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A new study seems to show that audiobook listeners prefer some AI narrators over human voices. The study, conducted by Edison Research at SSRS, blind-tested Spoken Multi-Cast narration, and discovered that, while 31% of listeners said theyโd be likely to listen to AI, after listening, that number had risen to 65%. (61% thought that the AI was human). You can hear the clips here.
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A separate study by Differentology, conducted for Azerion, also claims that AI-generated voices can be good for brands – especially if the accents match the part of the country where youโre from. Recommendations rose 3x when people heard voices with a regional accent matched to where the listener was, like Scotland, Wales or Yorkshire.
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Audioboom released its H1/26 financial results. The company made a gross profit of $9.9mn, up +33% year-on-year. Revenue was up 30%; for Q2/26 they report 183 million downloads and video views, up 84% year-on-year.
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In the UK, the BBC also released its annual report and accounts. BBC podcasts outside the UK (those funded by advertising) drew over 515 million downloads in the financial year, and 116 million listeners. In total the BBC earned ยฃ2,155mn (US $2,884mn) in…