NPR stated that after a year in development, RAD is being deployed for podcast listening measurement. RAD stands for Remote Audio Data.

Collaborative minds and leaders from across the media industry have worked closely with NPR to develop and launch a new podcast analytics technology: Remote Audio Data (RAD), a method for sharing listening metrics from podcast applications straight back to publishers, with extreme care and respect for user privacy.

NPR worked with a cross-section of nearly 30 companies to develop and test this new, parallel metric. NPR is excited to announce its open source release and launch in NPR One.

The industry leaders that are joining NPR in committing to implement RAD in their products in 2019 include: Acast, AdsWizz, ART 19, Awesound, Blubrry Podcasting, Panoply, Omny Studios, Podtrac, PRI/PRX, RadioPublic, Triton Digital, WideOrbit, and Whooshkaa.

The following companies support and have participated in pushing RAD forward: Cadence13, Edison Research, ESPN, Google, iHeartMedia, Libsyn, The New York Times, New York Public Radio, Voxnest and Wondery.

How does RAD work? Podcasters mark within their audio files certain points (quartile or some time markers, interview spots, sponsorship or advertising messages, etc.) with RAD tags (ID tags) and indicate an analytics URL. A mobile app is configured to read these RAD tags, and when listeners hit those locations in the file, bundle and send anonymized information to that analytics URL.

The publisher can then use that data, from all devices, to get holistic listening statistics.

NPR has a website where you can learn more about Remote Audio Data.