Category: Podcasting

Looking For A New Podcast App? We Have Nearly 40 Listed Here

Posted on by Kurt Laufer

As most of you know, we are a website targeting ‘newpods’…first-timers looking to experience a podcast for the first-time. Our site allows you to get comfortable with the medium, explore new shows effortlessly by taking them for a test-drive…and then take the next steps as you embrace the medium.

Once comfortable, we encourage you to explore nearly 40 top podcast apps listed in our TopApps section. You have a wide variety of choices, most are free…while some have premium services available.

As always, first-timers are encouraged to first take baby steps. We guide you here.

Newpods – Read this to Learn How To Listen

 

But once you are comfortable, dive head-first into our TOP APPS page!

Visit our Top Apps Page!

 

 

New Podcasters Ready to Promote Shows? A Look at Facebook Advertising

Posted on by Kurt Laufer

With social technology expanding every day, it has never been easier to connect with your customers and clients. For content creators, the era of social media allows small content providers to effectively promote and market their podcasts in an economical way to a very targeted demo, ultimately incrementally growing your listener base.

For independents, entering the realm of content creation, Facebook advertising has provided a powerful marketing platform to deliver their content in front of their exact demographic.  Targeting via likes, interests, hobbies, age, demo, etc. provides a broad target to choose from.  If you’re ready to experiment in expanding your podcast into uncharted territory, then Facebook advertising may be your answer.

Are you ready to have others discover your podcast?

The first thing you have to ask yourself is ‘are you really ready’ for others to discover your podcast?  For the new podcaster, it’s important to have a number of shows already ‘on the books’ as well as a consistency on when you will push out your next show. Obviously, one of the most important goals is to get more people to listen to your content, but until you are fully prepared with a consistent plan of distributing new content, don’t bother investing in a marketing strategy.  Before you can start any marketing campaign (podcasts or otherwise), make sure to quantify exactly what your goals are. A generic goal such as “get more listeners” will invariably lead to failure because you won’t be able to move forward afterward if you don’t have a consistent plan on distributing future shows. Be overly prepared before attempting a marketing strategy.

Are You Going to Measure ROI of Your Advertisement?

What is the cost-justification of placing a Facebook ad to promote your podcast? Are you setting a target goal for new listeners to subscribe to your email list or RSS feed? Facebook ads are an analytics dream, as you are able to monitor and track how well your ad does. Facebook allows you to experiment with targeting, and you can easily track your progress. But you need to set measurable goals to justify the opportunity cost of investing in Facebook ads.

Facebook ads easily track how many visitors clicked through to your site after your ad went live. For podcasts, the primary way of measurement is to track daily downloads. Be sure to monitor your average daily downloads prior to your ad so you can make an assessment of success. This way, you will have reliable data from which you can analyze the success of your campaign.

Why Not Set Up A Trackable Landing Page?

To get a clear understanding on measurement, we recommend setting up a campaign to a vanity url where your podcast can live. In this case, it will be “clicks to website.”  On your landing page, you can have detailed information about your podcast, scheduling, opt-in emails, and a link to iTunes. This way, by having a landing page and driving your ad to a specific URL, you can easily track the success of your campaign.

Facebook provides you detailed reporting on clicks you to your site. You can then create a metric based on web visits & contract it to the number of downloads. For example, if you have one hundred people clicking on your podcast URL and 35 downloaded the show, you can measure success as a 35% download rate. From there, you can tweak your content or your ad targeting, based on the success of your campaign.

Mobile vs. Desktop Ads

When creating a new marketing campaign, it’s important that you know where to reach your audience. While desktop ads can be effective, far more Facebook users are accessing their feeds on a mobile device. Think about it, do you normally check Facebook on your computer or your phone?

Similarly, podcast listeners will usually listen to content when they’re out and about, on-the-go…while waiting in line, riding the bus, etc. So that means that it’s imperative that you reach out to your new customers where they are swimming. That means focus on mobile ads, not desktop. Additionally, you can go one step further and limit your ads to iOS or Android devices, depending on who hosts your podcast.

