Prognosticating About Podcasting: Thoughts from Participants of the Upcoming Podcast Upfront – Part 1

Whatamp8217s the prognosis for podcasting in 2017 Do you expect a hockey stick spike or a continuing impressive but slower uptick in the uptake Jason Hoch Chief Content Officer at HowStuffWorks amp160We expect this growthamp160trend to continue as adoption of streaming platforms continues and as podcasts extend to emerging platforms such as cars and amp8216drive timeamp8217 But itamp8217s also about the transition away from traditional terrestrial radio consumption to new forms such as podcasts Audiences are just starting to realize that podcasts offer a wealth of diverse content for listeners just as Netflix offers original video content to fansMatt Turck Chief Revenue Officer at Panoply amp160Podcast listening grew 23 from 2015 to 2016amp160 We will continue to see a strong growth rate as technology has made consumption easy Itsamp160inherently mobile and consumer behavior is now demanding contentamp160where when and on what device one wants Putting the audience into perspective 57 million people in the USA or 21 have listened to a podcast during the past month Thirteen percent have listened to Spotify monthly And although Twitter has a much bigger subscription base 21 of the country are active users of TwitterBryan Moffett General Manager atamp160National Public Media amp160Iamp8217m still leaning toward hockey stick due to the confluence of larger platforms showing increased interest in the space more ways of listening emergingamp160and the huge influx of quality contentLex Friedman Executive Vice President Sales and Development for Midroll Media amp160Listeners and revenues will continue to grow Though the medium may be past its infancy there39s still plenty of growth left as better apps and better connected devices make it increasingly simple for newcomers to discover podcasts Couple that with a steady march of talent into the podcast creation spaceamp160and we39re left with better shows reaching more people and thus more advertisers than everMargaret Hunt Chief Revenue Officer New York Public Radio home to WNYC Studios amp160We expect to see strong and steady if accelerated amp160podcast growth in 2017 Brand advertisers are getting more engaged with podcasts and that will translate into longer commitments more Upfront buys and greater revenue potentialCathy Csukas CoFounderCoCEO AdLarge Media Full disclosure I currently work with AdLarge amp160From an audience numbers perspective podcasting is just coming out of its infancy and is beginning to walk We39re going to see it break out in a run in 2017 as discovery and accessibility technology adapts and advancesamp160How can a podcaster best stand out in the new sea of content Margaretamp160Hunt New York Publicamp160Radio amp160Itamp8217s not enough to create content and hope people find it Promotion through advertising media coverage live eventsamp160and crosspromotion on other podcasts is key amp160Also podcast fans build personal relationships with hostsamp160and are willing to follow them into their next projectJason Hoch HowStuffWorks amp160Building the audience first is key and weamp8217ve found the revenue has followed as the audience has grown amp160Social media allows us to promote new content as itamp8217s releasedamp160and facilitate direct discussion with the fans of a show at any point in the listening cycle Our audience can actually interact with our hosts through Facebook Twitter or email making the podcasts feel all the more personal This all fits with the very personal emotional experience that makes podcasts so special to so many peopleLex Friedman Midroll Media amp160To stand out a show must be unique with a compelling engagedamp160and above all passionate host at its helm That39s in addition to sharp editing great crosspromotionamp160and more than a little luckamp160Must a podcast offer dynamic insertion to gain revenue traction or will quotbakedinquot ads still be appealing this coming yearMattamp160Turck Panoply amp160Bakedin ads are still preferred by performancebased advertisers the largest advertisers in the mediumamp160 They use it because their key metric is quotreturn on investmentquotamp160 However as brands shift into the space they prefer to have their ads removedamp160 Offers end marketing objectives changeamp160and period of measurement is important to themNorm Pattiz Founder and Executive Chairman PodcastOne Bakedin ads have always been appealing and will continue to be amp160Dynamic insertion offers significant opportunity for growth Weamp8217ve been offering dynamic insertion almost from our beginningBryan Moffett National Public Media amp160Both ad insertion models have benefitsamp160and both will remain relevant NPR uses bothamp160and will continue to experimentHernan Lopez CEO Wondery amp160All of our ads are dynamically inserted and I think over time all of them will be It gives our advertisers unparalleled control for instance we just added an advertiser who is targeting specific DMAs But advertisers shouldnamp8217t have to choose between dynamic and quotbakedinquot amp160We make them sound quotbakedinquotJason Hoch HowStuffWorks amp160Dynamic insertion of ads done well still incorporate the quotlive readquotamp160feel of podcasts but to really grow up as an industry podcasts must continue to speak the digital language so many brands and agencies are expecting already across all other mediumsMargaret Hunt New York Publicamp160Radio amp160If a podcast that has been baking in their spots reaches a level of success where there is more ad demand from multiple sponsors than supply and thatamp8217s what everyone hopes for they should strongly consider moving to a dynamic ad platformamp160What trends are you seeing in programming or listenersBryanamp160Moffett NPM amp160It seems like most bigger publishers are trying a little of everything NPR is producing a wide range of content from the lessformal and morefrequent Politicsamp160to the highlyproduced shows like Invisibilia The other trend at least at NPR is integrating more podcast content into our popular drivetime radio programs which reach large audiencesNorm Pattiz PodcastOne amp160As far as listeners are concerned the audience is growing at a faster pace than ever On the programming side the beauty of this medium is that anything that will generate an audience is a potential podcast No formats to be worried about no time periods no holes in the marketplace amp160Itamp8217s almost too good to be trueMatt Turck Panoply amp160Scripted content much like Malcolm Gladwellamp8217s Revisionist History is becoming more important and prevalentamp160amp160Jason Hoch HowStuffWorks amp160Weamp8217ve certainly seen our growth come from finding users and then hooking themamp160 They stay for one podcast and wonamp8217t leave until they listen to 10 20 100amp160or more of our back catalog episodesGary Schonfeld CoFounderCoCEO AdLarge Media amp160More big media brands are developing content for podcasting often delivering something a little different than what they offer audiences on traditional channels We39re seeing a demand for more female lifestyle content while sports comedy newsamp160and entertainment continue to garner listeners39 attentionIn Part 2 weamp8217ll ask companies about their planned amp8220big revealsamp8221 at the Upfront and how they plan to attract more revenue to this newish platformThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

Click to Make Your 2025 Contribution to Support the MediaVillage Education Foundation

Prognosticating About Podcasting: Thoughts from Participants of the Upcoming Podcast Upfront – Part 1

Author

Publish date

Channel

Archived in

E.B. Moss

"About That with Carl Mayer:" Alaina Donnellon (Episode 6) - By Carl Mayer

More Videos:

Click to Make Your 2025 Contribution to Support the MediaVillage Education Foundation

Prognosticating About Podcasting: Thoughts from Participants of the Upcoming Podcast Upfront – Part 1

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

E.B. Moss

"About That with Carl Mayer:" Alaina Donnellon (Episode 6) - By Carl Mayer

The payment was successful

Cookies