Podcast hosting network Adelicious has been in the news recently. Alongside signing a significant deal to bring the podcast portfolio of Immediate (the UK’s leading podcast producer) on to the Adelicious network, the platform has also gained attention for hosting the controversial ‘Virtually Parkinson’ show, where an AI recreation of Michael Parkinson (who died in 2023) interviews a crop of current celebrities.
New Digital Age spoke to Andrew Goldsmith, CEO, and Craig Eastwood, Commercial Operations Director at Adelicious to find out more…
The ‘Virtually Parkinson’ show has the backing of the late interviewer’s family but how do you think brands will respond to the idea of AI ‘recreations’ of this type?
Craig Eastwood (CE): A big thing when brands buy host-read campaigns is authenticity — the host’s endorsement carries weight. With AI, there is no real endorsement, so how brands will navigate this space remains to be seen.
Andrew Goldsmith (AG): We’re really interested in finding out how consumers interact with this type of content. Podcast listeners often form a parasocial relationship with hosts. How does that change when they know the voice is artificial? That’s what we want to explore.
If we start to see that consumers are building a relationship with AI-generated content, there will definitely be an opportunity for brands. We might be looking at a new revenue stream somewhere between a traditional host-read ad and a pre-recorded spot.
How quickly is AI voice technology evolving?
AG: Right now, AI is good at synthesizing voices, but the real challenge is bringing a character to life. It’s not just about making them sound right—it’s about making them feel real. We’re lucky to be close to this process, learning from it in real time. Consumers might reject it, or they might embrace it — we’re keeping our eyes open to see where it leads.
CE: In the case of the Virtually Parkinson podcast, there’s a full team behind it and a huge amount of work that’s gone into it already. In the second half of each episode, they have a conversation about how it went and how it could be improved. Starting from scratch, it would take a lot of effort to create something remotely as ‘human’ as the team behind Virtually Parkinson have achieved, and that still needs a lot of refining. We’re still a long way from AI voice synthesis being perfected.
Are there any other notable trends in podcasting at the moment?
CE: There’s a huge move toward video podcasts. Platforms like Spotify are pushing more video content, and we’re seeing podcasts being visualized in new ways, like The Rest is Politics on Channel 4 and Newscast on BBC.
Comedy is a big focus for us this year. We’re sponsoring the Cheerful Earful Comedy Podcast Festival and have signed some big names like Frank Skinner. We’re also delighted that, earlier this month, Chris and Rosie Ramsay’s hit podcast ‘Sh**ged. Married. Annoyed.’ joined the Adelicious network.
We’re also building on the interest we’ve seen in history podcasts, bringing on new partnerships, including with Immediate, who produce popular shows like HistoryExtra.
