AUGUST 12, 2019 RADIOINK•COM 31
to engage a listener base that has a world
of new content at its fingertips.
Rob Greenlee: I am not sure on that,
but radio should be thinking all-digital
moving into the future, as that is where
everything is moving to. Podcasting
is certainly where the energy is in the
audio space right now, for many reasons
that are reflective of bigger trends in
society, culture, and technology. Where
they wind up in innings is up to radio to
decide, but one thing I do know is that
not all local Talk radio stations will sur-
vive the generational shift to digital for
spoken word audio.
The other major struggle will be
the internal radio battle around local,
national, and global content creation
and consumption. Can radio keep local
alive with podcasting? That’s still an
unanswered question that some are try-
ing to figure out. I think scale of audi-
ence is key to local.
Dave Beasing: I think radio is on its own
20-yard line. Just kidding. I’m not sure
precisely where radio would fit in either
analogy. Radio isn’t really in the same
game as podcasting, and that’s a prob-
lem for both. We need better and more
uniform measurement that posts all
audio consumption on the same score-
board.
Radio Ink: Name three things you see
radio doing well in the podcasting space
(and explain why).
Dave Beasing: Several companies are
investing heavily in podcasting on a
national basis. Their affiliated studios
aren’t finding a lot of synergies with
the local radio markets, but it’s exciting
that they’re investing. Meanwhile, local
radio is sending explorers to check out
uncharted territories like the Podcast
Movement convention. But it’s time to
send settlers, not just Lewis and Clark.
Elsie Escobar: Radio has built-in struc-
ture. Podcasting tends to be too free at
times and misses out on being clean,
precise, and on point. Radio offers to
the inherent freedom of podcasting an
opportunity to refine content by adding
a bit more structure.
Radio has marketing built into its
system. It has a massive advantage in
understanding the art of marketing and
promotion. Radio has history. You’d be
hard-pressed to find someone in the
world that does not know what radio
is. Maybe the younger generation, like
my daughters, don’t quite know what
radio is versus other on demand audio,
whether it be as streaming music or
downloading podcasts, but for the most
part, everyone knows radio!Tine Nole: Let me start with what they’re
not doing well.
1) They don’t seem to understand
that podcasts are far more intimate
than radio. Radio was the most intimate
medium, until podcasts came along.
Think about it: earbuds in your ears, lis-
tening to a voice for a half hour or more
at a time — which is how most people
listen. That’s intimate — as opposed to
in a noisy car with your ears far from
the speaker. Radio programmers haven’t
understood that, as far as I can hear, so
they just repurpose radio content and
call it a podcast.
2) They haven’t figured out that pod-
casts are sellable! There’s money there,
and stations employ old school salespeo-
ple who don’t know how to sell podcast,
and so they’re really missing the boat.
What some stations are getting right:
1) Stations like KIRO Radio in Seattle
are using their talented professionals tocreate shows that aren’t at all radio but
that speak to the passions and skills of
their talent — that works in this medium!
2) I don’t have three things.Matt Cundill: 1) Promotion of podcasts.
It’s no coincidence that in Canada,
Edison Research’s latest Share of
Ear showed there was a significant
jump in monthly podcast listening for
35-54-year-olds. Companies like Corus
and Rogers, which both created podcast
divisions in 2018, heavily promoted their
podcasts and I believe had a hand in
moving that number from 28 percent to
36 percent.
2) Becoming involved. It’s great to see
more and more radio people at podcast
conferences. When I went to my first
Podcast Movement in Chicago, I think
there were between 60 and 75 people
from radio. Involvement can range from
creating a podcast or creating networks
to partnering with an established pod-
cast group.
3) This space reserved for what radio
is going to do next in the podcast space.
(There’s a lot more radio can be doing.)Shannon Hernandez: 1) High-quality
audio output. This should be a no-
brainer, but radio stations have 100 per-
cent access to the best equipment in the
world, and there’s no doubt that their
audio can come off sounding profes-Dave Beasing, CEO/Founder, Sound That BRANDS