TRACI DEFORGE
CEO, PRODUCE YOUR PODCAST TRACI@ PRODUCEYOURPODCAST.COM
PODCASTING
Create A Local Podcast Network For Ratings & Revenue
The argument for launching a local podcast network in your market just got stronger. Let’s start with Edison’s Spoken Word Audio Report, released in November 2021. Spoken word’s share of audio listening has increased by 40% over the last seven years, 8% this year. The general data around podcasting is not surprising, but notable. Podcast listening hit an all-time high in 2021, with 57% of the U.S. population having listened to a podcast, and podcast’s share of time with spoken word audio has increased by 176% over the last seven years, 16% in the last year. Here’s where it starts to get interesting. According to the Nielsen research, consumers no longer differentiate between AM/FM radio and on-demand platforms like Spotify and Pandora. Yet, at the same time, the study found consumers have maintained a high level of trust in local radio, with it remaining the most trusted and primary source of pandemic-related news for the majority (65%) of HHI $100k+ Americans. And... Thirty-seven percent of people discovered new spoken word audio to consume via recommendations from ads on AM/FM radio. Radio’s position as a trusted medium and now a hub for curious listeners to discover on-demand content, combined with a highly engaged podcast audience, creates a synergistic opportunity to embrace podcasting from a new perspective. The data on this shift in consumption of on-demand and podcast audio illuminates a whole new reason to take action by implementing a long-term strategy focused on increasing ratings and growing revenues by embracing the growth of
spoken word audio. A local podcast network is your roadmap to success in achieving both on multiple levels. Get a stronger ROI on locally created content by combining on-demand station programming and locally produced podcasts onto a branded podcast network that can easily be launched on your station website or on its own standalone URL. You can monetize the network in many ways. Begin by creating a sales package with these elements: Production of the original local podcast. Record the host in a studio with a live engineer at the station. Ask them to mention in their intro that the podcast studios are being powered by the specified call letters and station moniker. Record a quick Q&A with the client while they’re in the studio and repurpose it as a promo to market the network. Give the podcaster an MP3 of the interview to share on their social media. Include an ROS and digital ad buy for the client to market the launch and ongoing promotion of their podcast. These ads can be co-branded with the name of the network. The co-branding can also be integrated into the podcaster’s cover art for more visibility. Include podcast management services provided by a dedicated podcast manager on staff. This will give an incentive to the podcaster to keep producing the podcast and stay on the network to maintain the recurring revenue over a longer period. Network ad sales. Sell local, regional, and national ads into all the individual podcasts as well as on the network as a whole.
Include ads for different station events and programming to drive listenership back to the AM/FM stations. This can be managed fairly simply by using a hosting platform like Blubrry, which offers dynamic ad-insertion capabilities with special monetization features for podcast networks. Event marketing dollars. Generate monies by organizing the podcasts into targeted categories such as Automotive, Business, Health and Wellness, Parenting, and Sports. Identify an expo niche that is missing in the market and build out an event where the local podcasters can exhibit, network, and benefit from the visibility of having a show on the network. Bring in a brick-andmortar store to sponsor and host the event, and by all means have the station broadcast live from the event. It’s time to take back local presence. It’s time to embrace the shift in how consumers are consuming spoken word audio. It’s time to provide local businesses the opportunity to engage with your stations in a mutually beneficial co-branded way that is unprecedented. It’s time to launch a local podcast network. Traci DeForge is CEO of Produce Your Podcast and runs the online community PODHIVE.com. She hosts the podcasts Journey to There and Talking Finance and cohosts Ask Brien on KHTS-AM/Los Angeles. She’s executive producer of the Personal Finance Podcast Network and can be reached at traci@produceyourpodcast.com.
14 RADIOINK.COM DECEMBER 13, 2021 2RI_Traci DeForge Podcasting 12-13-21.indd 14
11/30/21 11:04 AM
