S. “This feature provides detailed information about podcasts, links to listen to shows on different platforms, and links to podcasters’ own websites, where available,” the spokesperson added.
According to the help documentation, these recommendations will be personalized to the user if they’re signed into their Google account and will factor in things like the user’s past searches and browsing history, saved podcasts and other podcast preferences. The personalized results can be turned off, however, if the user wants more generic suggestions, Google says.
Google winds down feature that put playable podcasts directly in search results by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch
Google winds down feature that put playable podcasts directly in search results

Peacock kills its free tier option for new customers

Peacock is no longer offering its free tier to new customers, a spokesperson for NBCUniversal confirmed to TechCrunch on Tuesday. The company says it’s shifting its focus to its Premium offering and that doing so will allow the streaming service to remain competitive in the marketplace. The change was first reported by The Streamable.
The free tier is still available to users who are already on the plan, the spokesperson said in an email. In addition, users who cancel their paid subscriptions will automatically be downgraded to the free tier. Peacock has offered the free tier since its launch in 2020, giving users restricted access to the streaming service’s content catalogue. The tier included a limited amount of content when compared to the paid tiers.
New customers will now have to choose between Peacock’s Premium or Premium Plus tiers. The ad-supported Premium tier costs $4.99 per month and includes the full content library, live sports and NBC and Bravo shows after they air on TV. The Premium Plus tier costs $9.99 per month and offers an ad-free experience, offline viewing support and a livestream of your local NBC channel.
Peacock launched around the same time as Disney+, HBO Max and Apple TV+ but was the only one to offer a free tier. Now the company’s focus is shifting. The spokesperson told TechCrunch that Peacock is now focusing on its Premium offering, noting that the paid subscription is more reflective of its brand.
The move comes as Peacock recently reported its best quarterly result since its launch. The streaming service added 5 million paying subscribers in its fourth quarter of 2022, bringing the total to 20 million, up from the over 15 million subs in the previous quarter. The boost in paid subscribers was primarily due to the FIFA World Cup, which streamed in Spanish on Peacock Premium and Telemundo.

Peacock tops 20M subscribers in Q4 as losses widen

Peacock kills its free tier option for new customers by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch
Peacock kills its free tier option for new customers

Meta expands its partnership with the NBA to offer 52 games in VR

Meta is expanding its partnership with the NBA and WNBA to offer more than 50 live VR games on Meta Quest, the company announced on Monday. Meta Quest is the official headset of the NBA, as Facebook signed a deal with the league back in 2020.
The company will deliver a package of 52 live NBA games, including five immersive 180-degree monoscopic VR games in 2880 on Xtadium and on Meta Horizon Worlds. Meta will also offer a selection of WNBA, NBA G League and NBA 2K League games over the course of the season. In Meta Horizon Worlds, you’ll also be able to access game highlights, recaps and archival content.
Users can visit the dedicated NBA Arena in Meta Horizon Worlds starting today to watch NBA content with friends, compete in interactive minigames and support their favorite teams. Meta says that in the future, fans will be able to watch even more content in the app with an NBA League Pass subscription.
Meta also announced that it’s partnering with the league to launch NBA-licensed apparel in Meta’s Avatar Store in the coming weeks. Users will be able to purchase their favorite NBA or WNBA team apparel for their avatar and showcase it across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, as well as on Meta Quest.
“Meta’s immersive VR technology is opening up new opportunities for sports fans to engage and interact with their favorite NBA teams,” said Meta Director of Sports Media and League Partnerships Rob Shaw in a blog post. “Fans will be able to express their fandom by donning their favorite team’s gear on Avatars and enjoy more live NBA games and experience NBA League Pass in a much more social and immersive way.”
The games available in VR on Meta Quest in January include Milwaukee Bucks vs. Detroit Pistons on January 23, Denver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Pelicans on January 24, Denver Nuggets vs. Milwaukee Bucks on January 24, Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder on January 27, Los Angeles Clippers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers on January 29 and Miami Heat vs. Cleveland Cavaliers on January 31.

Meta’s Quest Store hits $1.5 billion in total revenue to date

Meta expands its partnership with the NBA to offer 52 games in VR by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch
Meta expands its partnership with the NBA to offer 52 games in VR

YouTube rolls out new Partner Program terms as Shorts revenue sharing begins on February 1

YouTube will begin sharing ad revenue with Shorts creators on February 1, the company revealed on Monday. To prepare for the upcoming change, YouTube is starting to roll out new terms for all creators in the YouTube Partner Program. Creators need to accept the new terms by July 10 to remain in the program.
The major change to YouTube’s Partner Program will allow creators to earn money from ads that are viewed between videos in the Shorts Feed. Although the new revenue sharing model will replace the YouTube Shorts Fund, the company says it expects the majority of its Shorts Fund recipients to earn more with the new Shorts revenue sharing model. As previously announced, creators can apply to the program if they meet a new Shorts-specific threshold of 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views over 90 days.
As part of the new terms, creators need to accept specific monetization modules. The first module is called the “Watch Page Monetization Module” and allows creators to earn money from ads served on their long-form videos and YouTube Premium. The next module is called the “Shorts Monetization Module” and lets you earn money from ads that play between Shorts in the Shorts Feed and YouTube Premium. The last module is called the “Commerce Product Addendum” and is for features like Channel Memberships and Supers.
YouTube recommends that creators accept all of the modules to unlock their full earning potential on the platform. Creators that make Shorts and have accepted the new Shorts Monetization Module will become eligible for Shorts ads revenue sharing on their Shorts views starting next month.
As for how exactly the Shorts revenue sharing will work, it’s a bit complex due to music licensing. Each month, revenue from the ads appearing between Shorts will be added together and used to reward monetizing Shorts creators and cover the costs of music licensing. A portion of the total revenue will be allocated to the creator pool based on views and music usage across all watched Shorts. If a creator uploads a Short without music, all of the revenue associated with its views goes toward the creator pool. If a creator uploads a Short with music, the revenue based on its views will be split among the Creator Pool and music partners based on the number of tracks used.
Next, the creator pool is allocated to creators. YouTube explains that it will allocate revenue to monetizing Shorts creators based on their share of total Shorts views in the Creator Pool. If a creator got 5% eligible views out of all Shorts uploaded by monetizing creators, they will then be allocated 5% of the revenue in the creator pool. Creators will keep 45% of their allocated Shorts revenue. For instance, if a creator is allocated $1,000 from the creator pool, they will be paid $450.
It’s worth noting that non-original Shorts are not eligible for revenue sharing. Non-original Shorts are those that include unedited clips from movies or TV shows, re-uploaded content from other creators on YouTube or another platform, or compilations with no original content added. Shorts that receive artificial or fake views, such as from automated clicks or scroll bots, are also ineligible for revenue sharing.
With these upcoming changes, YouTube Shorts is poised to become TikTok’s biggest competitor. If creators can make more money via YouTube Shorts than on TikTok, they’re incentivized to make original content for the YouTube platform. No short-form video platform has quite figured out how to share ad revenue up until now, which gives Shorts a notable leg up on the competition.

YouTube targets TikTok with revenue sharing for Shorts, Partner Program expansion

YouTube rolls out new Partner Program terms as Shorts revenue sharing begins on February 1 by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch
YouTube rolls out new Partner Program terms as Shorts revenue sharing begins on February 1