Russ: They spent a ton of money on podcast ads, and then... dropped it to absolutely zero.
Nadia: This is Nadia.
Russ: And I'm Russ.
Nadia: And this is The Feed for Wednesday, August 26th, 2026.
Russ: We're tracking the money and the moves in the world of podcasting.
Nadia: Podcast Movement just dropped its New York schedule, and we're digging into who's footing the bill.
Russ: Plus, the BBC is gambling on a dark comedy from some huge TV creators. The question is, will it work in audio?
Nadia: And a massive gaming partnership between Korea and Indonesia is spinning up... a podcast?
Nadia: Alright, let's start with Podcast Movement New York.
Russ: The big industry meetup. What's the news?
Nadia: They just released the full schedule. Podnews has the breakdown. It's solo speakers in the morning, then a mix of panels and more solo speakers in the afternoon.
Russ: Okay, standard conference stuff. What's the real story here?
Nadia: The real story is the sponsor: Magellan AI, the ad intelligence company.
Russ: Right, they track who spends what on podcast ads. So they have the receipts.
Nadia: Exactly. And Podnews highlighted a case study they're promoting with a company called Trees.com.
Russ: Trees dot com? Like... for buying trees?
Nadia: Yes, Russ, trees. Apparently, they used to burst their audio spend during peak season, then drop it completely to zero.
Russ: Wait, to zero? That's insane. All that brand awareness, just... gone overnight.
Nadia: And that's Magellan's whole pitch. They helped them switch to an 'always-on' strategy to keep the momentum going. It’s about smoothing out those wild spending swings.
Russ: So the takeaway for a normal podcaster is... what? Don't turn off your multi-million dollar ad budget? Most of us don't have one to begin with.
Nadia: No, the takeaway is that consistency matters. Even huge, seasonal brands are being told that in podcasting, you can't just disappear. It validates the medium as more than just a place for quick-hit ads.
Russ: I guess. But it still feels like a lesson for the one percent of the one percent.
Nadia: But it affects everyone! If big money stays in the space year-round, ad rates can stabilize and the whole ecosystem gets healthier. That's a good sign for everyone.
Russ: Alright, next up, there's a new show from the BBC that sounds… ambitious.
Nadia: It’s called ‘Tall Tales and Murder.’ Variety has the exclusive first look. It's a dark comedic crime drama from Stuart Carolan, who created 'Love/Hate'...
Russ: Okay, a huge show in Ireland and the UK.
Nadia: ...and Chris Addison, an Emmy-winning director on 'Veep.' That is a powerhouse combo.
Russ: It stars Aidan Gillen from 'Game of Thrones' and Ella Lily Hyland. The cast is stacked. But is it a podcast, or is it a TV show they couldn't afford to make?
Nadia: It's audio-first for BBC Sounds. They're describing it as a 'wild comedic crime drama' about two characters who get tangled in a crime in rural Ireland.
Russ: The 'Veep' connection makes me think the dialogue will be sharp, but 'dark comedy crime drama' can go so wrong in audio. Tone is everything.
Nadia: That's the risk. Without the visuals, you rely entirely on performance and sound design to sell both the 'dark' and the 'comedy.'
Russ: So is this a trend? Big TV writers seeing podcasts as a cheap sandbox?
Nadia: I'd call it seeing audio as a proving ground. It's cheaper to make a fiction podcast than a TV pilot, and if it hits, you have instant IP to adapt for the screen.
Russ: So we're just a farm league for Hollywood. [sighs] Great.
Nadia: Or, we're the creative engine! It means more high-quality, high-budget fiction for us listeners while they figure it out. It's a win for us.
Russ: Alright, I'll take it. As long as the show stands on its own and doesn't just feel like a two-hour pitch meeting. I'm cautiously optimistic.
Nadia: Our last story takes us to the intersection of gaming and podcasts in Southeast Asia.
Russ: That is a very specific intersection.
Nadia: Variety reports that Korea's DRX Corp, a major esports organization, has signed a strategic partnership with Indonesia's Nuon Digital.
Russ: Okay, break that down. What do these companies do?
Nadia: DRX runs massive esports teams—think League of Legends, Valorant. Nuon is a big digital content and gaming company in Indonesia, which is a gigantic market.
Russ: So it's a gaming deal. Why is it on our show?
Nadia: Because of how they're kicking it off. They're planning an entertainment festival in Jakarta, and part of the deal explicitly includes creating... original podcasts and webtoons.
Russ: Huh. So not just a tournament, but a whole media play. Are they making shows about the gamers?
Nadia: It seems so. It's about expanding the 'IP' of the teams and players beyond just the games. They're building a fandom universe.
Russ: This feels like the next wave of companion podcasts. We had them for TV shows, now we're getting them for esports teams.
Nadia: It's a smart play. The audience is already there, they're digitally native, and they're hungry for content about their favorite players. It's a massive, relatively untapped market for podcasting.
Russ: So for a listener, this means if you're a fan of the DRX Valorant team, you might get a behind-the-scenes podcast about their journey to a championship?
Nadia: Exactly. It deepens the connection. And for the industry, it's a huge signal that a major growth area is outside the US and Europe, tied to other massive media forms like gaming.
Russ: As long as it's not just 45 minutes of them talking about their mouse sensitivity settings.
Nadia: [laughs] We'll have to wait and see.
Nadia: So, to recap: Podcast Movement's schedule highlights the move to 'always-on' ad strategies.
Russ: The BBC is betting on big TV names to make a hit audio dark comedy.
Nadia: And a Korean-Indonesian gaming partnership is leaning into podcasts to build its global fandom.
Russ: Before we go, Nadia, did you see that clip of the guy who used AI to generate an entire fake podcast episode to win an argument with his wife?
Nadia: [laughs] I did! He fed it their text messages and it generated a 20-minute episode where the 'hosts' took his side. It's terrifying... and also kind of brilliant.
Russ: I'm not sure which is worse: the technology, or the fact that his first thought was 'I'll make a podcast to prove I'm right'.
Nadia: That's our show. We'll be back tomorrow with more from the business of podcasting.
Russ: And for what I'm actually listening to... I'm going to be checking out 'Tall Tales and Murder' when it drops. We'll see if it lives up to the hype. And hey, whatever you do, don't use AI to fake it.
This show is made with AI: the hosts’ voices are synthetic and the scripts are AI-assisted. Every story links to its original source.