Todd Storch is the General Sales Manager for radio station 93.3 The Bone, in Dallas and author of the blog Business Thoughts.  He was on one of the panels at the Portable Media Conference & Podcasting Expo (PME) in Ontario, California, Nov. 11-12, 2005.  In this interview with Tom Parish, owner of 4webresults.com, Todd talks about that experience and the potential impact on the radio business and for the purpose of stimulating conversation on the issues and opportunities presented by podcasting.

Download Podcast 26MB

I was surprised and a bit concerned by how well those at the Expo understood the value of talent and content for Podcasting.  Podcasting has become a serious alternative to mainstream radio.  I was concerned because I sit at a station every day, and these people were really in the know, very passionate.

The panel I moderated and spoke on (“How Podcasting is Changing Traditional Radio”) had two people from NPR: the Director of Engineering and the Vice President of Programming.  Many public radio stations have “gotten it” about Podcasting and are well ahead of mainstream radio in that regard. Also on that panel was the host of Inside Mac Radio, a podcast station in the San Francisco area, and Mark Ramsey, who is a consultant to the radio business and founder of Radio Marketing Nexus.

Radio stations need to figure out how to use this time-shifted medium to complement what we in the radio business do.

I just read an article in the Nov. 15 RAIN (Radio and Internet Newsletter). They make a couple of points:

1. Traditional broadcasters must have unique plans to succeed.
2. Podcasts boost listener loyalty for terrestrial radio. 

That’s from a study by Bridge Ratings. Results show that recall of a station is improved due to listening to Podcasts. They surveyed more than 4,000 listeners, ages 16 and up, in 6 major markets.  Found a 15% jump in TSL per week.  I.e., more people are listening longer when stations offer Podcasts, and stations’ ratings increased.

What strategies are needed to make this happen?  How do you bridge the gap between listener and sponsor?  How do you turn the listener toward the sponsor so the sponsor makes money?  How do you turn Podcasting into results for the sponsor/client?

For one, you have to have a champion for Podcasting within the radio station.  You have to make Podcasting important.  I.e., do tests, demonstrate that it works. It’s really early, so now’s a great time to be testing, to make mistakes and learn how to fix them.  It’s a great time for leading-edge sponsors to come aboard.

Podcasting is a grassroots movement, and it’s growing. Mainstream media personnel who are into Podcasting will see that there’s a way to form a closer relationship between bloggers, Podcasters, radio, TV and newspapers.  Between listeners, viewers and readers of all those media.

Dave Slusher, one of the original Podcasters, believes that Podcasting furthers human connections. He had a great presentation at PME.  Six weeks before, he put up a notice on his site, asking folks to email him pictures of themselves.  He turned it into a slide show, which ran during his presentation.  The message was: “Big radio has forgotten about these people.” 

“There’s a deep thirst for authenticity, and mass media can’t provide that drink,” adds Slusher.  That’s not true of every station, but there’s truth in his statement. I mean, how do you get one-on-one with a listener when you’re trying to reach 500,000?  Podcasters can do that.

MTV wanted to increase their listener base.  Meanwhile, they were being barraged by audience produced FLASH animations and amateur niche movies. It dawned on MTV that the cost of using these was tiny compared to paying for them to be produced by professionals.  And, when you use audience produced content they tell their friends, etc. - it’s viral marketing at its best.

Radio stations that want to see if Podcasting works could test it during off hours, like from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m.  They could test both the people side of the issue, as well as the technology side. And people will call their friends when they know they’re going to be on the air.  Listenership will increase for the shows.

The neat thing is that so far, no one knows what’s “right” or what’s “wrong.” It’s experimental, and an extension of a radio station that can accomplish results for an advertiser.

If you’re going to join Podcasting, make the decision, create a plan and go with it.  There’s no manual. It won’t be something you pick up in a magazine article.  If it were, Podcasting would already be mainstream.  Now’s the time to get in and test it and grow.  Now’s the time to be a pioneer.