Last September I wrote about how to do Podcasting. The latest RAJAR figures, which document all sorts of listening behaviour, have just been released. The BBC news website has made this the top news item on the entertainment page. Now admittedly this is a slow news Sunday at the start of the summer holidays, but Podcasting really is big news. The BBC article however draws some very odd conclusions that obscure the proper headlines.
- They suggest that those listening to Podcasts has jumped from 3.8 million to 6 million since 2016. This is true but misses the fact that it has been a steady climb in listening every quarter.
- Based on research by Acast the BBC claims that “Millenials” (16 -34 age group) make up the bulk of podcast listeners. A quick look at the RAJAR figures suggests this doesn’t tell the whole story. Yes the two demographics that make up this group are the largest share of users but the 35-54 age band are on a par with the 15-24 & 25-34 ranges. 55+ lag behind but is a growing market. Let’s remember that Acast want to sell advertising to podcast listeners and that their document reflects this.
- Quoting Hannah Verdier who reviews Podcasts for The Guardian and Rowan Slaney, who writes The Guardian’s Podcast column (spotting a theme here yet?) The BBC article the proceeds to recommend a very narrow range of podcasts aimed squarely at the young folks while protesting that their recommendations aren’t part of the “London media bubble”.
All this totally fails to grasp the true impact of podcasting. I’m 54, subscribe regularly to ten Podcasts and listen occasionally to at least another ten. I won’t suddenly stop next February when I turn 55. Rajar point out that 72% of listening is on a phone and over half consumed while traveling or working. So Podcasting is supplanting “live” radio, and the BBC itself recognises that and can take a large share of the credit for Podcasting’s growth. The charts quoted in their own article miss the BBC’s dominance of the medium, it is their future as well as ours. The highest placed non BBC show (4th) is “My Dad Wrote a Porno” which is very funny, but run by a BBC DJ. ITV’s Love Island is next, with the long running Joe Rogan show after that.
The point of Podcasting is choice. Choose when you want to listen, choose your subject, choose often from multiple offers within that subject. The Tour De France is on at present, my preference is for The Cycling Podcast, but I’m also listening to the BBC’s Bespoke and Eurosport’s Bradley Wiggins show on occasion. Recent proof of the way that Podcasting is changing the landscape comes from another BBC Podcast. the Grenfell Tower Inquiry reports every day that the inquiry sits. Providing this depth of reporting on a news show would not be possible, but as this inquiry may be one of the most important things happening in Britain at the moment it deserves to be heard widely and often.
So, the BBC reports on Podcasting, a genre it dominates and does brilliantly, misses the point that ANYONE can Podcast, if it’s good it will find an audience, if it isn’t it will wither quickly. They also fail to spot the depth and breadth of Podcasting. As reported by Podcast Insights there are over 550,000 Podcasts and more than 18.5 million episodes on iTunes, if you can’t find something in that lot you really are hard to please.
I will post some of my favourite Podcasts on Twitter. Follow me @sellingservTim to pick up some places to start your Podcast journey.
