| After attending Podcast Movement, one of the biggest annual gatherings for the industry, I've received a lot of questions about the major topics that came up. So I thought I'd give you a peek into my notebook. The influencer-led podcast days are over Talent scouting was a hot topic. I heard discussions about who might make for a good podcast host, and are they worth committing to? Can they engage listeners? While building the industry, podcast networks sometimes turned to social media stars. The logic went that influencers maintain a large, seemingly engaged follower base, so maybe they can succeed in building a podcast audience too. In some cases, it worked well. Mega-popular YouTuber Emma Chamberlain's show "Anything Goes" routinely populates the charts, as does Logan Paul's "Impaulsive." But some people I spoke to seemed to have cooled on the strategy. The fans that love seeing people dance on TikTok or tell jokes on Instagram Reels, don't necessarily want to hear those same people talk at length. The podcast executives now want proven talent and ideas. And they also want to ensure the stars are committed to the production. I'm hearing more complaints about hosts not wanting to post on social media about their show, or promote it. This leads me to the next point. A desire for some return on the podcast investment The past few years in podcasting have been marked by big deals, big names and big platforms entering the space. But for the past few months Wall Street has generally pushed back against media spending exorbitantly for the sake of growth. So companies are more concerned with the bottom line. I've never before heard podcast executives discuss financial models when assessing a potential show, but I am now. This especially affects original programming, which is a much bigger gamble than signing a massive existing show or a star that's already succeeded in podcasts. To me, it raises questions about the impact on agents shopping programs and talent around and asking for significant minimum guarantees on small and mid-size shows. Any sale is going to be more heavily scrutinized now. The brands arrive The big ad agencies came to the conference this year, some returning and some first-timers. While this might seem small, the fact that those companies, like Hearts & Science — which reps some of the biggest brands in the world— appeared in Dallas means something to the industry. It's a sign that the identity of the audio world is shifting, from a fledgling niche of the broader media business to a more established distribution channel for deep-pocketed advertisers. For listeners, this could mean their favorite podcasts will include more traditional commercials for Fortune 500 companies and fewer host-read ads for small companies. Finally, I always find who's spending money to be present at Podcast Movement interesting. Last year, for example, Facebook sponsored the conference. But less than a year later it's much less involved in the industry. More prominent this year was Disney Advertising, the unit of the media giant that is responsible for the company's podcast ad sales. It provided sponsored lanyards for attendees of an advertising-focused mini conference, and Disney's various content divisions represented themselves at a booth. It's another piece of evidence that demonstrates networks' hunger for those big brands and a desire to be in front of them. I'm still waiting for Disney's podcast operation to cohesively pull from its Star Wars and Marvel IP, though. YouTube also presented at this conference, timed to its podcast landing page launching in the US. So the show ended up being an audio conference where people talked about pivoting to video. It all comes full circle. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment