Should you consolidate your podcasts?
Vol. 68 - Jonas Woost answers "what's up with podcast feed consolidation?", plus some Canadian podcasting events you won't want to miss!
Hihi!! Happy Pod the North Tuesday!
In this issue:
What’s up with podcast consolidation and “Umbrella Feeds”?
Canadian Indie: Three Kitchens
True North Feature: Landback for the People
So many events coming up!
BTW:
As of March 11, 2025 there are currently 35 long-term drinking water advisories in effect in 33 First Nations communities across Canada. Here’s our new government’s plan to support First Nations.
What’s up with podcast consolidation and “Umbrella Feeds”?
It’s not an uncommon feeling to get tired of making your podcast.
Like all things, inevitably your show is going to come to an end. Maybe because you’ve got more podcast ideas brewing, your show is a mini-series, or you’re feeling a shift in what brings you joy, and podcasting just isn’t.
In the era of over 4 million podcasts, your RSS feed and the audience you’ve built there is your most valuable asset. That’s why more and more, we’re seeing feeds being consolidated; multiple shows or series being published on one feed. Some folks in the industry refer to these as “Umbrella Feeds”.
“Often, but not all the time, that means multiple limited-run series,” says my colleague Jonas Woost, Co-Founder at Audience Growth Agency, Bumper. “They could be hosted by different people, could even be a different subject matter – but all on the same podcast feed. If I follow this feed once, I would get all these different shows automatically showing up in my app.”
CBC Podcasts in particular has been really diving into Umbrella Feeds over the last few years with The Con, a feed for stories about scammers featuring shows like Kaitlyn's Baby and Love Janessa, and Uncover, their longest running Umbrella Feed with 32 “seasons”, featuring true crime series like Escaping NXIVM, Sea of Lies, and Someone Knows Something. But consolidating an RSS feed doesn’t always involve seasonal shows. Over at Canadaland, they’ve been dropping weekly episodes of The Backbench not only on its respective feed but also on the main Canadaland feed for a while now, amongst their regular, always-on content.
So why consolidate your content? Does it make sense for you? How does your audience feel about it? I talked to Jonas to get the scoop on what he’s seeing from the audience and Canadian podcaster perspectives.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
“Truly it could be anyone who's making multiple shows,” says Jonas, about who should consider consolidating their content. “It all comes down to the fact that it's extremely difficult to build an audience for a new podcast, especially today. These days the market is so saturated, and the data suggests that especially those podcast listeners that listen on a very regular basis, their feed is full. [When] there is already a bunch of people that follow one of your shows, it's a lot easier to put a new show on that feed and take advantage of the audience that you have already built.”
Growing and maintaining an audience also makes monetizing your podcast a little more in reach, especially with auto-downloading happening on podcast listening platforms. “You need to have an audience in order to be able to monetize,” says Jonas, “if you have a brand new show in a brand new feed, you don't know how many impressions [or downloads] you're going to be able to sell. By the time you know how many impressions you have, it's already too late. When you do the feed consolidation, the downloads become really, really predictable. So sales folks really, really love this.”
Another notable example here is The Daily, a daily news podcast from The New York Times. Not only does it release its daily news content, but it all puts out episodes of The Interview, something that the Isabelle Ruiz, Podcast Program Manager at the Indigenous Screen Office, told me was a gripe of hers at last year's PodSummit YYC.
“No matter how many times they try to get me to listen, I never will.”
That’s why Jonas says its crucial to think about your audience first. Dropping a new show on your feed needs to make sense. “If you’re sort of mix and matching shows, you're going to see a bunch of people unfollow you. People might say, ‘what's happening with this show? Why am I getting spammed with all these episodes? I've never asked for this.’”
Jonas says that if you’re considering consolidating your content, to really think about your audience's user experience on their podcast app. “Maybe it's the subject matter, maybe it's the host, maybe it's the theme, maybe it's the tone, whatever it is. But when someone starts listening, and people do listen, they should understand why they're getting this. True crime fans typically are looking for the next true crime show. But if you have a political podcast and then suddenly there's like a sports show showing up, that might be a little confusing for the listener.”
Let’s say you don’t have a clear cut “true-crime-to-true-crime” pipeline tee’d up, and there’s more nuance to your audience. How do you figure out what kind of content won’t rub them the wrong way when it’s dropped down your feed? Learning about what kind of audience you already have can actually be a little tricky. “The data we get is limited,” says Jonas, “Spotify has got some good demographic data if you just want to understand male/female, age group, that kind of stuff.” Instead, you can get plenty of information by seeing what else your audience is listening to and how your show fits into the wider podcast ecosystem. The easiest way to do that is on Apple Podcasts, by heading to your show page, scrolling down to the bottom and seeing what’s listed under “You Might Also Like”. These are shows with shared audiences to yours.
