According to a survey of radio managers from a few years ago conducted by Borrell Associates for RAB, 73% of broadcast radio stations have created a podcast. That’s a little higher than the results we’ve gotten when we asked similar questions in polls recently. However, that number is also a little misleading because some of that is just radio shows making their terrestrial audio available on demand and calling that a podcast. In my experience far less than half of the radio broadcasters I come in contact with are podcasting on a regular basis. For those who are still resistant to jump on board, here are five reasons why every radio broadcaster should be podcasting.
1) Podcasts utilize a skillset we already have. While I don’t agree with it, I understand the pushback from on-air talent when we asked them to create other digital content like blogs. Writing is a vastly different skillset than performing on the air. Podcasting, however, is the one kind of digital content radio people have been training for their whole careers. Yes, it requires us to get out of tight and bright broadcaster mode, relax and be more candid and authentic. But, once we get comfortable with that it’s a pretty easy medium for radio broadcasters to transition to.
2) Podcasts are an affordable way to extend our brands. Podcasting costs next to nothing for broadcasters to record because we already have most of the equipment. Although I would argue cameras should be added if the studios don’t have them already because all podcasts should be audio/video at this point. YouTube is now the biggest platform for consuming podcasts and only half of all podcasts are taking advantage of that by using full-length video. Podcasts are also very inexpensive to publish to all the places people already get their podcasts, less than $20 per month to use any one of these podcast hosting sites or a handful of others.
3) Podcasts feed content into and out of our radio shows. Most radio shows have one or two breaks a day they struggle to keep to a reasonable length on the air. That’s generally a sign of content that’s better suited for a podcast where we do a deep dive on it and really give it time to breathe. But podcasts also end up creating tons of content that can be fed into our shows and highlighted on the air to drive traffic back to the full conversation on the podcast. At this point all interviews should be done on a podcast first, audio and video, so they can be more conversational and in-depth. That leads to better individual moments that are more likely to go viral on social media and simultaneously protects and improves the on-air product because live radio interviews rarely stay within our narrow on-air time constraints.
4) Podcast growth is still booming. Over 619 million people tune into podcasts worldwide. In the US, they are particularly popular. Currently 55% of Americans (158 million people) listen to podcasts every month. Younger demographics, that radio struggles to connect with, are the most avid consumers of podcasts with 66% of US adults aged 12 to 34 listening monthly.
5) Podcasts make money. U.S. podcast ad spending is on track to exceed $3 billion in 2026. That’s because the ads work. 44% of weekly podcast listeners have purchased a product or service after hearing an ad. That’s not surprising. Podcasts utilize what we all know in radio to be one of our most valuable types of advertising, talent endorsements. It also doesn’t take as long to start generating some revenue from podcasts as people think. Especially for radio podcasts. Most podcasters start with zero value to advertisers until they build up their downloads and their digital footprint on other platforms. Radio podcasts have value from day one because we can promote them in on-air promos and mentions that already have value and push clips of them out on our social platforms that already have a following. Plus, since we’re setup to sell locally already it doesn’t take many downloads to start generating value at the local level and we already have the model for selling those shows on-site.
For these reasons and many more, I not only believe 100% of radio on-air talent should be podcasting already. I also think there’s an argument for anyone else in the building with an aptitude for it to start podcasting including CEOs and GMS. Plus, stations renting out their radio studios for podcasting when they’re not in use is a great way for radio to create some incremental revenue and possibly identify a few content creators within our markets to hire or partner with.
What do you think? What are some other reasons radio broadcasters should podcast or what are some challenges you’ve run into with podcasting? Comment below or email me at Andy@RadioStationConsultant.com.
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