Targeting Your Audience

Back in the old days, you would run an ad campaign that would target as many people as possible, with the hope that a certain percentage would pay attention and act on the ad campaign. These days, however, you can target specific demographics in a way that was not possible before. Thus, depending on the content of your podcast, you can potentially find everyone who would thoroughly enjoy it, thus creating higher conversion rates.

For example, if your podcast is about the aviation industry, you will want to target people who have interests within that industry. If you talk about movies, then you will want to target cinephiles and movie buffs. No matter how niche your content is, you can find a market for them. That makes Facebook ads so appealing…the targeting aspect.

If you want to cast a wider net, then Facebook will allow you to market to people based on a vast array of interests. If a specific episodes covers a unique topic (or interest), you may change the targeting based on the episode & the target.

Ad Type & Images

So now that you know who to target and how to track your progress, what do you do about the ad itself? There are two options available to you: image and video ads. Both of them have their strengths and weaknesses, so let’s break them down.

If you have a logo for your podcast, then be sure to use it for branding purposes. However, a logo is not enough to grab people’s attention. You can use images of yourself, your podcast setup, and possibly your guests if you interview other people. If you manage to get a high-profile guest, then use a picture of your guest embedded with your logo.

For the most part, though, image ads have to be bold and captivating to get your audience’s attention. You may want to have a graphic designer create a Facebook ad that elevates your messaging.

Video

As far as advertising goes, video ads are becoming much more popular on Facebook. Perhaps the prevalence of clip-based media such as Snapchat and Instagram is helping to drive this trend, but nonetheless, videos are hot right now.

The best way to create a video ad is to follow this simple formula.

  • Keep it short (10-15 seconds)
  • Talk to your audience directly
  • Pitch your podcast as if you’re selling it as a product
  • Show some behind the scenes footage
  • Make yourself the star

Overall, as long as you can make your video ad engaging and compelling, then your audience will be more apt to tune in. If you are boring or unimaginative, then you will turn people off, which could wind up hurting you more as you become more infamous than famous.

Conclusion

When it comes to making sure that your podcast stands out from the crowd, Facebook advertising can help drive a new loyal audience, and it can help put small independent podcasters successful. At the very least, it will provide you online relevancy…which won’t hurt!  However, the most important thing to remember is that your content has to be ‘ready-for-the-public’, and must have consistency in distribution to provide sustainable value. If you have a terrible podcast or don’t consistently upload fresh content, then no amount of advertising will help you.

In short, produce excellent content on a regular basis, and your audience will grow naturally while using Facebook as a marketing tool.

10 Trends That Make The Podcast Medium Great Again

Posted on by Kurt Laufer

Wow, we’re already half-way through 2017 and it has already been a ‘HUGEEE’ year for on-demand audio as publishers continue to fight for your loyalty & listenership. We’re likely to see more industry consolidation too, which ultimately should make your choice of discovery easier.

The team at TopPodcast.com wanted to take a moment and review, from the perspective of a digital marketer, what we believe are the Top 10 Podcast Trends that are helping make podcasting great again (excuse the non-partisan pun).  Here goes nothing:

1.  Mobile is King, making listening at your fingertips

It’s undeniable the impact the smartphone has had and continues to have on the podcast medium. This certainly has made podcasting readily available to the masses.  Mobile accessibility has exponentially enhanced the trajectory of the industry, with Podcast consumption on smartphones reaching over 80%. This means listening is literally at everyone’s fingertips, where just a few years ago podcast discovery was way more cumbersome.

