Any suggestions on how to handle a duplicate show on Apple Podcast?

Long story short, I submitted my own show to Apple and my host also submitted my show to Apple on my behalf. So there is a duplicate show on Apple Podcast. I emailed Apple and they told me that they are not able to merge shows and they recommend me to archive one of the shows. However, “ When a show is archived, the subscriptions, and any subscriber audio is removed from Apple Podcasts and the show will no longer be available.”

Both shows have about the same amount of listeners so If I archive one of them, I will lose about half of my listeners. So I wonder what I can do to keep my listeners while archiving a duplicate show?

Eric Chatter posted to Podcast Platforms on about 5 months ago

Avi Andreson

about 5 months ago

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth! Most people have enough trouble getting Apple to accept it at all. If they have the same RSS feed, you’re actually getting more exposure. Think of it as having two lottery tickets to the secret algorithm that promotes some podcasts to the featured pages and not others.
- EC
  
  Eric Chatter
  
  about 5 months ago
  
  Thanks. That’s a very good point. ☺️That’s what I thought initially but then I realized having a duplicate show can actually make ranking lower (because my subscription count, listening count, rating and reviews are divided to 2 shows) and therefore decrease the exposure.
Sophia Vee

about 5 months ago

Contact your podcast-hosting provider who submitted your show "for you" and ask them to archive it.
- EC
  
  Eric Chatter
  
  about 5 months ago
  
  Thank you much for your reply. I got instruction on how to archiving a show from Apple so I think I can try to do it myself first. If i can't figure it out, I'll ask my host 😉
- TG
  
  Tom Galli
  
  about 5 months ago
  
  If your host (especially Anchor) submitted your podcast for you, then they own and control your podcast’s catalog listing and are the only ones who can archive it.
Dan Mayer

about 5 months ago

Post a brief show to the one that's about to be archived, advising listeners that the feed is changing.
- EC
  
  Eric Chatter
  
  about 5 months ago
  
  Thank you much for your reply. The RSS is the same for both shows so if I post a brief show it will show up in both shows. 😅(my podcast name is little mandarin pod. If you look it up in Apple podcast, you’ll see 2 of exact same shows)
- Dan Mayer
  
  about 5 months ago
  
  Same RSS? Maybe don't worry about it, then. Think of it as getting more exposure via Apple than most of us get.
- EC
  
  Eric Chatter
  
  about 5 months ago
  
  Thanks. That’s a very good point. ☺️That’s what I thought initially but then I realized having a duplicate show can actually make ranking lower (because my subscription count, listening count, rating and reviews are divided to 2 shows) and therefore decrease the exposure.