Table of contents
Overview
The University Podcasts Publishing service is run by the Educational Media team in central IT Services. University departments and colleges have published over 800 podcast series using the service.
Each podcast series is managed using the IT Services MediaPub website; here the various audio and video files, artwork, descriptions etc are assembled ready for publishing.
When ready to publish, the series information is sent to Apple Podcasts and the University Podcasts website, where it is made available to the public for streaming and downloading.
Historically, Apple presented Higher Education podcast content in a separate service called 'iTunes U'. This was merged into Apple Podcasts in 2017.
Where can I find Oxford University content on Apple Podcasts?
If you have a modern Apple device with the Podcasts app, this link should open Oxford University's 'artist' page on Apple Podcasts which collects University content.
Alternatively, you can search Apple Podcasts for 'Oxford University' or individual departments or colleges. See below for how to access Apple Podcasts on various devices.
All University podcasts series are also available on the University Podcasts site, and each series has a link back to its location on Apple Podcasts.
How to listen to / watch University content on Apple Podcasts
The University publishes audio and video content to Apple Podcasts. Some podcasts are available in both formats. Series (or "shows") can be accessed as follows:
1) Using an Apple Mac, iPhone, iPad, Watch, HomePod or AppleTV
Listen/watch using the built-in Podcasts app on your Apple device. This will allow you to listen to or watch individual episodes, download them for offline access, and subscribe to a series in order to be notified of new episodes. Older Macs will have the iTunes app for the same purpose.
2) Using iTunes on a Windows PC
Windows users can download iTunes from the Microsoft Store, or direct from Apple: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT210384
3) Using an Amazon Alexa-enabled TV or speaker
For help with listening using Alexa:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210759
Alternatively, all University podcasts series are available on the University Podcasts site. Each series has a link back to its location on Apple Podcasts.
For general information on Apple Podcasts, please see: https://www.apple.com/uk/apple-podcasts/
June 2021: Changes to the Publishing Service infrastructure regarding Apple Podcasts
The Apple service that the Educational Media team uses to send series data to Apple Podcasts is changing; Podcasts Site Manager is being replaced by Apple Podcasts Connect during June 2021.
This change is driven by Apple and should only impact the Educational Media team. Existing content published on Apple Podcasts should be unaffected. Regarding new series, the process for University staff to submit podcast content to the Educational Media team should see only very minor changes.
The new Apple Podcasts Connect portal has more modern analytics tools which should make providing statistics easier, plus some marketing features which we hope to make available to podcast creators.
We have done significant testing of the replacement service, within the tight timescale set by Apple. We hope there will be minimal side effects of the migration, however we are prepared in June to deal with issues. We appreciate your patience and cooperation while any problems are resolved.
Please contact podcasts@it.ox.ac.uk if you need help or have questions.