Apple to add ads to its Original podcasts, report says (also, they ditch The Problem’s host)

If you’re a content creator of any type and you don’t have any ads or sponsors, that means you’re either filthy rich and you don’t care for sponsors – or you’re too small to be noticed (or you’re a fanatic that is popular enough, but resists the temptation to push cereal grains in your politics-oriented podcast).

Speaking of podcasts and ads, Apple could soon introduce the latter to the former – to its Original podcasts (via 9to5Mac).

According to a Bloomberg report, Apple might soon change the way it treats the podcasts it owns and produces (like The Line and Hooked): until now, they haven’t sold advertising space there. Apple already has a sponsor for the second season of its soccer-focused After the Whistle podcast series, but the free narrative series has remained ad-free so far.

The Problem with Jon Stewart ends

The ex-host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show Jon Stewart won’t be getting more episodes of The Problem on Apple TV+, according to The New York Times. That’s despite the show being renewed not so long ago – filming for season three which was set to begin soon, is now canceled.

According to the sources, Apple executives were apparently not so happy with Stewart’s coverage of some topics, namely “China and AI matters”. The upcoming treatment of the 2024 presidential race was also reportedly of concern.

Now, more than 40 countries get the Apple Podcasts integration with Amazon Alexa

Back in 2019, Apple collaborated with Amazon and brought Apple Podcasts support to Amazon Echo devices via the Alexa virtual assistant. This was initially only available in a few countries, but today, Apple has spread the Amazon Echo support to more than 40 regions.

The integration works with either an Amazon Echo speaker or an Amazon Fire TV, which also has Alexa built-in. To access Apple Podcasts with the help of Alexa on the aforementioned devices, one has to first download the Amazon Alexa app on an iPhone, iPad, or Android device.