 

2. Consolidation, Speaking in a Unified Voice, and the Top dogs

With so many confusing choices for audio consumers to stagger through, industry consolidation is upon us…and it’s just a matter of time until dominos start to fall (tick tock tick tock). Just as important will be watching what the big audio and streaming players do (Spotify, Apple, Pandora, Sirius, etc). We already saw Sirius taking a bite out of Pandora (incremental consolidation). Apple has stepped up, announcing that analytics are finally coming. And it’s great to see Spotify curating custom podcasts while watching iHeart invest in people and the platform. Then, there’s the ‘Air Force One’ of the industry , NPR. No matter what the audio powerhouses end up doing, look for the industry to eventually begin to move in a unified voice, consolidating for the better. I also liked the effort of #TryPod, as far as 37 publishers coming together to finally promote the industry…as one! At least that’s a small step in the right direction.

3.  More Reputable Broadcasters from TV & Radio Enter the Podcast Industry

Seeing what broadcasters like Mike Francesa do after his contract ends at WFAN bodes well for podcasting. As mainstream broadcast influencers continue to jump head first into the industry, they’re going to bring ‘tons’ of newpods with them (first-time listeners). Reputable, established broadcasters want relevancy and the clout of having control…hence, creating their own podcast only makes sense. As they jump in (like Bill O’Reilly did), they bring with them massive social media reach. This trend will only enhance podcast listenership, driving revenues, as new broadcasters enter the vast field of podcasting. It’s the ‘monkey-see monkey do’ attitude that is taking hold of the industry.

4.  The Impact of Live Audio & Video

While live audio, via Facebook, provides an opportunity to drive discovery, the question is whether the industry wants to allow Facebook to control delivery. As we know, Facebook often changes algorithms to best impact their selfish revenue streams, so this is a bit of a wild-card. However, YouTube, and repurposing audio continues to be explosive since podcasters & publishers alike can share in the revenue. Any way you slice it, video will impact on-demand audio, especially when it comes to discovery, distribution, and revenue.

5.  Voice Technology Devices Are “Hear” to Stay

How many of you purchased Alexa over the holiday, or the Amazon Echo? There’s no denying the trajectory of voice command technology, and podcast publishers all will align with this technology. Whether it’s speaking to Siri, listening to a podcast on Amazon Echo when you cook, voice technology is here to stay…or should we say ‘hear’ to stay.  And yes, all this voice-activated technology will be available on the dashboard of your car. So, the industry must align with it! And it will enhance discovery, making it less cumbersome to listen and discover your favorite podcast.

6.  Radio & TV Incorporate Podcasting With Their Long-Term Vision

Innovation starts with an entrepreneurial spirit and terrestrial radio companies have found it painfully difficult to embrace change. Watching Spotify, Pandora, and other audio companies drive a digital narrative has been painful for many in the industry.  Our prediction is that you’ll finally see Radio put digital innovation at the top of the food chain, giving them a seat at the table, demanding old-school programmers pivot to where consumers are discovering content. We like what we see at iHeart, especially with the roll-out of their premium app & their focus on a podcast strategy.

In addition, the ‘mainstreaming of podcasting’ is hitting Broadcast Television too. Have microphone, will podcast. Shows like 60 Minutes, Meet the Press, CBS Sunday Morning News, The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and 48 Hours are giving a shot in the arm to the industry. Content can easily be re-purposed, via a podcast. If Radio & TV  promote the hell out of the platform, there’s no limit on how successful they will be in capturing an already large audience to explore their on-demand platforms.

7.   Programmatic Becomes Real in Podcast Advertising Especially for Evergreen Content

There’s no holding back the digital trend towards programmatic advertising, dynamically inserting one-to-one targeted ads, regardless of device, into a show. Spots will be pre-recorded segments that can easily fit into any podcast listening format. Companies like Adswizz are bringing dynamically inserted ads to podcast advertising, strengthening value and life of long-tail podcasts.

