Every year, things slow down a bit at Apple during the holiday season. And 2016 is no different. Last week, Apple sent an e-mail to all registered iTunes Store content providers to let them know what Apple is planning for the rest of the year.
The e-mail has two sections that will be useful to podcasters. The first section is titled Winter Content Submission Schedules. These schedules are the dates that Apple staff will be available to review new submissions to the iTunes Store. Apple provided a handy chart that shows when you should submit a new podcast, depending on your projected launch date:
Note that this chart applies to the submission of new podcasts only. It has no impact on shows that are already listed in the iTunes Store. The e-mail from Apple also states, “If you plan on launching any Podcasts during this time, we recommend submitting your podcast for approval as early as possible.”
The second section of the e-mail that’s relevant to podcasters is the Holiday Support Schedules:
If you have questions or need support, you can always reach out to our Podcasts Support team. However, keep in mind that they won’t be available on the below dates, and Podcast approvals and response times on or around these dates may be delayed:
November 24 to November 25, 2016
December 24, 2016 to January 2, 2017
Make sure you keep these dates in mind if you’re planning on launching a new podcast before the end of the year or if you find you need help with an existing iTunes Store listing.
Any idea how you can mark your podcast for a specific launch date when submitting early? I submitted a podcast yesterday to be launched the following week, but it immediately launched and there was not where to request a specific date.
I don’t think you can request a specific date for the podcast to get listed in the iTunes Store. It’s always just been submit it and wait for them to approve it.
I wonder if anyone can help me interpret what this schedule means. We have a new podcast we are hopnig to launch on Jan 9 (and have already scheduled a bunch of promotional stuff around that date). We have not yet submitted it.
By one interpretation of the schedule, we are okay: ie – “If you want to launch by Jan 9, Submit before Jan 2”
By another interpretation , we are in trouble, ie – “If you submit between Dec 12 and Jan 2, your podcast will launch at some undetermined time between Jan 9 and Jan 15”
Does anyone on these forums know which interpretation is correct?
My interpretation of the schedule is, if you want the podcast to go live on iTunes the week of January 9th, you need to have it submitted by January 2nd. Keep in mind that you have no control over when Apple will actually make the podcast available on the iTunes Store. I’m still seeing reports of people submitting new shows during the holiday slowdown and those shows are being approved within a couple days. I guess the bottom line is, if you want to be able to safely have your show available in the iTunes Store by January 9th, get it submitted by January 2nd.
Thanks, Shawn! I’m still not sure I understand from your response.
If we submit the podcast, say, tomorrow, do you think the schedule means:
a) We can trust that the podcast will be up by Jan 9
or
b) The podcast might go up on Jan 9, but also might not go up till Jan 10, Jan 11… or Jan 15?