James Cridland, Editor of Podnews, looked back at the last twelve months in podcasting trends, news, and growth at RadioDays Asia, then looked forward to the kind of industry that should be built for the future.
Changes in the previous 12 months were:
– Spotify cut 200 podcast jobs, 2% of the workforce due to lack of revenue for the investment made.
– Youtube podcasting is coming to Asia.
– On demand audio is now more popular in the US than live audio.
In the UK podcast listening has grown dramatically since 2015. The recent survey data (RAJAR MIDAS, March 23) show the following trends:
– 93% of people listen to podcasts alone
– 78% of all podcast listening is done on a mobile phone
– 63% listen to more than half of their downloaded podcasts
– 62% of all podcast listening is done while at home
According to Cridland, goals for the future of podcasting should be:
– more shows people want to hear
– more focus needs to be on the amount of time people are spending on engagement with podcasts, rather than just downloads, as this can be monitised
– Spotify needs to be based on a consumption model.
Cridland ended with a warning about locking down too much behind single platforms and paywalls. “The history of podcasting has always been open. New features can be added including RSS which keeps podcasts open. Be careful of the BBC model which stations like Danish Radio have adopted, as they are locking down content and have a closed model. The focus needs to be on the open podcast model because it helps growth.”
James Cridland’s overview was followed by a series of experts from the Asia region who gave their analysis of the Asia market.
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