Despite incremental advances in programmatic solutions, this is where podcast advertising loses its endearing charm, the one-to-one personal engagement with the host. However, programmatic can help solve delivery problems for shows with long-tails and drive revenues for shows with evergreen content and excess inventory. It can fill capacity, driving revenues effortlessly for the industry. There’s no denying the evolution towards programmatic and the digital demands calling for geo-targeted dynamic inserted ads.  The fact remains that these ads won’t have the same clout of live native ads, but it will help solve inventory issues for long-tail shows. Bottom line, we hope the industry controls access points to this type of advertising as not to diminish CPMs or dilute the live-read charm.

8.  Experiential Marketing & Live Podcasts Work Together

 

Brands love creating compelling content, and nothing does a better job than using live experiences to capture and deploy one’s brand message, which then can be shared virally via social platforms.  Using podcast influencers (podfluencers) makes sense for brands, having ‘live podcasts’ on site. Bringing an ad campaign to life through the extension of traditional advertising syncs up perfectly to podcasting, and the PR & influencer engagement, on-site, adds substantial value that certainly will ignite social sharing.

9.  Native Advertising Continues to Grow

Major brands have embraced native advertising strategies, and nothing works better in the podcasting industry than organic, live reads (endorsements). Brands like Mac Weldon, Blue Apron, and Wix view podcasts hosts as brand ambassadors, to deliver messaging to an audience that wants to hear what the podcaster is saying. The growth of native advertising and driving integrating messaging succinctly across multiple platforms will continue to make podcast advertising highly attractive in 2017. We just have to make some major noise within the digital buying community, advancing a narrative must be heard.

10.  Custom & Branded Content Strategies

Big brands are getting so comfortable with the concept of podcasts, that they’ve started to literally produce their own. Companies like, Netflix, and Prudential have successfully done it, and Slate and Panoply have teams that work with brands to execute this strategy. GE has one of the more established success stories in this space (yes, a 100-year old company like GE), created an eight-episode sci-fi series called The Message. They’ve continued to shape their brand message with another series called “LifeAfter. When companies like GE see the value of podcasts, you know the herd will start following soon.

Final thought, there’s another IMPORTANT fact that is making podcasting great again. As much we are exhausted with the political discourse in the country, it is driving demand for political podcasts like POD SAVE AMERICA. There’s no doubt that news gathering organizations are thriving. Traditional media outlets like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and of course NPR! I could have easily put this paragraph at the top of the list, and made 11 items a part of this story…but 10 made for a better title.

If you’d like to learn what podcast advertising can do for your business, please check out our Podcast Business Center. We’re just getting started!

Oh How We Adore Ourselves…It’s Time To Go Beyond Our Wallls

Posted on by Kurt Laufer

Let’s be clear. I’m not knocking advertising new shows across multiple audio networks. All I’m saying is that the industry has become too reliant on marketing to themselves…the loyal listeners that love on-demand audio.

While we love ourselves and podcasting’s dedicated audience, it’s time to break the walls down and advertise beyond our walls.

Advertising To The Same Audience Won’t Grow the Industry

For conversational purposes only, it seems to me that the industry is far too hesitant to market beyond their own core demographics, an existing echo-chamber that reaches the same audience. Yes, modern technology has sparked an avalanche of growing interest in podcasts, both as a listening audience and for those desiring to host their own show.

The traditional ‘radio show’ or ‘television news’ format allows anyone with a recording device and a microphone to serve as host on a specific topic of interest, targeting a select audience.  However, the key for most new shows is a marketing strategy that distributes its message to a wider, more diverse audience, enhancing discovery.

That’s why, I believe TV & Radio will play a large role in driving a vast new audience to the podcast sector, accelerating the path to $1 Billion in annual ad revenue. Why? They bring a powerful social media platform that will exponentially accelerate discovery, espcially to those that aren’t utilizing on-demand audio platforms.

Television & Radio Can Help Reach A More Diverse Audience

While existing podcast companies & networks seem all too content focusing on communicating with their ‘existing base of podcast listeners’, the ones that were early adapters, I firmly believe other mediums, particularly Television and Radio, are favorably positioned to make huge strides, especially as executives within those organizations begin to understand the revenue streams that can come with a clear, concise podcast advertising strategy.

