Apple is launching its own daily podcast. The company announced the show today along with other news on audio stories coming to Apple News, and selected local Apple News collections, as well as the release of iOS 13.6. The show, called Apple News Today, will be presented by the editors of Apple News, Shumita Basu and Duarte Geraldino. The new episodes, lasting between seven and eight minutes, will be released Monday through Friday, and the show will be available exclusively through Apple News and Apple Podcasts in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
Additionally, Apple will release 20 audio stories a week through Apple News Plus. The stories will be voiced by professional actors, and full-length pieces published by major media such as Don, GQ, New York magazine and Vanity Fair. Only Apple News Plus subscribers will have access. Both stories and Apple News Today They are accessible through the audio tab at the bottom of the News app. CarPlay will also support these audio features, which means that people can hear them while driving.
Finally, in non-audio news, Apple says it is releasing curated local news in the Bay Area, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. Each of these will feature a major newspaper in the area and will include news coverage from the local community. A subscription to Apple News Plus in the United States now also includes access to Charlotte’s Observer, he Idaho statesman, Kansas City star, he Miami Herald, The News and the Observerand The state. In Canada, Le Devoir will be available to Apple News Plus subscribers as well as The balloon and the mail.
The biggest news is Apple News Today. This is Apple’s first major foray into podcast production, and the daily news format is especially busy. The New York Times launches its popular program The newspaper, while Vox Media launches Today explained and The Wall Street Journal have The newspaper, among others. The fact that Apple is doing its exclusive Apple show is even more remarkable.
Until now, Apple has been the de facto face of the open podcasting ecosystem, particularly compared to Spotify, which has focused on exclusive deals from renowned podcasts to grow its platform. Apple, on the other hand, has not signed exclusive agreements and instead promotes the work of other producers on its selected lists. This could be the beginning of Apple’s serious leap to podcasting.
