PODCASTING FIVE YEARS AFTER WE IMPLIED THAT IT WAS A FAD • FREE SPECIAL OFFERED TO STATIONS BY “AMERICAN ROUTES”

“I wish that I knew what I know now when I was younger.”

       1973 hit song by Rod Stewart and Faces

Back in July 2015 we published a post asking “Is Podcasting in a Bubble and Will it Burst?
”

We raised the question because, at the time, it seemed like in 2015 that there was so much audio available and so little time to listen to it. Now in 2020, there is even more audio available and time has become even more precious.

Five years ago, we were skeptical about the viability of most podcasts at the time and we even implied that podcasting was a fad.

We wrote in 2015:

“With so much buzz and so much money being thrown around, the podcasting space is starting to feel a little like a tech bubble. How big can it get? Will it burst and when?”

IN 2015 We quoted consultant Paul Marzalek, who publishes the blog The Top 22 [link]:

“The hit podcast ‘Serial,’ a spinoff of ‘This American Life’ has focused so much attention on the medium that [big] money is now entering the space. It seems that [podcasting] is indeed having its moment right now – thanks largely to the high-end, expensive journalism, production values, and core values of public radio. Right now we’re listening to the best of the best. Will we have any time for the best of the rest?”

Now we know that is not a fad but many other things we wrote about podcasts then are still true. For example, when comparing Jacobs Media Techsurveys from 2015 and 2020 (slides on the right), listening to podcasting is still something that the majority people do not do. I other words, the hype about podcasts is still bigger than their consumption.

As we said in 2015, only a handful of podcasts make money. That is still true today. It is also true that podcasts publishers who have access “big money” have the best chance of succeeding.

However, in the crystal ball we used in 2015, we did not see the growing future of narrowly targeted advertising within podcasts; the rise of commercial publishers such as iHeart, Wondery and The New York Times; and, that the perceived “coolness” of podcasts.

AMERICAN ROUTES OFFERS “STAY AT HOME COMPANION: THE SOUNDS OF SOLACE” FREE TO ALL PRX MEMBER STATIONS

Nick Spitzer brewing songs of hope

Nick Spitzer has assembled a special edition of tunes and thoughts that will chase the Covid-19 blues away. The show is called “Stay at Home Companion” with sounds of solace and uplift to see us through solitude and the unknown.

American Routes is now making the program available, free of charge, to all PRX member stations. You can read more about the show and see the playlist on American Routes’ website [link].

Some of the songs included are Lean on Me by Bill Withers, Touch of Gray by the Grateful Dead, Dylan’s It's a Hard Rain's A-Gonne Fall by Leon Russell, The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel, Angel from Montgomery by Bonnie Ratite, and – of course – What a Wonderful World by the great Louis Armstrong

For more information about carrying the program, contact Ken Mills at publicradio@hotmail.com or 612-819-8456.