STEVE GOLDSTEIN SAYS “PODCASTING HAS HIT THE TIPPING POINT” • NOVEMBER PPMs FOR AUSTIN, HOUSTON & PITTSBUGH

When Steve Goldstein talks, we listen. Goldstein He was a founding partner of Saga Communications where he was group Program Director. In 2015 he left the broadcasting biz to start Amplifi Media [link] to handle clients who want to succeed in on-demand media.

We follow Goldstein via his blog – Blogstein [link] – and we encourage our readers to do the same.

Goldstein’s opinions matter because he is known as a realist. He believes that any media product needs to be financially sustainable. The news site Podcast Business Journal [link] interviewed Goldstein recently about the reality of podcasting as we approach 2020. 

 Here are some of his thoughts that got our attention:

• Podcasting business growth in 2019

SG: [It is] nothing short of explosive. We have hit an inflection point in which awareness has moved beyond “what’s a podcast?” and there is a cool factor [that] is hard to engineer. The velocity at which this has shifted to a business of acquisitions and aggregation by big players is head spinning.

• Expectations for the podcasting business in 2020

SG:  Many titles will go out of production because they didn’t find an audience. Programmatic will become a key opportunity for those podcasters not in the top 1%. Promotional alliances and megaphones will become even more critical.

Radio companies produce great audio content. Not all of it works in on-demand form, but “radio companies” out of necessity will have to follow the audience and thus migrate into “audio companies.”

• Why advertisers are increasingly interested in sponsoring podcasts

SG: It is a remarkable targeted medium. As the metrics improve, advertisers will become more comfortable with the targeting and the efficiency. That’s harder than ever to find in the advertising environment and the median age of 35 is dream compared to legacy media choices.

Steve Goldstein can be reached at 203-221-1400 or sjgoldstein@amplifimedia.com. Twitter: @sgoldstein.

The November Podtrac Top Publishers chart reinforces what Goldstein is saying.

Listening to podcasts continues to grow at a rapid rate.

There are an estimated 700,000 podcasts in circulation. However, month after month, a handful of publishers control the Top Ten and have the largest share of the podcast audience.

The publishers of the chart are “big pod” but there is plenty going on with podcasts by newcomers.

In the Nielsen Audio November PPM ratings for Austin, KUT is the undisputed top radio news source in the market.

Meanwhile Sun Radio [link] has now surpassed KUT’s sister station KUTX in AQH share. 

This is quite an accomplishment because Sun is a conglomeration of low-power FM stations fed by an AM station located on the fringe of the metro.

In the November PPM ratings for Houston-Galveston NPR News/Talk KUHF remains strong.

Check out the amazing gain by Pacifica’s KPFT in estimated weekly listeners. 

From October to November they increased by 89%. Or, perhaps the dog grabbed the PPM meter again.

In Pittsburgh, the PPM ratings are stable.