SLS: Podcast Diversity and Discovery Issues?

Spreaker Live Show #121 for Aug 2nd, 2017Show Duration: 52 minutesHost: Rob Greenlee, Head of Content, Spreaker @robgreenlee - rob(at)spreaker(dotcom)Co-Host: Alex Exum, Host of “The Exum Experience Podcast” on SpreakerWe stream LIVE every Weds at 3 Pacific /6pm EST from SpreakerLiveShow.comShow Today:-Does Podcasting have Diversity and Discovery Issues?-What Changes are Coming and Needed in Radio Now?-Report from the http://TheConclave.com Radio Conference in Minneapolis, MN last week - -Last minute planning for http://PodcastMovement.com in August, will be in Anaheim, CA Aug 22-26-I am excited about our new square cover art of the show, I like to refresh that every so often-Spreaker’s *WordPress plugin*: released version 1.4.1. No changes, just a version bump after testing it with the new WP major version (4.8). https://wordpress.org/plugins/spreaker-shortcode/On the show today:We discuss “Does Podcasting have a Discovery Issue?”https://blog.audioboom.com/lack-of-diversity-in-podcast-market-stems-from-issue-of-discoverability-according-to-audioboom-d5421b92f096YouGov, reveals that 76% of minority Americans listen to podcasts less than once a week, with 60% not listening at all.Findings show that 3 in 4 minority Americans listen to podcasts less than once a week, partly due to not knowing where to find them, as well as being unaware of podcasts that cover the diverse topics they’re interested in. In order to address this discrepancy and make podcasts more appealing to the masses, there’s a need to create more diverse content, identify and nurture undiscovered minority podcast talent, bring more niche shows to the top of the charts, and make podcasts more convenient for on-the-go listeners.Create more diverse content: Among minority Americans who think podcasts could become more mainstream to a diverse audience, almost half (46%) believe that creating more content around topics that appeal to diverse audiences would help.Content creators need to remember that the term “minorities” doesn’t just refer to race — it also encompasses interests and lifestyles.This also includes working with different content producers and up-and-coming hosts that will inevitably bring a different perspective for an entirely new segment of listeners.Discover undiscovered podcast talent: According to the report, among US minorities who believe that podcasts can be made more mainstream to a diverse audience, 31% think that finding undiscovered podcast talent (i.e. hosts, producers, etc.) would make them more listened to.US minorities who believe that podcasts can be made more mainstream to a diverse audience, 34% think using technology to boost the ease of discovering diverse podcasts would help solve the issue.Make podcasts convenient, especially for women on-the-go: 25% of women surveyed care about the length of the podcast, citing that they would only engage with podcasts that can be listened to in full, while on the go???The facts are Podcasts are pretty easy to discover today, depending on your definition of Discovery? Not knowing what app to use is an understanding and awareness issue, not content discovery issue.We discuss “What Changes are Coming and Needed in Radio Now?”Radio industry needs the leadership and views from the millennials generation in stations to reach and connect with the now largest age segment of the USA market. Given the fact that the boomer generation. Millennials are different and are shifting to other types of content and on demand audio aka podcasts. We are in a period of change for radio and how people access the audio content, the transition from over air to digital gradually converging on each other. I am hearing a conflicting message on stage at the conclave, one is that we are fine as we have 93% of people listening to radio and then others are saying that radio is under threat from digital distribution.Some are also saying radio industry is slowly disappearing and becoming audio experience industry. Clearly public radio is ahead of commercial radio in it transition to on demand digital and podcasting distribution.Unless radio transitions to digital platforms for live and on demand distribution then stations will be in trouble. The key factor in this potential disaster for radio with the fast growing Apple’s CarPlay and Android Auto platforms that are being deployed in most new cars today.The other interesting topic at the event was a session titled “Here’s to The Rulebreakers”. This session highlighted the continuing need for creative out of the box content that shock and engage listeners. The concept of a “Shock Jock” is not so much embraced by the current on demand podcasting market. It seems like this could be the viral content opportunity that is missing from the podcasting space. Spreaker Links:http://Adore.fmhttp://blog.spreaker.comhttp://SpreakerLiveShow.comhttps://Spreaker.comEmail: rob at spreaker.comSend Questions and Comments to:Twitter: http://twitter.com/spreaker using #SpreakerLiveTwitter: http://twitter.com/robgreenleeTwitter: http://twitter.com/alexeum Tech Support: support at spreaker.com