NAB Show Wednesday: Much Ado About Podcasting, Radio's Future, And More

Wednesday

By PERRY MICHAEL SIMON in LAS VEGAS: WEDNESDAY (4/11) at the NAB SHOW will feature a track on "Content Strategies for Podcasting" plus panels on music licensing, a panel looking at radio's future, and a panel on how radio can benefit from smart devices and mobile apps.

The podcast track will consist of four sessions: a look at what 2018 has in store for podcasting, the "anatomy of a podcast hit," the "mechanics of a quality podcast," and an aircheck session.  Meanwhile, the Business Of Broadcasting track will host a RADIO ADVERTISING BUREAU (RAB) presentation on new sales techniques as well as the panels on licensing, the future, and new technology.

Where Podcasting Stands, 2018

The podcasting track started with AMPLIFI MEDIA CEO and ALL ACCESS columnist STEVE GOLDSTEIN moderating a look at the podcast industry with presentations from himself and TRITON MEDIA President, Market Development JOHN ROSSO (who offered "Interesting Podcast Data That Has Never Been Seen Before," prompted by GOLDSTEIN using the INFINITE DIAL statistics he planned to use).  ROSSO's presentation, with data from podcasts represented by TRITON, included noting that iOS devices dominate listening for all podcasts but the share for smart speakers for listening to podcasts under 15 minutes in duration balloons from 7% to 23%.  Significantly, smart speaker podcast listening ballooned starting on CHRISTMAS DAY, marking the time many new users received and activated their devices.

The presentations were followed by a panel featuring MIDROLL CRO LEX FRIEDMAN, PANOPLY CEO BRENDAN MONAGHAN, and LIBSYN VP Podcaster Relations ROB WALCH, touching on measurement (FRIEDMAN said that the problem is "97% solved" and added that a podcast download is itself an equal measurement to radio and television's sampling and extrapolation), changes in the time frame used to measure listening, CPMs (MONAGHAN said his company is seeing $35 and up; FRIEDMAN's range, he said, is $15-$70, aided by host reads that minimize listeners skipping the ads; WALCH noted that CPMs can go much higher if the sales are based on psychographics), programmatic sales (ROSSO said that podcasting would benefit from "some supply chain automation" but that any such system needs to convey the "beauty" of the medium for advertisers), growing shows, and more.

What Makes A Podcast A Hit?

The second podcasting session at the NAB SHOW, hosted by VOXNEST/SPREAKER's ROB GREENLEE, looked at what makes a podcast a hit, with "REALLY FAMOUS" host KARA MAYER ROBINSON interviewing legendary voice artist and "MUSIC CONNECTION  PODCAST" host RANDY THOMAS, and BROADCASTING AND CABLE's PAIGE ALBINIAK talking to the TENDERFOOT TV team behind "UP AND VANISHED" and "ATLANTA MONSTER," PAYNE LINDSEY, DONALD ALBRIGHT, and MEREDITH STEDMAN. 

In the opening portion, THOMAS told the story of how she and husband ARNIE WOHL approached MUSIC CONNECTION to create a podcast based on the magazine; the talk covered engagement with, and feedback from, listeners via Facebook, prepping for interviews (and saving conversations for the air), and growing an audience.  

In the second segment of the session, the process of making "UP AND VANISHED" and "ATLANTA MONSTER" was analyzed, with the team talking about cliffhangers, endings, building story arcs, saying less when interviewing, and how and when the team realized that they had a hit on their hands, from getting featured on iTunes to rocketing towards a million downloads.

Radio Execs Peer Into Their Crystal Balls

Radio's future came under scrutiny by a panel moderated by JACOBS MEDIA President FRED JACOBS and including BEASLEY CEO CAROLINE BEASLEY, COX MEDIA GROUP EVP BILL HENDRICH, ENTERCOM SVP, Corporate Business Development TIM MURPHY, and NAB EVP, Strategic Planning STEVE NEWBERRY.