What’s most exciting for this traditional medium is that they have the ability to drive a new and diverse audience to discover on-demand listening for the first time, effectively providing these loyal listeners an opportunity to discover a new medium.

Since the Serial revolution, the strides publishers are making to connect audiences with the hosts/shows has been unprecedented. Every month, it seems another network or app is being enhanced, upgraded or rolled out.  The demand for podcasting is driving a new revenue renaissance for traditional media outlets, leading to the launch of new podcast studios as well as independents distributing new shows, and branded content podcasts.

Call it the ‘mainstreaming of podcasting‘.  as everyone who’s anybody (media personalities) now want a piece of the pie. Media darlings like NBC’s Chuck Todd, on Meet the Press, is now promoting his podcast after his Sunday show, amplifying it via a powerful Television medium that reaches many that have never listened to a podcast, let alone even know where to find it. You can find it here, on Stitchers network: Meet The Press, and we also have it featured within our 90 for 90, under News & Politics.

The Early Adopters Have Failed to Diversify & Expand the Industry

Yes, existing podcast publishers are harnessing the loyalty that podcast listeners have to the hosts. And we don’t blame them for exploiting this one-to-one relationship for the benefit of enhancing and growing their own platforms, rewarding existing listeners to discover other shows that are of a similar nature or cover an additional topic of interest.

As competition becomes even more fierce, reigniting the interest of this existing community is a necessary task, especially as podcast networks aggressively work to sure-up the loyalty of their own listeners.

But has the industry become too reliant on its existing base of early adapters?

I believe the answer is yes and maybe there’s some complacency built in here. And the lack of risk to use resources to go beyond their marketing comfort zone.  Even though the central focus is giving podcast listeners more options when it comes to engaging with their favorite shows, the effort still misses the mark in diversifying show selections in the community and expanding promotion beyond the walls of the already affluent listener.

Podcast on Podcast Listener Crime

The podcast community widely engages in cross-promotion for various shows that are similar in nature across one network. It is a fairly simple marketing practice where a podcast show host takes a minute or two to discuss another show on the same network. Let’s call it ‘Podcast Listener on Podcast Listener’ crime (I know you probably don’t like the term…sorry).

At times, the show host may elect to air an entire episode of the secondary podcast show as a way to give listeners an idea of what to expect should they tune into that show. Again, they’re only targeting existing listeners, rather than a new and diverse base of prospects.

No doubt, podcast cross promoting is a viable marketing practice that produces positive results within the community.  For that reason, sharing promotional information about another show increases the listening audience ranking for both shows. Cross promotional events can also occur across different networks as well. As the networks see it, they are not in competition with one another but rather working together to strengthen the podcast industry as a whole (iHeart pushes out CBS shows…Spotify pushes out multiple-publisher shows, etc). But again, they are only strengthening their existing audience and doing nothing to expand or diversify it to new listeners. 

The one inherent flaw in podcast cross-promotional activities is the lack of exposing listeners to shows outside of the common status-quo. Cross promoting also does not help draw new listeners to the platform.

Television & Radio Will Make Noise Beyond Our Walls

As media giants (and big brands) continue to enter the marketplace, amplifying and promoting podcasts like 60 minutes via their Play.it platform & Meet the Press will drive a wider audience to discover a love for on-demand listening.

Remember, most of these TV personalities have massive social followers too.

As these shows drive a new first-time audience to discover podcasts, these new listeners hopefully will begin to explore the massive echo-chamber of audio content…pushing the entire industry forward.

The production aspect of a podcast show is fairly easy and inexpensive, especially for shows that re-purposing content or extending content for an ‘after-the-show’ experience. This provides Television and Radio a ‘built-in’ platform to assimilate quickly to the podcasting industry. through existing content, via the podcast medium.

If TV & Radio executives ‘fully embrace’ the podcasting platform, it will do wonders in driving discovery to a new, diverse audience…ultimately driving revenues.

