The Emotionally Devastating Guilt of the Delayed Newsletter, Webby Award Wins, and Generative AI

Welp.

This newsletter is officially late.? Apologies - life / work gets in the way sometimes.? So let’s all briefly hop in the way-back machine and pretend this was sent on Thursday, May 4th just so I can keep in a few lines about the kid and driving through a flood and the thoughts on AI feels just a tad more relevant.? We’ll be back to a regular publishing schedule next week and my apologies.

And with that…

Another newsletter, another rainy saturday morning rainy entire weekend with biblical-esque flooding in New York.??

Nothing like driving back from the city as your 3 year old yells out “oooo - cars make waves!” as you slowly hydroplane across the highway while casually wondering to your wife “just exactly how waterproof is a Toyota Subaru?”

The answer, as it turns out, is waterproof enough.??

Regardless…

The hope had been to do a follow up piece to last week where we teased digging deeper into the latest Sounds Profitable study - the medium is the message.? And hey, that may still end up being the topic for end of this week, but as of right now, I’m staring at a computer screen with a number of open checklists and tabs for a presentation on the 11th so the document review may need to wait.

[Note - nope - didn’t get to the sales piece so we’re just going to kick that editorial can down the road a bit]

With that said, as is often the case when writing, there is nothing that is a spur to the imagination and scripting like a ridiculous amount of article-based procrastination. On Monday morning, it was based on an Information article on the new tech job du jour, the AI prompt whisperer (article here).? And since starting this update, it seems that literally every day there has been a new think piece on AI either in terms of studies on workplace productivity, overall dangers of the technology and then multiple responses to both of these papers, responses to the responses, and so on.? And then as of Thursday, the news that President Biden is gathering top AI CEOs (Alphabet/Google, Anthropic, Microsoft and OpenAI) together to discuss the tech.

And so I’ll also note - not surprisingly, I am not super-deep on AI.? It is, however, just fascinating to read about and I also believe that it will have some degree of impact on our business (whether good or bad) in the future and so staying up to date on it seems to be, at the very least, table stakes.

So first, I want to apologize for the series of ideas I’m about to squash together without proper credit - this week has been a bit of a blur and I didn’t appropriately tag the articles I’d read for attribution.

However, undoubtedly, what I am noticing is the continued trend towards both being excited about generative AI and trying to figure out the real world applications.? We went back and forth on this topic both on the Variety Marketing Panel and at the Digiday breakout rooms - hard not to want to dig into it in terms of what the impact will be both on media and the world in general.

One of the articles noted that the old chestnut “learn to code” meme (explainer from The Ringer here) now begins to come around yet again as those who were coding now face challenges from AI itself as AI can, to some extent, now code.? So if nothing else, as a member of the media who still has not learned to code (not counting my time at computer camp in my early teens) the idea of at least not thinking about what it meant to become a “prompt whisperer” seemed like a bit of a miss.? Of course, worth noting that the end of the article focuses on the idea that due to the speed of AI learning, the value of being a prompt whisperer is probably very time-dependent - meaning you may have six months or less to score this job before AI itself can advance to the point where the job becomes moot.? This, of course, merely reinforces just how fascinating and (potentially) transformative the tech could be.??

And so with this thought sitting in the back of my mind, that Information article hit home.? As those of you who follow the graphically-enhanced linkedin version of this newsletter (or the 36 of you who joined via substack), I went through a period of AI generated cover art before giving up and going back to the less creatively intense shutterstock license subscription.? So with this info, I’m heading back in!? It may not be as pretty (or potentially as effective) but let’s see what happens when we all learn AI prompts to graphics in real time.??

I apologize in advance for the nightmare fuel we may provide.

And with that, the news.? As is always the case when we have the opportunity, we begin with a nice self-aggrandizing piece on recent award wins.

• Paramount pods brought home some new hardware for the awards shelf —? 3 wins, 4 nominations, 5 honors, and 8 finalists.?
• 27th Annual Webby Awards: 3 wins, 4 nominations, and 5 honors
• Best Limited Series?

-Jordan Klepper Fingers the Conspiracy - People's Voice Win

• Comedy?

-Hold Up - Win

-The Late Show Pod Show - People's Voice Win

• Interview/Talk Show?

-Drew’s News - Honoree?

-The Late Show Pod Show - Honoree?

• Science & Education?

-Unsung Science with David Pogue - Honoree?

-Mobituaries with Mo Rocca - Honoree?

• Sports?

-All the Smoke - Nomination?

• Crime & Justice - Limited Series & Specials?

-Missing Justice - Honoree?

• 15th Annual Shorty Awards: 7 finalists — winners will be announced at the live show on May 24th
• Comedy Podcast?

-Hold Up with Dulcé Sloan & Josh Johnson from The Daily Show?

-Jordan Klepper Fingers the Conspiracy?

• Podcast Mini Series?

-Jordan Klepper Fingers the Conspiracy?

-Missing Justice?

• Science and Technology Podcast

-Unsung Science with David Pogue?

• Other Podcast Genres?

-Avatar: Braving the Elements

-Mobituaries with Mo Rocca

• 2022 Investigative Reporters & Editors Awards finalist: Missing Justice.

New Data on the Power of Podcast Advertising from Customer Experience Platform DISQO?

• The report aimed to help brands looking to better understand customer experience and attitudes towards sponsorships and other commercial messages / advertising in podcasts?
• DISQO found that podcasts are a highly engaging platform for marketing and can offer advertisers “a unique avenue to drive attitudinal and behavioral lift for their brands” as forty-five (45%) of daily podcast listeners pay more attention to podcast ads as compared to other mediums
• Podcasts drive brand loyalty with about 33% of listeners saying they like a brand more when it’s advertised within a podcast they like (or by a host they like). This number rises to approximately 45% among daily podcast listeners
• High age correlation between ads and enjoyment with a 10 point difference in enjoyment between young adults (age 18 - 44) and those over age 44?
• In terms of discovery and recommendations, listeners trust their friends and family (52%) and social media (47%) the most to recommend new podcast content, but also get recommendations from the streaming platforms themselves (30%)

Audacy’s Fourth Installment of the “State of Audio” Report Released?

• The report explores audio’s impact throughout the brand funnel, from awareness and intention to action through a series of case studies and industry data?
• "Audio holds the title as the undisputed leader of brand-building channels -- working its magic with the one-two punch of massive reach and beloved and trusted personalities," said Audacy Chief Marketing Officer Paul Suchman.?
• The bottom line: Audio moves the needle at every point in the funnel—from top to bottom

-Awareness - 49%

-Consideration - 40%

-Conversion - 45%

-Loyalty - 36%

• Audio allows for trust, stemming from parasocial relationship and connection between audiences and hosts??

-91% trust Radio

-89% trust streaming Radio

-84% trust podcasts?

Pod Save America Creators Launch a New UK-Focused Podcast?

• A new international partnership has been formed between Crooked Media and Reduced Listening
• Pod Save The UK will be a weekly podcast hosted by comedian Nish Kumar and journalist Coco Khan
• The pod is created by the same team behind Pod Save America – the podcast founded by former Obama administration officials that has “no bullsh*t conversations about politics” and averages 12 million monthly listeners – Pod Save The UK is for those wanting to make sense of the UK’s political climate, with the same no-nonsense approach

Thanks all.? And wow, that one week really costs you in terms of that au currant vibe you’re looking for in newsletter prose.? Lessons learned everyone and thanks for the collective patience!? Should be back to a (relatively) regular publishing schedule.?