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Import Episodes Across Shows: A Step-by-Step Guide to Cross-Promotion and Curated Feeds

Product Marketing
Updated

Use Cross-Show Episode Imports to repurpose and distribute existing audio episodes across multiple shows or feeds, without recreating episodes from scratch. This feature supports two core workflows:

  • Import episodes across shows to power cross-promotion (e.g., featuring a newer show’s episode inside an established feed).
  • Aggregate content into a new feed by manually pulling episodes from multiple shows to create curated or thematic collections (e.g., “All Things Baseball”).

How it works (at a glance)

1. Start from the show you want to import episodes into

2. Select a source show and choose episodes

3. Imported episodes appear as drafts

4. Review and edit them as needed

5. Publish individually or in bulk.

Before you start

Key Considerations

  • You initiate the import from the target show, meaning the show that will receive the imported episodes.
    • If you’re importing episodes for cross-promotion into an existing show or feed, start from the existing show where you want the episodes to appear.
    • If you’re creating a curated or aggregated feed, first create a new show. That new show becomes the target show where you’ll import episodes from multiple source shows.
  • Each import session supports exactly one source show. 
  • You can import one or many episodes.
  • The episode must originate from the source show’s Main Feed to be eligible for import.
  • Imported episodes reuse the original audio while allowing independent editing and publishing in the destination show.
  • Imported episodes land in Draft state in the target show. You need to publish them later via bulk publishing or individual publishing.

Permissions required

To import episodes across shows/feeds, you must have Show Admin or Show Manager permissions on both the source show and the target show. Users with Analytics-only permissions won’t see import actions.

Step-by-step workflow 

I. Start an Import from the Target Show

  1. Open the target show (the show you want to import episodes into).
  2. Go to Episodes (All Episodes view).
  3. In the toolbar near Create New Episode, click Import Episode.
    • You only see this button if you’re a Show Admin or Show Manager for the target show.

II. Select a source show and episodes to import

On the Select a show to import from screen:

  1. Locate the show you want to import from.
  • If needed, use Search Show to filter by title (case-insensitive).
  • You can also use the Shows rows dropdown to increase the number of shows displayed per page.
  1. Click the show card to select it. The episode list for that show loads immediately.
  2. Select the episodes you want to import.
  • Use Search Episodes to filter by episode title (case-insensitive).
  • Click the episode checkboxes to choose one or more episodes. Your selections appear in the Selected episodes panel on the right, which also shows the source show name and your selected episode count.
  • Remove an episode from your selection using the x next to it in the panel (or uncheck it in the list).

   4. Import your selected episodes.

  • Review your choices in the Selected episodes panel.
  • In the upper-right corner, click Import Selected Episodes.

Note: You can only import episodes that are Published or Scheduled and include an audio file/enclosure. If an episode contains both audio and video, only the audio is imported.

Optional: Import all eligible episodes

To import every eligible episode from the selected show, click Import All Episodes in the upper-right corner.

Important:

  • This imports all eligible episodes across all pages (not just the current page).
  • Episodes previously imported into this target show are skipped (no duplicates).
  • If there are no eligible episodes, the button is disabled.

III. Edit and publish imported episodes

Once you click Import episodes or Import All Episodes, you are redirected to the target show’s Drafts tab, where your imported episodes appear as they are processed. The list is automatically filtered to show imported episodes, making them easy to review. 

Each imported draft also displays a badge representing the processing state:

  • Imported — completed
  • Failed — didn’t import successfully

If an import fails, you need to retry the import from the target show. 

Edit imported episodes

  1. In the target show episode list, click the imported episode you want to edit.
  2. In the Episode details, click Edit draft.
  3. Apply your changes, then click Save in the upper-right corner.

Note: In the Episode Settings and Episode Details pages, each imported episode is clearly labeled as Imported and includes information about the originating show it was imported from, providing full visibility into its source.

What You Can Edit

You can modify:

  • Title
  • Description
  • Artwork
  • Season
  • Episode number
  • Other standard metadata fields

These edits apply only to the imported version and do not affect the source episode. Likewise, any changes made to the source episode after import (such as updates to the title or publish date) do not automatically update the imported episode.

What You Cannot Edit

You cannot modify:

  • Audio file
  • Ad markers
  • Intro/Outro configuration

Audio and markers are always managed in the source episode.

Imported episodes follow the destination show’s Intro/Outro settings; the source show’s Intro/Outro configuration is not applied.

IV. Publish Imported Episodes

  1. On the Drafts tab, select imported drafts using the row checkboxes. If you need to bulk publish more episodes, increase the page size and select again.
  2. Click Publish Imported Episodes.
  3. Select the feed to which you want to publish your imported episodes from the dropdown (Main Feed is the default). Your selection applies to all selected episodes.
  4. Choose a publishing date. You can either:
    • Set a publishing date and time
    • Use each episode’s original publish date:
      • Past dates are published immediately (while retaining their historical publish date and time) 
      • Future dates are scheduled accordingly.

V. Bulk Remove Imported Drafts 

You can delete imported drafts the same way you delete other drafts.

  1. In Drafts, select imported drafts (page-scoped).
  2. Click Delete Episodes.
  3. Confirm in the delete modal.

Important:

  • Deleting an imported draft affects only the target show draft.
  • It does not delete or modify the source episode.
  • The source episode remains unchanged and retains full ownership.

VI. Create thematic content collections

To aggregate episodes from multiple shows into a curated or thematic feed, repeat the import process for each source show (you can import from one show at a time). 

  1. Start by creating a new show. 
  2. Go to the Episodes tab, click Import Episodes, and complete the import flow for your first source show. 
  3. Repeat the import workflow for additional shows.
  4. Once all desired episodes are imported into the new feed, select the drafts you want to make live and click Publish Imported Episodes.

Analytics and Reporting 

Downloads roll up to the source episode because the imported episode references the same enclosure URL. This preserves unified performance tracking across original and imported placements.
 
To help you understand how your content performs across different distribution surfaces, Content Reports include the following new dimensions:
  • Distribution Source - Break down performance by how the episode was distributed:
    • Original — The show where the episode was originally published.
    • Imported — Show(s) where the episode was redistributed through Episode Imports.
  • Imported Into - Break down performance by the show where the episode was distributed through Episode Imports.
  • RSS Feed Name - Break down performance by the RSS feed through which the episode was delivered. If a download does not originate from an RSS feed (for example, from a website player or other direct playback source), the feed name will appear as Unknown.

Troubleshooting 

  • You don’t see “Import Episode.”
    You likely don’t have Show Admin or Show Manager permissions on the target show.
  • A show doesn’t appear as a source option.
    You likely don’t have the required permissions on that show, or it isn’t in the same org/account.
  • An episode row is disabled.
    It has already been imported into the target show.
  • You can’t find an episode to import.
    It may be ineligible (has no audio, it is in draft mode, not on the main feed, or video-only).
  • Import shows “Failed.”
    Delete the failed draft and re-import the episode via the standard flow.
  • Bulk publish didn’t include everything you expected.
    Selection is page-scoped; increase page size or repeat selection on additional pages.
  • A published imported episode becomes unpublished
  • If the source episode is deleted or its audio becomes unavailable, the imported episode will automatically revert to Draft status. It cannot be republished until the source episode and its audio are restored.

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