My winner\/loser scenario is a David and Goliath story, still in its early stages but picking up
\nserious steam, embedded in a larger conflict between two colossal mediums. I am interested
\nprimarily in podcasts, but before digging into podcasts specifically we need to step back and see
\nthe larger picture, a face-off between two mediums, with terrestrial radio on one hand and
\nstreaming services, including streaming radio, on the other.<\/p>\n
Terrestrial radio is a perennial juggernaut that has weathered numerous death threats
\nover the last century, including the advent of television and the music video. With 89% of the
\npopulation listening at least once a week in 2019 (1), we can decidedly say that\u00a0 radio is alive and
\nnot evaporating anytime soon. However, that being said, ad spending on terrestrial radio in the
\nU.S. fell from $20.8 billion in 2006 to $17.6 billion last year(2); likewise, the percentage of weekly
\nlisteners has been decreasing ever so slightly from 92% in 2009 to 89% in 2019(3). Meanwhile,
\nthe percentage of people in the U.S. listening to streaming content has blossomed from 12% in
\n2007 to 60% in 2019(4), with younger demographics, ages 16-34, spending significantly more
\ntime listening to music on streaming services than on terrestrial radio(5).<\/p>\n
As for nonmusical content, monthly podcast listenership in 2018 was estimated at 73
\nmillion, or 26% of U.S. listenership, accounting for roughly 40% of online audio overall(6). That
\nnumber is expected to nearly double by 2022, increasing to 132 million(7), with podcast
\nadvertising revenues breaking $1 billion in 2021(8). While I could not find much data for terrestrial
\ntalk radio in terms of advertising revenue, the terrestrial \u201cTalk\u201d format was down by 12.5% in
\nterms of average number of listeners in 2018(9). As online audio content continues its ascent with
\npodcasts lending serious momentum to the movement, who are the real winners and losers?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Podcasts as a medium were brought into the world by Apple in 2005 under visionary CEO Steve
\nJobs. At the time, the concept was so new that Jobs struggled to describe it,<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s sort of like TiVo for radio, for your iPod,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just the \u2018Wayne\u2019s World\u2019 of
\nradio, but real radio is jumping onto this.\u201d(10)<\/p>\n
Indeed real radio is finally jumping onto it, and in a big way; however, some of the
\nbiggest players have paid a hefty price in their effort to adapt. America\u2019s two largest radio
\ncompanies, iHeart Media and Cumulus Media, both recently filed for bankruptcy due to
\noverreaching acquisitions(11). While both bankruptcies are somewhat self-inflicted and influenced
\nby the 2008 market crash, both companies cite difficulties imposed by new forms of streaming
\naudio competition(12). Indeed, no small part of both companies\u2019 acquisitional burdens were
\naccumulated in an effort to keep up with emerging formats, and this year both companies
\ncontinue to invest in podcasting(13). Time will tell if they are too big to fail (it seems like
\niHeartMedia is bouncing back as it prepares for an IPO). Likewise, time will tell whether there
\nwill always be a space for the little guy or if he will be lost in a deluge of premium content from
\nthe big conglomerates. But for now, there is still a case to be made that Wayne\u2019s World is
\nwinning, albeit in a guerilla fashion, forcing the bigger players to invest billions in an effort to
\nkeep pace.<\/p>\n
With low barrier to entry, streaming services have always been a space open to the little
\nguy, a largely unregulated space that allows room for the weird, thereby becoming a hotbed for
\nthe innovative and groundbreaking. While radio listeners have access to a limited range of
\nregulated content at specific times in specific places, podcasts listeners can choose from a
\npractically infinite variety of subjects at anytime, anywhere they have access to data. Indeed,
\npodcasts offer not just a variety of subject matter but also a variety of formats and experiences
\nthat are only beginning to be explored from games, to driving tours, to how-to\u2019s, to micro \u201cshorts\u201d
\nlike 5 minute news updates, the possibilities abound.<\/p>\n
As bigger players move into the podcasting space, they would do well to take cues from
\nthe successes of their idiosyncratic precursors, taking advantage of opportunities for innovation
\nand not trying to duplicate the experience of terrestrial radio in a different space. This holds true
\nnot only for producing content but also for monetizing that content. While podcasting has 40% of
\nthe listenership of online audio overall, it brings in less than 15% of ad revenue(14). Podcasts
\nhave traditionally sought alternative means of funding in crowdsourcing and subscriptions. It will
\nbe interesting to see if the bigger players can adapt or whether they will stick to their traditional
\ntactics which may or may not be effective in this space.<\/p>\n
1 PEW Research Center, \u201cAudio and Podcasting Fact Sheet\u201d, 2019,
\nwww.journalism.org\/fact-sheet\/audio-and-podcasting, Accessed September 2019.