“Say you have a sports show and you're connected to a bunch of other sports shows, but you might realize there's also a connection to self help because of whatever is happening in your show, that's the kind of information that can tell you that the new show, even though it’s not a sports show, maybe it does make sense for my audience.”
Once you’ve dropped the new show on your feed, the next metrics to look at are your verified listener numbers and your episode consumption rates. “I'm thinking of this one show – I'm going to call it “True Crime adjacent”. It was a limited series and the show was successful. Then about a year later, the publisher wanted to launch another show and it was not quite in the same subject matter, but tonally it felt quite similar: investigative, host driven. The first thing we noticed was that when we dropped the first episode of the new podcast, the number of verified listeners listening to that new show was basically exactly the same amount as the number of people who listened to the last episode of the old show. It suggested that a bunch of the people that saw this new show were checking it out.”
“Then we looked at the completion rates and we realized they liked it! They listened all the way through. It was almost like our baseline audience of all the fans from the old show was there, and then any new listeners came on top of that. That worked really well.”
If you don’t see a “You Might Also Like” list under your show page on Apple, it’s likely that your audience might just be too small. Then it's up to you to decide if making a hard pivot on your feed will actually have that big of an impact on your current audience - it might actually be worth the risk!
Outside of the possibility of a new show, dormant feeds with large audiences are ripe ground for feed drops, especially if the podcast is evergreen and is still able to monetize. But when a feed becomes a feed drop machine, you run the risk of losing your audience over time.
This is something for all podcasters to consider: the risk of sabotaging their feed, even if they don’t have a new series in the works. “It's so valuable to have a feed that has existing followers that care about the host or the publisher,” Jonas says. “In podcasting, if you've done your job well and you built that following, they're ready for the next episode or the next show. That's extremely valuable. You want to be really careful that you don't jeopardize that. People do not unfollow shows. Unfollowing is actually a fairly rare behavior. You want to be super, super careful. Your followers are probably your biggest asset as an indie podcaster or as an enterprise podcaster.”
If you think you’ll never podcast again, another thing to consider is the possibility of selling your RSS feed. That’s what Laura Mayer did, selling the RSS feed for her show Shameless Acquisition Target a couple years ago for $18,000 USD. It wasn’t enough to buy her dream home, but certainly significant enough to put into her daughter's college fund if she wanted to!
For Canadian podcasters, we’re still in a particularly hard spot when it comes to building audiences, especially when we’re making content that’s only relevant for a specific territory. It makes monetizing even harder. That’s why consolidating your feed might be a great tool for Canadians in particular to consider. “We in Canada are working at an extra disadvantage that nothing scales very well, so we need to use everything we've got and take advantage of all the tools that are available,” says Jonas. “We're competing with these juggernauts that are also in English: more so American but also British. We're competing with all of them for people's attention. We need to use everything we can, and consolation can make sense for certain podcasters.”
Luckily, Jonas says, the number of new podcasts being launched has actually be on the downslope for a while now. “I don't think we're going to see levels of new podcast launches that we've seen in the past. The business model [of podcasting] is not great. The other thing we should acknowledge about ‘oversaturation’, which is sort of a business term, is that it is also 100% beautiful and awesome and amazing that people are able to tell stories and do want to tell stories even in smaller territories where it's hard to get a story out. I'd rather have this than the opposite. When I was a kid, how many TV channels were there? I wanted what we have right now, not because more is better, but because it does level the playing field. It's far from perfect, but we are now allowing a bunch of people that didn't have a voice before to have a voice.”
Some final advice when it comes to consolidating? Jonas says think it through well in advance. “What it means for your naming conventions, for your packaging considerations, what you call the feed. If you figure this out later, things can get really, really messy. Make some plans for the future just in case.”
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Check out this Canadian Indie: Three Kitchens
Tired of cooking the same old things?
Same! So, let's get inspired for our next cooking adventure! Whether you enjoy cooking or just like good food, find recipes and ideas for making great food in our own home kitchens.
True North Podcast Feature: Landback for the People
Community Power
Season 3 kicks off with Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective CEO and Founder, sitting down with He Sapa Otipi’s Executive Director, Cante Heart and Dr. Valeriah Big Eagle, NDN Collective Director of Strategic Partnerships: two Indigenous matriarchs leading the work of developing an Indian Center in MniLuzahan (Rapid City).
What’s going on in Canada’s podcast ecosystem:
Events:
May 4, 2025 — [TORONTO, ON] Don’t miss The Soundwave Summit this Sunday, May 4th! The day includes sessions on pitching, turning your podcast into a TV series, fictional podcasting, video, and way more. PLUS a live show from your truly of Canardian! Tickets are available with the code MAKEWAVES until the end of April for a smaller discount before the price goes up May 1st.
