Newsletters on Newsletters, the Future of Talk and Obligatory Taylor Swift Podcast

Stay with me on this one, we’re going to go slightly far afield but it will all tie the piece together.? Think of it like the rug from the Big Lebowski.

We begin with the concept of transformation and evolution, Ship of Theseus stuff, whether who (or what) we are is the same if it all completely changes over time.? For example, it seems that I am, slowly, turning into either my parents or every other parent I secretly mocked in my 20s and 30s whose first instinct is to center every story around their child.

My unique and wonderful child now attends pre-school where he learns about sharing and songs and socialization.? He also excels at finding and nurturing a wide selection of germs and bringing them home to share with the family. ? This, in turn, results in a groundhog day-esque, two week cycle of sickness that takes down the entire household. With vapo rub for him and Advil cold and sinus for us, I am highly concerned that the local CVS thinks I may be attempting to set up a low level meth lab due to the sheer volume of? bi-weekly purchases.

So I will caveat, yet again, and probably not for the last time, that this newsletter is done under the influence of a combination of ephedrine, coffee and the sleep of the parent of a sick child, which is restless and concerned and occasionally just a wee bit resentful.? But oh my god the little hacking cough just rips your heart right out.

So staying with the concept of transformation and evolution while maintaining the same outward appearance (see?? getting there…) we’re going to take this time to note further shifts and tweaks in the newsletter format. ? Feedback has been great and very much appreciated.? What we are hearing is that we should keep the opening but also layer in more bulleted (succinct) news updates.? And not to get too meta but we’re also now reading newsletters about newsletters and will drop in the following chestnut from the Max Read newsletter:

“Write about stuff you’re obsessed with and make your readers not wish they were dead: OK, so, I don’t post super consistently, I’m not picking fights on Twitter, and I don’t have a clear value proposition or even really a “predictable content category” for the newsletter. What, then, does Read Max have to offer? This is where my theory of newsletters shifts from a relatively empirical analysis of what “works” and what doesn’t and into a pure-vibes philosophy of media. Basically, and I recognize how lame this sounds, I think people respond [to] enthusiasm and joy.”

If nothing else, enthusiasm and joy is something we can handle.? So thanks again for the feedback and excited to continue to shift and adjust as we move forward.? And with that, on to the news!

Edison Research - Talk and Shifting Platforms By Demo

The Spoken Word Audio Report from NPR and Edison Research explores trends around specific types of spoken word content, various platforms, devices used to consume spoken word content, and includes the trending data from Edison Research’s Share of Ear. This year’s report is set to debut on October 27th and we plan to do a deeper update that following week; however, in the meantime, we wanted to share a quick preview on the “rapid change of talk” with a specific focus on the drastic change in the “Personalities/Talk Shows” category since the Share of Ear began back in 2014.?

• In 2014, the share of time spent listening to “Personalities/Talk Shows” was: AM/FM Radio 74%,? Podcasts 12%,? All others 14%.?
• The numbers in the most recent update for the second quarter of 2022 show an incredibly different picture with AM/FM Radio at 39%, Podcasts at 41%, and All others, 20%.
• For the first time ever, more listening to Personalities/Talk Shows occurred in Podcasting instead of AM/FM Radio
• Broken down by age demo, the story is ever more fascinating, showing a stark divide between groups and their preferred platforms for the content category. Among 13-34 year-olds, the numbers are: AM/FM Radio 13% , Podcasts 60%, All others 27%. While among those age 55 and older: AM/FM Radio 68%, Podcasts 21%, All others 12%.?
• All trends for us to think on as we evaluate what this means for Talk Radio as a whole and how we can superserve specific demographics across all of our platforms??

Apple Podcasts Redesign?

