The crossover between podcasts/Discord/Twitch/Twitter/a million other platforms/conventional media is a fascinating one. They’re all simultaneously trying to attract eyeballs, ears and minds. Some do better than others in attracting one (or more) of those senses, but is anyone ever going to reach the nirvana of all three together and exclusively? There’s plenty trying, but I’m not sure anyone does it really well.
Super interesting take and I definitely agree with the aspect of multi-media projects being a big part of the future - although this, also, relies on having enough cash injection to fund multiple channels of output so surely this is still the realm of companies/brands? I don't think it will be viable to 'podcasters' and 'podcasting' from independent makers, which is exactly why the majority of podcasts will happily chug along at the 'medium' level.
I do think your look at stats on podcasts versus core media formats is possibly slanted as well. The radio cut-through at 90% for example, is this *actual* cut-through? I am currently 'listening' to radio because I am in a co-working space that has radio on. But I haven't chosen this and haven't chosen to listen to radio in decades. How much of that 90% is similar? Has anyone asked the question? I do feel these kind of stats are going to be skewed towards traditional media because that's what the surveys were designed to monitor.
Possibly we need to stop comparisons between mediums, and look more at comparisons between delivery - on-demand vs on-demand - and drilling into *where* things are being consumed, not just how much?
Nick - very informative article. A few thoughts to add having run a podcast for 5 years which people seem to like:
1. Podcasts can be the most forgiving of all communication methods because they are so undemanding. We listen to podcasts whilst travelling, walking, running and lots more. They humbly fit into the spare spaces in our lives
2. But - as you point out - because its so easy to create a podcast there are many poor quality ones around - in content and audio. Being sloppy in podcast production is disrespectful to listeners (of which there will be few any). For our podcast we have a ratio of a 14x preparation time to released content (that’s 7 hours work for a 30 minute episode) - but its worth it
3. The biggest problem of podcasts is that we know how many people are listening and where they are listening but we don’t know who they are - unless they tell us. That’s why video is so interesting - it breaks free from the anonymous RSS feed and identifies listeners
Very thought provoking - thanks for sharing!
The crossover between podcasts/Discord/Twitch/Twitter/a million other platforms/conventional media is a fascinating one. They’re all simultaneously trying to attract eyeballs, ears and minds. Some do better than others in attracting one (or more) of those senses, but is anyone ever going to reach the nirvana of all three together and exclusively? There’s plenty trying, but I’m not sure anyone does it really well.
Super interesting take and I definitely agree with the aspect of multi-media projects being a big part of the future - although this, also, relies on having enough cash injection to fund multiple channels of output so surely this is still the realm of companies/brands? I don't think it will be viable to 'podcasters' and 'podcasting' from independent makers, which is exactly why the majority of podcasts will happily chug along at the 'medium' level.
I do think your look at stats on podcasts versus core media formats is possibly slanted as well. The radio cut-through at 90% for example, is this *actual* cut-through? I am currently 'listening' to radio because I am in a co-working space that has radio on. But I haven't chosen this and haven't chosen to listen to radio in decades. How much of that 90% is similar? Has anyone asked the question? I do feel these kind of stats are going to be skewed towards traditional media because that's what the surveys were designed to monitor.
Possibly we need to stop comparisons between mediums, and look more at comparisons between delivery - on-demand vs on-demand - and drilling into *where* things are being consumed, not just how much?
Nick - very informative article. A few thoughts to add having run a podcast for 5 years which people seem to like:
1. Podcasts can be the most forgiving of all communication methods because they are so undemanding. We listen to podcasts whilst travelling, walking, running and lots more. They humbly fit into the spare spaces in our lives
2. But - as you point out - because its so easy to create a podcast there are many poor quality ones around - in content and audio. Being sloppy in podcast production is disrespectful to listeners (of which there will be few any). For our podcast we have a ratio of a 14x preparation time to released content (that’s 7 hours work for a 30 minute episode) - but its worth it
3. The biggest problem of podcasts is that we know how many people are listening and where they are listening but we don’t know who they are - unless they tell us. That’s why video is so interesting - it breaks free from the anonymous RSS feed and identifies listeners
But of course you know all that! Matthew