Conclusion

Yes, shows like Serial reaped the reward of cross-promotion on This American Life. But there’s no doubt the viral impact of social media. as well as conversations highlighted on Television & Radio, reaching well beyond the walls of podcasts early adapters, will play a vital role on the acceleration of the industry…and take us to $1 Billion in revenues faster than expected!

Finally, #TryPod ‘Tries’ To Take Industry Beyond Its Walls

Posted on by Kurt Laufer

As you learn more about #TopPodcast, our mission is to clearly propel new listeners to discover a love for on-demand listening. We are aggressively advocating that the industry finally speak beyond its walls expanding far beyond the fabric of its own platform…targeting new listeners (what we call newpods).

Late February, NPR put out a press release that the industry is finally coming together to conduct a unified social media campaign, hoping to drive ‘friends of podcast listeners’ to discover podcasts, via the hashtag #TryPod. While we may not necessarily love the hashtag they’re using (it may increase Tripod sales for Adorama & B&H Photo), we do appreciate the fact that the industry is uniting together to drive awareness. It’s a start!

Why this matter? 

  • Creating a cohesive hashtag to drive awareness is a natural digital strategy that can organically drive discovery, as long as there’s a consistency with a clear motive
  • It demonstrates an industry ready to embrace ‘working together’ in a unified voice, implementing a strategy to go beyond its own walls
  • The underlying notion of using a hashtag aligns with the #TopPodcast vision of driving discovery, so it reinforces what we are doing as an advocate for the industry

What the challenge will be?

  • Telling a friend or posting a hashtag may not be good enough to move the needle. A new listener must act. Will #TryPod drive listens & activations? Maybe, but there’s still so many choices for listeners that it may create more confusion as you see 37 publishers, podcasters, and listeners simultaneously sharing #TryPod hashtags
  • Beyond ‘podfluencers’, podcasters that have powerful social media followings, the industry as a whole lacks a clear social media strategy. A review of many publisher social platforms demonstrates a clear lack of TLC regarding social media marketing. NPR, thankfully, has one…take a look at their massive social reach at the end of this feature
  • Measuring the success of the #TryPod campaign, adhering to the industries wild-wild west theme, will be a crap shoot. Social media is a digital platform. It’s about the analytics. When it comes to measuring success, founding #TryPod innovator’ Israel Smith, who is senior director of promotions at NPR told Adweek, when asked about measuring success said:

 By #trypod overload. When you start to see mentions on social media and Twitter where people are saying, ‘Oh my god I’m so sick of #trypod,’…that’s when we know we succeeded

Hmmm, definitely not a digital marketers answer, for sure. But I totally commend the effort here. While it’s great seeing the industry finally working together, there’s SO MUCH more it can do…when everyone finally chooses to unite together. Hopefully, #TopPodcast can help too.

It’s A Step In The Right Unified Direction

Kudos to NPR & Israel Smith for bringing in 37 publishers to participate. One small step at a time, in an industry trying to find its unified footing! #TryPod —->Make it happen! Using a simple hashtag, however, doesn’t necessarily prove a new social aptitude. But at least it’s a step in the right direction.

JOIN 5.8 Million NPR Followers on FACEBOOK

JOIN 6.76 Million NPR Followers on TWITTER

Read the full press release HERE

Read the Adweek Story HERE

The Impact Facebook’s Live Audio Might Have on Podcasting

Posted on by Kurt Laufer

Let’s think about this concept; Facebook executives have gone on the record in saying that in five years, there’s a chance that the platform as we know it will be all video and no text.  While I personally think that’s aggressive thinking, what does this mean for audio, text, and content distribution?

Last June,  Quartz reported:

In five years time Facebook “will be definitely mobile, it will be probably all video,” said Nicola Mendelsohn, who heads up Facebook’s operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, at a conference in London. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, has already noted that video will be more and more important for the platform. But Mendelsohn went further, suggesting that stats showed the written word becoming all but obsolete, replaced by moving images and speech.