• In a new update for iPad, Apple Podcasts has been redesigned to display more content at a glance and includes a new sidebar where listeners can navigate between the Listen Now, Browse, Charts, and Search tabs, as well as sections of their Library, including Recently Updated – all updates ostensibly designed to help listeners discover shows and subscribe to content
• The Popular Shows shelf will now use aggregated Apple Podcast chart trends and anonymized listener data to offer each listener with a personalized selection of trending shows that they are not currently following.?
• For us publishers, Apple tells podcasters that in order to help get their show to appear in Popular Shows, they should make sure their artwork includes the show name and that a show’s category and update frequency are up-to-date.?
• The Now Playing bar appears to funnel more potential listeners to Apple Podcast Subscription channels.?
• In addition to the podcast specific update, the latest iOS included what Apple claimed was the biggest-ever update to the Lock Screen function: an ability to adjust playback controls from the bottom of the Lock Screen

Sounds Profitable on Ad Frequency in Podcasting

Last news update on the week and an interesting one as this is both deeply wonky and very podcast specific in the analysis.? Curious for feedback as to whether this is the sort of thing people are interested in.? To be clear, for the podcast-specific audience this is great and Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster at Sounds Profitable are doing some of the best work in the business. And full disclosure - we sponsor their newsletter and speak with them on a monthly basis.

However, if the audience for this newsletter is indeed a bit more broad this could be…a lot.? That said, let’s try it out.

So….frequency capping is an advertising term on limiting the number of ads a user experiences from a specific campaign over a set amount of time.? Generally the purpose is to avoid burnout from the consumer on a particular campaign and also increase efficacy.? So if you listen to a show (or watch a show) and feel like you are seeing or hearing the same ad again and again and again…that is a potential frequency cap issue.? It’s something that has been thrown at podcasting more than a few times and as we look to continue to enhance the consumer advertising experience, an important one to dig into.? So what did they learn?

• Prior research around the subject done by Podsights last quarter showed average frequency decreasing and positively impacting conversion rates, and even more recently, Sounds Profitable dug into the frequency problem(?) using an air check tool to download, transcribe, and identify the ads in the last three months of episodes from the Top 50 podcasts according to Edison Research
• After examining episodes that had the same advertiser placed multiple times, research and analysis ultimately concluded that frequency capping is not a major issue in podcasting
• However, they also noted that podcasting most likely does have a bit of a communications issue - if this is a prevalent concern in the industry what are we doing (as an industry) to address and mollify those concerns (for both advertisers and listeners)
• Being more explicit about one ad per campaign OR if multiple ads per campaign, making sure those ads are varied or, even better, tell a longer more cohesive or threaded story across the pod
• Paramount Global take - Tte more engaging the ad, the more natural to the medium, the higher the efficacy, the better the results

Shameless Corporate Synergy / Plugs of the Week

Quick one this week but nice little bit of portfolio cross-over as The Daily Show: Beyond The Scenes does a very strong episode on the NFL’s Lack of Black Head Coaches featuring CBS This Morning Nate Burelson.

What We’re Listening To / Recommendations

As it’s currently consuming a large amount of the pop culture landscape, and as we are a company that is very much in the center of pop culture, this week, we’re getting a recommendation from Podcast Production Team member, Abby Delgado , who recommends Sounds Like a Cult: The Cult of Taylor Swift.??

This week’s episode of SOUNDS LIKE A CULT is for everyone who hasn’t listened to Midnights at least three times by now. Amanda Montell & Isabela Medina-Maté dive into the fans of Taylor Swift, known as Swifties, and their undying love and support of the popstar. Hunting for easter eggs on her Instagram, changing aesthetics with each new album, and fiercely supporting “Taylor’s Version” are all expected from her rabid following. Are Swifties really a cult or simply living vicariously through one of the world’s biggest pop stars?

A Final Bit on Pickleball

A weird pickleball week for me.? Played my first game last weekend and like many, got hooked.? Was going to write about the The New Yorker article but then read the latest New York Times article on Pickleball and now will reference both.? In addition, watched my first professional Pickleball event on CBS Sports this Saturday at 130p (Go Team!) and saw the promo for the upcoming Colbert-led Celebrity Pickleball tournament.??

So what does it all mean?? Pickleball is having a moment.? CBS is into it and there seems to be a distinct lack of Pickleball podcasts (at least compared to the amount of press and seemingly general interest).? So stay tuned as we figure out how we can fulfill the small weird wiffle-ball esque hole in the podcast competitive landscape that is Pickleball and a shout out to Ainsley Rossitto for leading that charge.

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