After the panelists told their back stories, JACOBS noted that the entire panel was present at the CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW this year; naturally, smart speakers and related devices were the hit for radio people at CES, as part of a network of smart devices and the connected car.  But HENDRICH added that the new devices mean that radio has to educate listeners in how to ask for their stations in the proper manner, supplanting the traditional car radio button-setting.

On how they keep up with technological trends, HENDRICH said that either one is very tech savvy or surrounds himself or herself with people who are tech savvy, a category in which he places himself, and BEASLEY agreed that "you can't know everything."  MURPHY added that "you have to use the product" as an early adopter to understand technology, "even if it's not what you'd naturally do... I don't think you can manage something you haven't done."

Discussing why people still listen to radio, MURPHY cited "great local programming," but asserted that "we gotta own distribution of that."  HENDRICH touted how radio can connect listeners on an emotional level with the artists they love, from concert and event sponsorship to live stages at their studios.

MURPHY said he looks at podcasting as "an asset to our industry" and a source of talent, pointing to his company's investment in CADENCE13 and deal to try to develop a syndicated radio show with CHRIS HARDWICK, whose "ID10T PODCAST" (formerly "NERDIST PODCAST") moved to the company this year.

On streaming, NEWBERRY said that "the economics don't make sense," costing stations money to reach additional listeners.  MURPHY, however, said that the ability to diversify content makes the investment necessary, and HENDRICH said that if stations don't find a way to be where the listeners are, "you won't win... the goal is to stay in the game while you figure things out."   And BEASLEY said that the industry has to be proactive in negotiating better royalty rates to help make streaming profitable.

And the panel discussed the value of mining listener data, but with the caveat that privacy issues need to be considered in the wake of controversy over FACEBOOK's practices, and the issue of attribution of ad effectiveness to radio, with MURPHY decrying the loss of business to less effective media because the others can offer proof of results and radio doesn't yet have a standard way to do that; HENDRICH called for radio companies to communicate with each other to standardize attribution methods rather than have competing methods on the street.

Podcasters Meet The Experts

The day's sessions closed with an NAB SHOW edition of JACOBS MEDIA "Digital Dot Connector" and ALL ACCESS columnist SETH RESLER's "Podcast Aircheck," which he has done for the last two years at PODCAST MOVEMENT.  Two podcasts, "COPELAND COACHING" and "PLUG ONE TWO," submitted themselves to critiques from an expert panel, including consultant VALERIE GELLER, ENTERCOM Hot AC KMXB (MIX 94.1)/LAS VEGAS morning host MERCEDES MARTINEZ, PODCAST MOVEMENT Co-Founder DAN FRANKS, and BEASLEY VP/Programming JUSTIN CHASE.

First up was "PLUGONETWO," hosted by CHARLES YAO, JASON VILLAMATER, and ZAC ELKHADY, getting points from GELLER for a "true moment" by a host talking about the MARVEL Universe and advice from GELLER and MARTINEZ to identify the hosts so listeners aren't confused about who is who.  CHASE noted the hosts' chemistry and said he wanted to hear more about the hosts' personal lives to get to know them, and RESLER pointed out by a show of hands that listeners wouldn't know that the three hosts are of disparate ages.  But FRANKS contended that podcast listeners have alternate ways to find out that information online, and that the entertainment of the hosts talking to each other is what he would be listening for.  And YAO turned the tables to ask whether the opportunity for what the show is doing is on radio, to which CHASE suggested that a partnership with a radio company that has a podcast network might be an option.

The second podcast to be reviewed was ANGELA COPELAND's "COPELAND COACHING," a job search advice podcast that opened with a produced intro that led CHASE to suggest that she work on introducing herself more and coached her on how to tease the topic for her interview to grab listeners.  MARTINEZ liked the intro but thought the guest introduction was too detailed; GELLER told COPELAND that she needs to establish what's in it for the listeners, and to avoid reading (or sounding like she is reading).  Much of the criticism involved getting to the point of the interview faster ("always lead with the hook, always lead with the best," CHASE advised).

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