The Podcast Checkup Show

Episode Summary: The 2017 Podcast Health Report — a brief history of podcasting, findings from the year’s major industry research, and 5 real reasons a small business or brand should consider starting one.

What You’ll Learn

• Where the word “podcast” actually came from, and when the medium caught on
• The 3 problem areas Bridge Ratings identified as blockers to podcasting’s growth in 2017
• Real 2016-2017 listener stats: interest and adoption both climbing fast
• 5 concrete reasons a business should consider starting a podcast

The Origin of Podcasting

A portmanteau blends multiple words (or their sounds) into a new one — motel (motorists + hotel), smog (smoke + fog), emoticon (emotion + icon), spork (spoon + fork), turducken (turkey + duck + chicken). “Podcast” itself blends Apple’s iPod with “broadcast,” coined by BBC journalist Ben Hammersley in 2004.

Definition: a digital audio file made available online for download to a computer or mobile device, with new episodes delivered automatically to subscribers via RSS. Podcasts started in the early 2000s and really caught on in 2005 once Apple added podcasting support to iTunes.

Podcasting vs. terrestrial radio: two key differences. First, podcasting is on-demand — listeners choose when and what to listen to, and RSS lets them subscribe for automatic new-episode notifications. Second, podcasts can serve narrow niches in a way broad-audience terrestrial radio never could.

2017 industry reports: two major market research reports were published in spring 2017 — Edison Research and Bridge Ratings.

Bridge Ratings Report: 3 Problems to Solve

1. Ease of use — podcasts need to be genuinely easy to pull up on any device.
2. Search — content discovery needs to actually work.
3. Better revenue metrics — creators and sponsors both need a viable way to make money, or the medium can’t sustain itself.

Technology already helping: CES showcased tech addressing all three — voice-activated devices like Amazon Alexa and Google Home, plus Bluetooth, were expected to give podcasting a real boost.

The Numbers

• August 2016: 64% of people surveyed had no interest in podcasts; only 25% had ever listened to one.
• February 2017: no-interest dropped to 48%; ever-listened jumped to 45%.

Why people don’t like podcasts (per Bridge Ratings): they don’t know how to find or use them, they lack the time or patience, or the content felt too boring, long, or rambling.

Why people do like them: a podcast exists for nearly any niche, they’re listenable while multitasking (exercising, commuting), they’re free, they’re educational, and they connect listeners with people who share their interests.

Edison Research Findings

Monthly listenership grew from 21% to 24%. The core audience skews 18–54, slightly more male, more educated, and more affluent than average. Most listening happens at home, with vehicles a close second. Podcasts had become the most popular audio content format, ahead of music.

The Outlook

Podcasting was positioned to thrive as mobile access, voice assistants like Alexa, and in-car integration all matured — likely filling more of the educational and entertainment role that reading books has historically held for busy people.

Why Start a Podcast?

1. Reach — extend brand reach to a larger audience.
2. Community — build a bigger, more loyal base of fans and clients.
3. Establish authority — talking regularly about your business, passion, or expertise builds automatic social proof as an industry leader.
4. Self-development & growth — the process of podcasting makes you a better communicator and brand, which compounds over time.
5. Revenue & opportunities — podcasts can lead directly to new clients, business opportunities, and — with the right audience or niche — sponsor revenue.