\n2Pollack, Juddan, \u201cRadio\u2019s Health Is Better Than You Think, But What\u2019s The Long-Term Prognosis?\u201d, 2018,
\nhttps:\/\/adage.com\/article\/media\/mixed-signals-radio-s-health\/313110, Accessed September 2019.
\n3 PEW Research Center, \u201cAudio and Podcasting Fact Sheet\u201d, 2019.
\n4 Ibid.
\n5 Music Business Association. (2018). Share of time spent listening to music via selected sources in the United States
\nas of July 2018, by age group . Statista . Statista Inc.. Accessed: September 24, 2019.
\nhttps:\/\/www-statista-com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu\/statistics\/442330\/time-spent-listening-to-music-usa\/
\n6 Edison Research’s Infinite Dial,
\nhttps:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/billrosenblatt\/2019\/06\/09\/podcast-ad-revenue-continues-to-grow-b
\nut-growth-is-slowing-down\/#3d2c3fd73f94
\n7Activate. (2018). Number of podcast listeners in the United States from 2014 to 2022 (in millions) . Statista . Statista
\nInc. Accessed: September 24, 2019.
\nhttps:\/\/www-statista-com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu\/statistics\/786826\/podcast-listeners-in-the-us \/
\n8\u201cFY 2018 Podcast Ad Revenue Study: A Detailed Analysis of the US Podcast Advertising Industry\u201d, prepared by
\npWc, June 2019, https:\/\/www.iab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Full-Year-2018-IABPodcast-
\nAd-Rev-Study_5.29.19_vFinal.pdf Accessed: September 24, 2019.
\n9 Triton Digital. (2019). Change in the average number of radio listeners in the United States in December 2018, by
\nformat . Statista . Statista Inc.. Accessed: September 24, 2019.
\nhttps:\/\/www-statista-com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu\/statistics\/378707\/change-radio-average-number-listeners-by-for
\nmat-usa\/
\n10\u201cHerrman, John, \u201cPodcasts Surge, but Producers Fear Apple Isn\u2019t Listening\u201d, The New York Times , May 7, 2016,
\nwww.nytimes.com\/2016\/05\/08\/business\/media\/podcasts-surge-apple.html, Accessed: September 24, 2019.
\n11MacIntyre, Hugh, \u201cBankruptcy Has Come To Both Of America’s Largest Radio Companies\u201d, Forbes , March 8, 2018,
\nwww.forbes.com\/sites\/hughmcintyre\/2018\/03\/08\/bankruptcy-has-come-to-both-of-americas-largest-radio-companies\/
\n#67ccc21872e8, Accessed: September 24, 2019.
\n12Ibid .
\n13\u201cWondery Creates Podcast-Radio Alliance With Cumulus Media\u201d, Inside Radio, May 3, 2019,
\nhttp:\/\/www.insideradio.com\/free\/wondery-creates-podcast-radio-alliance-with-cumulus-media\/article_31b512e2-6de4-
\n11e9-96e0-b755cbc05aee.html, Accessed: September 24, 2019.14Rosenblatt, Bill, \u201cNew Study Shows Limits Of Ad Revenue For Podcasts \u201d, Forbes , June 9, 2019,
\nhttps:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/billrosenblatt\/2019\/06\/09\/podcast-ad-revenue-continues-to-grow-but-growthis-
\nslowing-down\/#7fa469783f94, Accessed: September 24, 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My winner\/loser scenario is a David and Goliath story, still in its early stages but picking up serious steam, embedded in a larger conflict between two colossal mediums. I am interested primarily in podcasts, but before digging into podcasts specifically we need to step back and see the larger picture, a face-off between two mediums, with terrestrial radio on one hand and streaming services, including streaming radio, on the other.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12572,"featured_media":9482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[1082,2459,2460],"class_list":["post-9474","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-streaming","category-podcasting","category-radio","hck-taxonomy-industry-media-and-broadcasting","hck-taxonomy-country-united-states"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/digitization-winners-and-losers\/","yoast_head":"\n