Politico has expanded its Playbook audio offering and team and announced its launch in Australia, following an overall 3% staff cut in January.

Audio and video is a “big part” of Politico’s strategy into 2026 and beyond, Ben Reininga, the publisher’s vice president of audio and video, told Press Gazette.

The publisher is looking to further establish itself in podcasts with its hire of Veronica Tejera in a newly created role of deputy head of audio, its launch of a Brussels Playbook podcast on 10 February and hopes to expand its Canada iteration.

Reininga said Politico is “looking at more places where we have strong newsletters or strong newsrooms where we might launch” for its free-to-access podcasts, amid the publisher’s plans to expand into Australia. A Canberra Playbook email newsletter is due to launch in the third quarter of 2026.

The publisher’s audio expansion comes after it cut an estimated ten newsroom roles. Staff in energy and environment, Politico Magazine, the central editing desk, the visuals, data and graphics team and the interactives team were eligible for voluntary buyouts. Politico’s global staff headcount is around 1,000 people.

Editor-in-chief John Harris told staff in a memo that to “prosper” news organisations need to know “how they deliver distinctive value to their audiences”.

Playbook offers podcast alongside staple newsletter

Politico Playbook launched as a newsletter launched in 2007, while its audio franchise is on Spotify, Youtube and Apple, launched in various regions between 2023-2026. Today, Playbook has 1.3 million free newsletter subscribers across all iterations globally.

The London Playbook newsletter reaches around 100,000 subscribers, Brussels more than 150,000, and Berlin around 30,000. The US does not share its figures.

Listenership figures are not shared for the Playbook audio franchise – four podcasts across the UK, Germany, US and now Brussels. It releases daily episodes at 7am local time, delivering news stories audiences “need to understand” in 15 minutes or less.

The daily podcasts comprise: the UK’s Politics at Sam and Anne’s (in partnership with Sky News), Berlin Playbook Podcast, The Playbook Podcast, and The Brussels Playbook Podcast. The Playbook Canada podcast is released weekly.

With a 10% conversion rate of its newsletter, Brussels Playbook podcast has around 15,000 listeners per episode already.

Press Gazette analysis found that Sam & Anne’s Playbook podcast reached a four-day average of around 4,900 Youtube views per episode (9-12 February), the newly-launched Brussels Playbook reached a four-day average of 150 views (16-19 February), Playbook Podcast a five-day average of 6,900 views (9-13 February) and Berlin’s iteration 869 views (9-13 February). This will represent a small chunk of each podcast’s total listenership.

“We’ve reached a really committed and loyal crew of people who are responding to the product,” said Reininga, who joined in June to diversify how audiences experience Politico journalism.

‘Differentiated and specific’ podcast content

“I think offering something that’s differentiated and very specific is actually a key to success,” he said. “The Playbook podcasts are not like general news rundowns. They’re extensions of the Playbook newsletter, which has a very specific insider tone.

“Zoya [Sheftalovich], our Brussels host, just called into the podcast from a train to Kyiv in the pod this morning. You’re just bringing folks along on our reporting trip. That specificity and insider access is a really unique… thing.”

Reininga added that “power of personality” is also key to podcast success.

“Smart people talking about something that they love is kind of the magical recipe for any podcast,” he said. “Listeners will come for the news but stay because they start to develop a relationship of sorts with hosts and the product.”

The Playbook Podcast was relaunched with new hosts Jack Blanchard, managing editor and Playbook author, and Dasha Burns, White House bureau chief.

“We just had a rather high-ranking EU minister write in and say that she likes the Brussels podcast because she listens to it while she brushes her teeth,” Reininga said. “Political newsletters are great, but it’s harder to read a newsletter while you’re brushing your teeth than it is to listen to a podcast.”

Adding ‘how the sausage gets made’ to podcasts

Reininga said Politico uses audio to showcase the reporting process to combat scepticism around its journalism: what can drive “erosion of trust in news” is people not understanding “how the sausage gets made”, he said.

“If people saw the Politico newsroom and the hundreds of smart, dedicated, interesting people who are really working as hard as they can to bring people these stories, they would have a harder time being sceptical” of journalism, Reininga added.

He cited Politico’s The Conversation podcast with Dasha Burns, in which Burns explains how she obtained and built a story.

Politico is looking to expand its audio-video offering in more places, such as Ottawa where growth is strong and it could start putting out a daily show.

“So, I would just say keep an eye out for more exciting podcasts,” Reininga said.

The publisher’s current audio portfolio comprises ten podcasts, including its four morning shows.

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