State of Podcast at OMR26: Formats, Communities, Monetization, and Platforms

Only two weeks to go until the OMR Festival returns to Hamburg! Naturally, the past few weeks have been packed with announcements regarding speakers, exhibitors, Masterclasses, Guided Tours, Side Events, and more. To ensure you don’t lose track and can pick the topics that perfectly suit your individual needs, we’ve come up with something new this year: our Journeys. They are designed to provide orientation by bundling dozens of festival topics and interests under overarching themes—helping you find exactly what moves you forward.

Two formats demonstrate exceptionally well what happens when content triggers more than "just" attention: Leonie Bartsch and Linn Schütze from the podcast Mord auf Ex mobilized over €140,000 via betterplace.org to fight violence against women. Meanwhile, Melisa Dobrić, alongside Jannik Stutzenberger (Zwei Dreissiger), has raised a total of over €200,000 for social projects. On the Yellow Stage, they will offer personal insights into their fundraising campaigns for the first time: from the initial idea and storytelling to community activation and measurable impact for non-profits. Together with Ceylan Isik from betterplace.org, these learnings will be analyzed for broader application: How is the trust that moves people to action built? How does authentic engagement succeed? And how do you turn reach into measurable social impact?

Following their successful Germany tour last year, Lea-Sophie Cramer and Verena Pausder are bringing their hit podcast Fast & Curious live to the HBO Max Stage at OMR Festival 2026. The two entrepreneurs will discuss current trends, their personal learnings, and business hacks.

Paul Ronzheimer is the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of BILD and a member of Axel Springer's Global Reporters Network. With his show "Ronzheimer. Wie geht’s, Deutschland?", he is increasingly producing video formats. Paul was an early adopter of cross-media thinking, utilizing various channels for his reporting—boasting over 220,000 followers on X alone. Renowned for his reporting from war zones and crisis regions, he is now one of the country’s most prominent political journalists and a powerful personal brand. His podcast, Ronzheimer, is one of the most-reached German-language political podcasts. At OMR26, he will host a live recording with a special guest on the Conference Stage.

Millions of people tune in to the same creators week after week. For many, it’s a fixed part of their daily routine—whether commuting, working out, or cooking. But what exactly drives this loyalty? How do listeners turn into true communities? And what can brands learn about "fandom" that goes far beyond simple reach? Felix Lobrecht and Tommi Schmitt, hosts of Gemischtes Hack—Germany's most successful podcast—will discuss these questions with Saruul Krause-Jentsch (Head of Podcasts, Europe at Spotify) and Bridget Evans (Global Head of Advertising Business Marketing at Spotify). On the Conference Stage, they will explore how fandom is created and how brands can find an authentic place within it.

An hour can be very long—especially when you spend it only with yourself. However, with her solo podcast Der Sophie Passmann Podcast, the author has seen success rivaling that of her books. The question isn’t "How can she?" but "How does it work?" For the OMR Festival, Sophie Passmann takes the HBO Max Stage to reveal how her podcast is created, why the switch to a solo format isn’t an ego trip, and why she enjoys breaking the patterns of the content industry.

The battle of the platforms is intensifying: Spotify and Apple are leaning into video, while YouTube and Netflix are embracing podcasts. What began as a "secondary" medium is rapidly evolving into a multimedia entertainment ecosystem—from viral TikTok clips to live formats in front of thousands. 2026 marks a turning point: new distribution logic, changing attention spans, and the growing influence of AI are fundamentally shifting the balance of power. Bastienne Früh and Florian Rinke provide exclusive insights into the mechanics behind this shift on the HBO Max Stage. They'll discuss why "just adding video" isn't a strategy, what creators can learn from the "Späti principle," and whether AI hosts will soon be taking over the microphones.

Long-form formats like podcasts are growing, even as everything else gets shorter. Simultaneously, the lines between video, social, and podcasts are blurring—with massive consequences for podcasters, listeners, and advertisers. How can you best monetize and leverage the trust and loyalty of the podcast community? What opportunities does video hold? And does everyone really have to do video now? Creator veteran Tim Gabel, who knows both worlds better than almost anyone, and Spotify’s Head of Podcasts for Europe, Saruul Krause-Jentsch, will discuss these topics and share exclusive insights into the streaming giant's platform strategy and product innovations on the HBO Max Stage.

To wrap things up, a premiere: In their OMR26 Recap, Doppelgänger hosts Pip Klöckner and Philipp Glöckler will give their personal festival review live on the new Purple Stage. Which topics did they follow most closely? Which talks were convincing, and which perhaps fell short of expectations? And what is their overall takeaway?