What about audio?

Back in December, Facebook announced a new feature called Live Audio. This delivers an easy interface for those delivering book readings, interviews, and news radio, through ‘live audio’ on Facebook. Contrast this to the Live Video feature that has exploded on Facebook. Similarly, listeners/viewers to live audio sessions can leave reactions in ‘real-time’ to the audio.

Facebook stated in their blog:

We know that sometimes publishers want to tell a story on Facebook with words and not video. We’ve even seen some Pages find creative ways to go live and reach audiences with audio only by using the Facebook Live API or by adding a still image to accompany their audio broadcast.

 

Our new Live Audio option makes it easy to go live with audio only when that’s the broadcaster’s preferred format. We also know that publishers sometimes go live from areas that lack strong network connectivity. Though we alert the broadcaster if their signal is low, Live Audio presents another option for connecting with audiences in real time from low-connectivity areas.

With the explosion of Facebook Live, I’m curious to see the evolution within the podcasting realm and will the podcasters use the platform to their advantage? Is it possible that Facebook could actually transform into a relevant podcasting platform? In our opinion, maybe. But it’s way too early to make any determination as it’s still in the top of the first inning.

There’s no doubt that it has the opportunity to disrupt the industry…favorably. But it comes down to whether or not content creators are going to actually aggressively use the Live Audio platform, thus encouraging new consumption habits. Bottom line, it can expand podcasting to a new audience, for sure, via social methods. Most importantly, it will deliver audio-first content into the newsfeeds of a prospective new audience.

For the time being, only Android products allow a listener to leave the app or lock your phone and continue listening. iOS listeners are only capable of listening while on Facebook.

As Mashable noted,

The concept of broadcasting live audio isn’t new to Facebook. Some publishers have already found ways to do live audio  simply by leaving a still image up on a live video stream on the platform.

In addition, according to publicly released information, publishers are anxiously awaiting to align with Facebook. Radio shows such as “BBC World Service” and “LBC (Leading Britain’s Conversation),” publisher Harper Collins and authors Adam Grant and Britt Bennett will be partnering up with Facebook to test this new feature.

Live Audio Brings Limitless Opportunity for Wide-Range of Content

Techcrunch.com highlighted the impact Live Audio could have:

  1. Radio stations could broadcast their programs
  2. Podcasters could find new online distribution for their episodes
  3. Authors could do live readings of their books
  4. Celebrities could do Q&As without worrying about how they look on camera
  5. News anchors could broadcast audio from disaster zones or areas of crisis where bandwidth may be too overloaded for video streaming
  6. Musicians could broadcast concerts or studio sessions

In our eyes, this looks like a tremendous opportunity for the long-term ability to push podcasting to an entirely new audience. Again, it takes effort and focus, and the industry must expand beyond its comfort zone of distribution platforms. Independents may be more aggressive more so than large publishers, looking for you to utilize their platforms.

Finally, this appears to be a huge opportunity to drive revenues as Facebook develops a revenue sharing platform with publishers & podcasters.  The industry is waiting for a ‘big player’ to make a move. Could this it? Let’s hope it incentives Apple to get moving too!

 

 

The Analytics on Podcast Delivery: Blubrry Went ‘Under The Sheets’

Posted on by Kurt Laufer

As TopPodcast.com was conducting a massive amount of research over the last year, one of the most compelling reports we uncovered was one conducted the Blubrry Team, as they looked at over 35,000 podcasts, and assessed whether users were downloading or streaming their podcasts. If you don’t know who Blubrry is, you should…and we recommend you check them out, especially if you are interested in searching their massive podcast registry/directory.

