The Birthright Thing

There was a little stir caused at the radio convention in Dallas last week (the "Radio Show," named by someone who clearly doesn't quite grasp the value of SEO) when iHeartRadio CEO Bob Pittman proclaimed that "podcasting is our birthright," "our" referring to the radio industry. Radio people took it as a positive thing, an affirmation that radio does, indeed, have a place in the future of audio entertainment, a "we got this" announcement. Podcasting people took it as bigfooting, the radio people barging into their domain and announcing that the Big Boys are in charge now.

It doesn't really matter. Podcasting is a medium that defies generalizations, and since it's clearly where talk radio, and spoken word material, is going, maybe we'd better get used to that.

First, Pittman's right in what I think he was trying to communicate. Radio, in the general industry sense, has been creating audio content longer than anyone else. There are many examples of radio entities being among the top percentile of podcasting, from iHeart and NPR way up at the top of the charts to successes like Dave Ramsey's show translating to the podcast world, Bonneville's KSL in Salt Lake City breaking out with a true crime hit and the former radio hosts like Adam Carolla and Marc Maron adapting to the new format. The radio industry has the ability to make great on-demand content, and there are plenty of examples of that already. Plus, established relationships with advertisers may help radio be a player in branded content, one of the hottest segments of podcasting.

There's also no debate at all that public radio has not only successfully ventured into podcasting, but has had the single most powerful and pervasive influence on the relatively new medium. It's not just that from "This American Life" and "Serial" to "Up First" and many other shows, public radio shows and their progeny have consistently populated the top of whatever measurement charts you might consult. It's that the public radio style has become the default for so many other shows, and commercial podcast companies like Gimlet Media have been built on the public radio content model.

But -- and there's always a but -- any concern that this constitutes a "takeover" of podcasting would have to presume that there's one way of succeeding in the medium. It also has to assume that there's a limit to how many shows and producers can succeed in podcasting. I don't think either is true. Sure, if iHeartRadio can get Will Ferrell to do a podcast or NPR or other public radio producers can use broadcast to promote their on-demand wares, they'll show up among the as-yet-tiny percentage of profitable hits. But so can Joe Rogan. So can all of those "Bachelor" recaps. So can shows with pro wrestlers (shout to Chris Jericho, who was great on his Radio Show panel) and reality show "stars" and comedians. So can shows with people of whom you've yet to hear, regular people with good content and good ideas. Yes, the number of podcasts with minuscule, unsaleable download figures is in six figures, and hundreds of thousands of shows have come and gone (as if that's not true for radio and TV shows as well). We are, even over a decade into podcasting, still at the stage where measurement and monetization remain embryonic.

Moreover, there will always be room for hobbyists and dabblers. There is really no barrier to entry. If that translates to "too many choices," too much of an avalanche of content to make discovery easy, well, TV has a similar situation with all the streaming services like Netflix and Hulu and Amazon and all the networks' and studios' emerging subscription services. Too much TV? How, then, are shows becoming hits? Same as what podcasting will require: marketing. That's an advantage radio will have as long as people still listen to broadcasts, but it's hardly the only, or best, way to get the word out about a new piece of content. Podcasting success will be available to those who create great content AND do whatever they can to get the word out to entice listeners to check it out.

Which returns us to the "birthright" thing. In the sense that radio has developed the tools to be successful in podcasting, it's true. In the sense that it preordains dominance in that medium, well, not so fast. In the sense that anyone has an absolute line on how this is all going to play out, yeah, well, nah.

Oh, and one more thing. That name? "Radio Show?" There was so much talk about podcasting and streaming at this year's convention, I think "Radio" might not be the right term. Might as well follow the trend and make it "Audio Show." I'd go to that.

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Good to see everyone in Dallas. Also, Friday is National Taco Day, so for all of you celebrating, may you be blessed with plenty of pico de gallo.

Perry Michael Simon
Vice President/Editor, News-Talk-Sports and Podcast
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