Move your existing podcast from Captivate to Blubrry without creating a new directory listing or asking current subscribers to resubscribe.
The process has three main parts:
- Import your podcast into Blubrry.
- Confirm that the new feed and episodes work correctly.
- Close the show in Captivate using its Moving option, which creates a redirect to the new feed.
Redirecting a Captivate feed closes that podcast in Captivate. Do not begin the redirect process until you have completed the import, saved the information you need from Captivate, and verified your new podcast feed.
Before you begin
You will need:
- Access to your Captivate account
- Your current Captivate RSS feed URL
- An active Blubrry Podcast Hosting plan
- The new RSS feed URL you will use after the move
Save your Captivate data
Podcast statistics do not transfer between hosting providers. Before redirecting the show, download any Captivate analytics you want to retain.
Captivate allows you to download reports for:
- Daily trends
- How your audience listens
- Where your audience listens
- Downloads by episode
- Individual episode analytics
For each report you want to save:
- Open the report in Captivate.
- Set its date range to All Time.
- Select the download icon to export the report.
If you use dynamic advertising or other dynamically inserted content through Captivate, remove or disable it before importing the podcast. This helps ensure that Blubrry imports the intended episode files.
Import your podcast
Follow the instructions for your Blubrry publishing method:
- To publish from the Blubrry dashboard, follow [Move Your Podcast to Blubrry Publisher].
- To publish from WordPress, follow [Import an Existing Podcast into PowerPress].
Complete the entire import process before redirecting or closing the podcast in Captivate.
Check your new podcast feed
Before redirecting the Captivate feed:
- Open your new podcast feed in a browser.
- Confirm that the podcast title, description, artwork, and other show information are correct.
- Confirm that the expected episodes appear.
- Play several older and newer episodes.
- Make sure the episode media files are being delivered from the correct location.
Correct any problems before continuing. Once you complete Captivate’s move process, you will no longer have access to that podcast in the Captivate dashboard.
Redirect your Captivate feed
A permanent feed redirect tells podcast apps and subscribers that your podcast has moved to a new RSS feed.
To move and redirect the podcast:
- Sign in to your Captivate account.
- Select the podcast you are moving.
- Open Podcast Settings.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page.
- Select Cancel Show.
- Select Moving.
- Enter your new Blubrry Publisher or PowerPress RSS feed URL in the RSS Redirect field.
- Select Blubrry as the new host if it is available. Otherwise, select Other.
- Complete the required confirmations.
- Select Move Podcast.
This action closes the podcast in Captivate and adds the redirect. It does not automatically cancel billing for the entire Captivate account if other podcasts remain active.
Captivate’s current instructions are available in How do I cancel a podcast?.
Confirm the redirect
After moving the podcast:
- Open your old Captivate RSS feed URL in a browser.
- Confirm that it redirects to your new feed URL.
- Check your show in major podcast apps.
- Confirm that the show information and episodes still appear correctly.
- Play several episodes to make sure the media files work.
Podcast apps may require time to recognize the feed change.
Do not submit the new feed as a separate podcast if your show is already available in podcast directories. Submitting it again may create duplicate listings.
Review your Captivate subscription
After confirming that the redirect works, review your Captivate subscription and billing.
If the podcast you moved was your only show, follow Captivate’s instructions to cancel the billing account. If other podcasts remain in Captivate, the account may continue to be billed normally.