It was a star-studded panel of industry experts that included our CEO Marshall Williams, Tom Webster SVP, Edison Research, Strategy and Marketing, Deirdre Lester CRO, Barstool Sports, Anya Grundmann SVP, NPR Podcasting and Program Innovation and Stephen Dubner Journalist and Host of the Popular Freakonomics podcast. To view full webinar click here Access Password: adresultsmedia1!
- Key Takeaways:
- Reach has remained the same. The number of hours people are listening hasn't changed, but when they listen has shifted.
- New personal rituals are forming, and the industry needs to focus on those new habits that are going to continue.
- The gaps of time before and after work have essentially been erased from our lives so listening has evolved with that. However, the intimacy of audio has proven strong and kept listenership levels fairly consistent.
- The visceral storytelling of podcasting is illustrating what is going on during the pandemic. It's bringing new voices in and helping listeners process the severity of the situation.
- There’s been a pivot in podcast advertising from direct-to-consumer companies to larger brands.
- Industry leaders need to proactively plan their comebacks, create contingency plans and focus on what that mean for their listeners/fans.
- Podcasts are going to emerge from this stronger as we're seeing lots of creativity being born from this.
What has the research been telling us? Are there any early insights you’re able to share?
- Tom Webster SVP, Edison Research Strategy and Marketing– Podcast Consumer Tracker
- Roughly 1/4 of Americans consume podcasts weekly
- Podcasting was hot when COVID-19 started and has stayed somewhat consistent during the pandemic
- Americans spent 6.5 hours a week listening to podcasts from January - March
- Some genres are doing better than others. The biggest increase was the News genre where Edison found that listenership rose from 31% to 39% in March.
- Self-help and self-improvement, religion, philosophy have also increased
- Sports have decreased a bit in reach, but with events like the NFL Draft, those numbers are starting to recover
What Type of Content Do Podcast Listeners Want During COVID-19?
- Freakonomics
- Not too many major adjustments, but in about a week Freakonomics will release their first non-COVID episode in a while
- Numbers are about level as listeners have liked the content
- There hasn't been much variance in listens because of subscriptions
- New shows are ready to launch, but will it be a great time or a terrible time? It’s an unknown right now.
- NPR
- Initially they had to figure out all of their different production styles and how to produce shows remotely
- Coronavirus daily has been their fastest growing show
- Some of NPR's show downloads have grown during this time
- Short shows have been very beneficial
- People can tune out what’s overwhelming and get the essentials from their podcasts
- In addition to news, NPR is also doing deep storytelling to help people process what’s going on
- NPR continues to work on it's relationships with the audience and meeting the need of connection and engagement
- Barstool
- Immediately had all of their podcasts moved out of the studio to record remotely. It was a relatively easy transition considering that’s how their brand started
- Had to pivot to pop culture focused podcasts vs. sports
- Their goal is to break through the monotony of the "always on" news cycle and serious sports news
- They have created these 1:1 relationships with listeners so they want to tune in, even if it's not to hear about sports, but to hear what hosts are up to
- A lot of the flagship shows rely on interviews and now athletes and celebrities are more available than ever before
- They had Dr. Fauci on their shows so he could reach a different demographic
- People aren’t in their regular routines so they have to work harder to remind them to tune in
- They did a successful live show of the NFL Draft
How Has Podcast Advertising Evolved?
- NPR
- Podcasts are still strong in terms of the advertising market
- Pushing diversification – their events team has had to transition to virtual events
- Looking into opportunities to expand where there may have been road blocks before
- Freakonomics
- Journalism has been strong largely because of the ad-supported model
- Occasionally there will be listeners who are upset over ads – but Stephen enjoys engaging with them as advertising is a first amendment right
- Barstool
- Initially they went through all of their data and partnerships to know where they stood.
- They've leveraged their distribution channels to drive listeners to the podcast
- Internet first, social first – creating content from home is how they started in the first place
- Merchandise and E-commerce sales have increased
- Social and website traffic have never been higher
- They were able to keep ad dollars by pivoting to other shows outside of sports
- How do you measure success outside of website traffic or promo code redemption?
- Working closely with Nielsen on brand lift and affinity studies
- They will continue to expand upon measurement solutions
- Based on what a particular advertiser needs we determine what measurement results will be most beneficial
Predictions For the Future of Podcasting?
- Tom Webster, Edison Research
- It’s going to come back different. Not better or worse, but different
- New habits are being made now and some of them are going to stick
- We should focus on what is going to continue regardless of when stay-at-home orders are lifted
- Stephen Dubner, Freakonomics Podcast
- They have studied predictions quite a bit and majority of human predictions are just awful
- There will be certainly be winners and losers
- There will be habit formations and losses
- Anya Grundmann, NPR
- We just have to roll with it
- In the meantime, audio is a connective medium that can help fill the need for connection and engagement
- Deirdre Lester, Barstool Sports
- Sports kept us inspired and connected through previous economic downturns
- Sports will be back and will connect us again
- Partners on the league side (NFL, NASCAR, etc.) will remain strong . Everyone is planning their comeback and are going to come back differently
- If people are spending more time at home they will need more live series to watch
- Podcast hosts will continue to get more creative to keeping fans engaged
To view full webinar click here
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