Editorial Note about Blubrry, from their website: They’ve created a Blubrry Podcast Directory, not trying to compete with other directories. Their main goal is to offer additional distribution points that otherwise are not available to podcasters. With this philosophy, they believe the Blubrry Podcast Directory fills the void where iTunes and podcasting is otherwise unavailable. Blubrry.com is a podcasting community and directory that gives creators the power to make money, get detailed audience measurements and host their audio and video. Whether you are a media creator, advertiser or media consumer, Blubrry can provide the digital media interface.

Now back to the report. It’s a fascinating study, providing tremendous insight not just for industry insiders, but for the individual podcaster, as they learn to understand how and where audio-consumption is taking place.

Late last summer (2016), the report released on the PowerPressPodcast demonstrated:

60% of podcasts are downloaded for playback on-demand

In addition, here’s how they broke everything down:

Four main distribution categories’ of podcast consumption:

1. Mobile Apps Account For 71.6% Of Downloads

While this should also come as no surprise, the majority of podcast consumption comes from mobile apps. Podcast apps work in the background so that you can listen to them with ease and the new podcasts will automatically download. But again, their are SO MANY for consumers to choose from, they often get frustrated (TopPodcast.com can help). The statistics from Blubrry measured over 30 different applications from all of the main app stores including the apps you can download from the store as well as the ones that come standard when you get your phone.

The iOS podcast app that comes with your phone accounts for 39% of mobile app downloads as well as streaming plays.

The app automatically subscribes its users for streaming but does allow them to download the new episodes automatically. About half of the content is downloaded and the other half is streamed.

2. Desktop Apps Account for 13.1% Of Downloads

Ever since the mobile platform has taken off, the percentage of desktop podcast consumption has continued to decline each and every year. They offer almost the exact same services as a mobile app would, except you need to be at your desktop in order to listen to them, so your mobility is limited. Once again, Blubrry measures over 30 desktop apps.

They found that the iTunes desktop application by itself helps to make up about 4/5 of the desktop app consumption.

3. Desktop Browsers Account for 10.7% Of Downloads And Streamed Plays

Overall, desktop web browsers account for a little over 10% of all podcast consumption, which is actually quite impressive when you consider that since 2005, that number has always ranged from 5% to 15%. Desktop browsers provide the user with a chance to listen to the audio right from the web page, the way TopPodcast.com allows you to ‘test drive’ shows on our site, within our Top 200 and our recommended picks. For this particular consumption data, Blubrry measured 15 different desktop web browsers such as Safari and Firefox.

In this situation, about 2/3 of the consumption is done by streaming while the remaining 1/3 is done through downloads. For this particular consumption data, Blubrry measured 15 different desktop web browsers such as Safari and Firefox.

4. Mobile Browsers and TV Apps Account For 4.6% of Streamed Plays

This percentage has been on the rise over the last several years but has recently started to plateau in terms of growth. The mobile browsers provide a great way to listen to the podcast within the browsers. If you do not have a phone that is capable of browsing, you can use the podcast URLS to playback in a built-in media player app. Playback in the browser or the media player results in streamed play.

Blubrry measured 25 different TV applications and mobile browsers such as AppleTV and Roku for the TV applications and Chrome on Android and Windows Mobile for the mobile browsers.

There are some mobile browsers that do allow you to download the content, but it is so rarely used that it is excluded from the data.

Measuring Stream Plays Vs. Downloads

download_apps_vs_stream_play_apps

When it comes to measuring the difference between a streamed podcast and a downloaded podcast, they are typically measured the same. When a player plays from the URL, it progressively downloads the file chunks. Those chunks then provide the player with a way to allow playback immediately by downloading the content in small chunks. One file will often yield many download requests at one time when the progressive download technique is being used.

Podcast downloads use a similar method known as byte range, which is the request made to download the data in chunks. Commonly, you will see a byte range request when downloading from a mobile application designed for podcasting. Since both a downloaded podcast and a streamed podcast appear the same on the server, both are measured the same way.

I hope this information has proven to be beneficial, and we thank Blubrry for providing such powerful analytics.  I hope we summarized it accurately for your edification purposes.

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