May 18, 2025 — [TORONTO, ON] The first Pod the North Picnic of the summer! Pop by Bickford Park anytime between 3-9PM for some socializing and community bonding with peers from across the industry. PLUS, a special tree-side chat with producer Chris Berube (99% Invisible) for a conversation on making podcasts for American ears vs. Canadian ears. Be sure to RSVP here!
June 19, 2025 — [HALIFAX, NS] Don’t miss the Echo Podcast Summit at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia! This event is sure to be a great one, tackling one of the biggest questions in podcasting today: Who do we trust—and why? From influencers to podcasters, digital voices shape the way we think, but how much responsibility do they bear? Join the leading voices in media, academia, and digital culture to unpack it all. Limited tickets available—secure yours now!
You oughta know…
“Where are the Black Canadian Podcasters?” asks Sherley Joseph (Black Canadian Creators / Chonilla Network). Her recent Instagram Reel received over 30 comments from black podcasters from across the country making themselves known. Go check them out!
Canadian podcasts are headed to the Tribeca Film Festival! Official Selections set to premiere at the festival include The Sonar Network’s StanLand (featuring the voice of Jon Hamm), and two podcasts from Kelly&Kelly are also set to premiere at the festival: Jacob Reed & Me and Dirtbag Climber. Have a wonderful time in New York folks!
Congratulations to CBC Podcasts! Their show Tested, co-produced with NPR, has been nominated for a prestigious Peabody Award. The show follows the unfolding story of elite female runners who have been told they can no longer race as women, because of their biology and the hard choices they’re forces to make: take drugs to lower their natural testosterone levels, give up their sport entirely, or fight. CBC’s show Personal Best also recently won Best Advice & How to Podcast at The Webby Awards.
Maybe bigger news from CBC Podcasts - they’re accepting pitches for future programming! They’re currently looking for pitches from a variety of production partners, including in-house teams, independent producers and production companies, and co-productions with other media. This call for pitches is specifically for the following umbrella feeds:
Uncover - The best in true crime.
Personally - Gripping memoirs.
Split Screen - Inside the unsettling and captivating world of entertainment and pop culture.
Understood - Four episode seasons on the seismic shifts changing our world in politics, society, technology and culture.
To submit your pitch, please use this Google Form. The deadline for submissions is June 30, 2025 at 11:59PM ET.
What are the best podcasts of all time? Voting is open tomorrow, Wednesday April 30th, for the inaugrural Essential Listening Poll from Left of Dial Media. Ambies members, Signal award winners, and a growing list of podcasters, industry leaders, writers and audio scholars from around the world are coming together for the first time to participate in the creation of the definitive list of the most groundbreaking, influential and beloved podcasts of all time. If you’d like to participlate send a DM to Left of Dial on Instagram.
Some recent announcement from PodSummit YYC 2025! Jesse Lipscombe has been announced as this years keynote speaker — an award-winning actor, activist, and entrepreneur. Sickboy has also been announced as this year’s live show to close out Day 2 of of the event!
Got a new or noteworthy podcast? Submit it to newpodcasts.net for a feature on one of the most popular podcast newsletter out there, Podnews! It’s free and you’ll reach tens of thousands of podcast fans!
New Releases:
Apr 8, 2025 — Queer in Alberta has returned for it’s third season! Host Kels Valenzuela Delamarter threw an epic launch party at Lethbridge’s Galt Museum & Archives with performances from award-winning drag artist Francheska Dynamites, Drag King Dick Goblin, and Songwriter Robert Adam. There’s really nothing like a good launch party! Season 3 returns to bring you more untold stories of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Alberta.
Apr 28, 2025 — Uncoachable is the new podcast from Jonathan Burns and Rhys Waters, “two entrepreneurs who want to grow, but every time someone calls themselves a ‘coach,’ our fight-or-flight kicks in”. In each episode they interview a “coach” to test their skepticism, make themselves uncomfortable, and hunting for the signal in all the noise.
Apr 28, 2025 — Podcaster and Journalist, Sam Mullins, recently put out an episode of Apple’s Original podcast Big Time! The episode is hosted by acting icon Steve Buscemi, and follows the story of a real life bee heist. Worth checking out!
May 7, 2025 — Ontario Pay Equity Office is launching the third season of its podcast Level the Paying Field! First inspired by the disproportionate responsibilities put on working women during the COVID-19, the show looks at issues impacting women working in Ontario, aiming to create a more equitable world for women to work, live, and thrive, and support closing the gender wage gap.
Good Reads:
The everything list for audio opportunities: All Hear April 2025
Podcast Marketing Magic | The Importance of Community in Podcast Marketing
How to *ACTUALLY* Like Freelancing | How to cry less over your taxes
Just Joe (and his good buddy Chili, who crashed at our place all last week)…
Thanks for supporting Pod the North, I’ll be back in your inbox in two weeks!
Kattie
BSKY: @podthenorth.bsky.social | IN: @podthenorth
