Into The Podverse: Innovation, Challenges & Opportunities

Tony Doe

Into The Podverse explores the innovation, challenges, and opportunities shaping African and global podcasting. Host Tony Doe shares insights, strategies, and stories from creators across Nigeria and beyond. Learn how new tools, content approaches, and market realities are helping podcasters grow and build sustainable shows. This podcast guides creators, educators, and listeners through the evolving African and global audio landscape.

  1. South Africa's Podcasting Reckoning: What Nigeria's Missing About Creator Economics

    31 MRT

    South Africa's Podcasting Reckoning: What Nigeria's Missing About Creator Economics

    South Africa just admitted in parliament what most African podcasters already suspect: nobody can prove the industry actually exists. In March 2026, South Africa's parliament held a roundtable on podcasting regulation. The conclusion? "We do not have enough research, we do not have enough data points, and we do not really understand this environment." If South Africa, ahead of Nigeria in almost every way, is flying blind, what does that mean for us? Tony Doe breaks down the three fault lines revealed in South Africa's roundtable: • Platform power and value extraction — How much ad revenue from Nigerian audiences actually reaches Nigerian creators? • Self-regulation without structure — Can voluntary codes work when most podcasters aren't earning enough to declare income? • Adverse digital incorporation — You're generating value but capturing a tiny share of it. Featuring analysis from PhD candidate Hendrick Bird and South African Podcasters Guild MD Jonathan Warnecke. What you'll learn: Why South Africa's podcasters couldn't answer basic questions about their own industryHow the Nigerian Podcast Index reveals similar structural gapsThe economic reality behind "exposure" versus actual creator revenueConcrete steps: forming a guild, demanding direct brand spend, building shared infrastructureThis isn't just about data. It's about who captures the value African creators generate. The daisy is breaking through the concrete. It's time to clear some ground. 🎧 Subscribe to Into The Podverse for weekly African podcasting insights 📩 Submit your podcast: bit.ly/submityourpodcastng 💬 Connect: @TonyDoeMedia

    19 min.
  2. What The Nigerian Podcast Index Taught Me

    2 MRT

    What The Nigerian Podcast Index Taught Me

    When I started building the Nigerian Podcast Index, I thought I was creating a simple directory. Instead, I uncovered a data-driven portrait of Nigeria’s audio industry, its strengths, blind spots, and future trajectory. In this episode of Into the Podverse, Tony Doe breaks down what cataloguing 329 Nigerian podcast titles reveals about the state of the market. From a 73% active publishing rate to a heavy dependence on Spotify for Creators, the data tells a bigger story: Nigeria is no longer experimenting with podcasting but producing at scale. But scale without structure is fragile. You’ll hear insights on: Why hosting infrastructure is a strategic decision, not just a technical oneThe dominance of society, culture, and religion and the overlooked high-utility niches brands are watchingThe risk of platform concentration in an emerging ecosystemThe underrepresentation of indigenous language podcasts in a multilingual nationWhy backed shows outlast passion projectsHow diaspora podcasts function as economic bridges to global marketsThis episode is a strategic audit of Nigerian podcasting, not to rank creators, but to document, preserve, and future-proof the industry. If you’re a creator, investor, brand, or media executive interested in African podcast growth, distribution ownership, RSS infrastructure, audience retention, or long-term sustainability, this conversation is essential listening. The Nigerian Podcast Index exists to make Nigerian podcasts discoverable and preserved. Subscribe, share, and join the conversation shaping the next five years of Nigerian audio.

    7 min.

Info

Into The Podverse explores the innovation, challenges, and opportunities shaping African and global podcasting. Host Tony Doe shares insights, strategies, and stories from creators across Nigeria and beyond. Learn how new tools, content approaches, and market realities are helping podcasters grow and build sustainable shows. This podcast guides creators, educators, and listeners through the evolving African and global audio landscape.