How Smart TVs Overtook Speakers, IAB Bullish on 2026 Ad Revenue, & More

Today in the business of podcasting:New Podcast Landscape 2026 data shows smart TVs now drive 12% of primary podcast listening, up from 8% in 2024, while smart speakers have flatlined at 1%. Tom Webster argues audiences increasingly treat podcasts as foreground content on the shared living-room screen rather than voice-summoned background audio.The IAB raised its 2026 U.S. ad growth forecast to 12.3%, up from the 9.5% it projected in January, after a stronger-than-expected first half. Podcast ad spending is climbing 8.7%, outpacing other digital audio and ranking ahead of paid search, digital display, and gaming.YouTube's public "view" count now registers the moment playback starts, letting mouseovers and autoplay inflate the number, while the stricter "engaged views" metric is visible only to uploaders. ADOPTER Media's Glenn Rubenstein urges buyers to make engaged views the standard on 2027 insertion orders so brands don't overpay for the same attention.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.