James Burtt, founder of the newly launched Pivot Productions Group, shares his vision for transforming the podcasting landscape by helping celebrity talent maximize their earning potential through IP ownership rather than traditional pay-per-session models. Drawing inspiration from successful sports personalities like Peter Crouch and Gary Lineker's ventures, Burtt discusses the untapped opportunities in celebrity podcasting, the growing trend of premium content behind paywalls, and the importance of building genuine communities around shows rather than relying solely on traditional advertising revenue. The conversation explores how podcasting is evolving from a "second class digital citizen" to a legitimate business platform, with Burtt offering candid insights about the challenges of launching new productions with high-profile talent while remaining optimistic about the industry's growth potential—noting that with only a quarter of people listening weekly, there's still tremendous room for expansion and great content to find its audience.

Roger Nairn from JAR Podcast Solutions joins James Cridland to discuss the company's strategic rebrand from JAR Audio and their new systematic approach to branded podcasting. Nairn explains their JAR system (Job, Audience, Result) - a framework that treats podcasts as business solutions rather than marketing experiments.

The conversation explores how brands are increasingly demanding measurable ROI from their podcast investments, moving beyond vanity metrics to track brand lift, consideration, and conversion through custom analytics stacks and partnerships with research firms like Signal Hill Insights. Nairn shares insights from campaigns including American Express's "Build it Braver" podcast, demonstrating how podcasts can drive specific business outcomes like increased purchase consideration.

They also tackle the challenge of CEO-driven podcast initiatives, discussing when founder-hosted shows work versus when they become expensive indulgences, and why successful branded podcasts prioritise audience value over self-promotion.

Sean King, GM of Media & Entertainment at Veritone, discusses how Amazon's recent Wondery restructuring reflects a strategic shift towards integrated audio ecosystems, consolidating their various platforms like Audible and Wondery to better navigate the evolving podcast landscape. He emphasizes that while host-read ads remain important, the industry needs a balanced advertising approach as audiences become increasingly fragmented across multiple platforms like YouTube, social media, and streaming services, making measurement and monetization more complex but requiring content creators to meet audiences wherever they consume content.