Pod-Crashing Episode 54: Unknown Universe
Is the new movement becoming more vibrant? The project being podcasting. According to Edison Research’s Senior VP Tom Webster, “Podcast listeners have spent the past two months checking into episodes for 6.5 hours a week.”
Wait wait hold on. Before we pull out the party bus and champagne, we need to look at the larger picture.
The past two months have been February and March 2020. We were just getting into the Coronavirus experience. According to Tom, a lot of decision makers and podcast performers were expecting larger listening habits but the shutdown is proving to put performers on a different path.
Compared to January 2020 there’ve been no changes. Listeners were still checking in at 6.5 hours per week.
The biggest change is when listeners were getting locked into the episodes. On a normal business day it was during the commute or while at work or school. Being shut in at home totally took away that one on one alone time between the hosts and passenger.
So what’s changed with podcasting? The biggest audience grabbers. Leading the pack right now are news driven podcasts crammed with endless content about the virus and how to survive in an ever changing community. According to Edison Research News features are up 25% to 39% over the past two months.
Also checking in with a bigger following are podcasts that lean on religion, self-help and philosophy.
Sport shows not so much. Those that are getting the hits have redesigned their layout in the way of bringing forward more stories about the athletes and less about building a better game.
Even NPR has seen a 4% drop in listeners but maintain their strict policy of staying true to the format of each episode being no longer than ten to fifteen minutes. According to Ana Grundman her audience knows how much time they’ve got available and having such programming fits into stay at home cluttered day.
If you’re just getting into podcasting this is something to keep close to your heart. Adopting that shorter format and staying true to who and what your listeners are doing during the shutdown is speaking their street. It’s something they can not only relate with but grow with.
Knowing that there are no long drawn out commutes means listeners puts you ahead of the curve in the way of showing respect to your followers by way of recognizing the house the full of kids, the spouse is doing business in the kitchen while the others in a guest bedroom are trying to keep their head above the company expectations.
On a personal experience level. I saw a slight rise in listenership in April 2020. Mainly because of the huge drop I was experiencing a month earlier. I didn’t drop podcast episodes but I reconditioned them in the way of making them more about what the globe was experiencing.
Like Edison Research mentioned, shows that were religious based, self-help or philosophy were gaining in strength. The way I moved around that on the other podcasts was to make small shifts in my conversation format with artists, authors and actors. Don’t be afraid to talk about reality.
I also began an entirely new series called Play It Forward which puts a ton of attention on everyone in the entertainment industry affected but not infected by the Coronavirus. Plus, on my podcast Creativity The Addiction I began to reword how I described what creativity is. It’s not just artist thing but a huge part of our business world. Nothing gets done without creativity. Being shut down with no work doesn’t mean you can’t still feed that beast. If you don’t you’re setting yourself up for a hard hit of anxiety, depression, guilt and shame.
My biggest worry is Coronavirus burnout. How far do we as podcasters go before listeners start seeking a more up tempo escape?
Let’s look into this. The deeper we get into this shut down while experiencing several attempts at rebuilding the business world, in the end the employee is still gonna be the one taking the financial hit.
Meaning… How long can the average person hold onto their internet connection? Those endless date plans on the smart phone are awesome when you can afford to pay the bill. How hard will the impact be on podcasting if internet use takes a dump?
I can hear the experts now. Not going to happen. We live by being digitally connected. If people are having a tough time paying the rent two months in a row, how much longer before they drop what they love most. That content connection?
This is where NPR and iHeart Radio win big. They know they’ve got an empire of podcast followers that are amazingly faithful. Both companies also have terrestrial radio. It’s free. Will always be free. I’m not saying they’ll do it but they’ve got the stage to bring those podcasts forward to that hardcore fan base.
So what’s the moral of the story? Embrace for the change. Listening habits are on the move. Stay closely tuned to how your listeners are living life without having to jump the shark, or drop the podcast.
Being aware is your biggest tool. Maybe it’s time we learn from the people of fame and begin a new process of doing live shows on Instagram and Facebook. The goal should always be to re-engage.