Hey, Kids, Let’s Put On A Show

It occurred to me when the controversy over the new Podcast Academy awards broke out last week that I've never won an award. Not even a participation ribbon. I have friends with Emmy Awards, Marconi Awards, Golden Mike Awards (as in radio, not the Golden Mics that podcasters will win), all sorts of awards, Best in Show, probably. Not me. If I had a mantle over the fireplace, it would be empty of awards. I'm okay with that; they don't give Pulitzers for what I do, and it wouldn't make much of a difference for me anyway.

Or maybe it would, because the foundation of the Podcast Academy is that podcasting needs an awards show, something like the Oscars and Emmys and Grammys and Golden Globes and People's Choice and, I don't know, Teen Choice Awards. The reasoning is that a) you're not perceived as big time if you don't have that self-celebration every year to get attention, and b) that attention leads to bigger audiences and greater success. I don't know about that; while the movies that win Oscars may see a bump in box office, I doubt that moviegoers go to movies because of the Oscars. The biggest box office goes to superhero franchises, not "Parasite," no matter how good the Oscar winner might be. And the decision to go to a movie (or stream it) isn't based on the existence of the Oscars; it's "I'm bored. Wanna go see a movie?"

Yet the publicity doesn't hurt, so I understand why there might be a desire to do an awards show with Hollywood glitz, even if it remains weird to see that applied to a medium that's really a lot scruffier and unpretentious than the rest of show business. Radio's in the same category: The Marconis are not remotely the Oscars, and it feels more like when you're a kid and you have to put on a suit and tie for your bar mitzvah. (Yeah, I'm still traumatized, what of it?) We clean up okay, but nobody's mistaking us for the adults.

I'm not, by the way, minimizing the part of the Podcast Academy controversy involving the perception that it marks another moment at which well-funded companies with top-ranking podcasts are telling the independents upon which the industry was built that it's time to move over and let the big dogs take over. The Podcast Academy folks are doing their best to assuage those fears, but a healthy dose of skepticism is understandable. Plus, there seems to be a split even among those big dogs, hence the lack of participation from the radio companies involved in podcasting (at least one of which has its own podcast awards, of course). There'll have to be a lot of assurances issued and concrete steps taken to unite the factions. I'll be happy to mediate.

For me, at least, it's more about the overall perception of the industries, and I don't think the awards show idea is the ultimate answer, even if it's not in itself a bad thing to draw attention to the medium. There are already awards shows and hall of fames for podcasting and radio, some taking a reasonable stab at slicking up the business. I see the real answer to the perception problem as being rooted in a more simple premise: Create great content people will talk about and -- voila! -- problem solved. That, of course, is not easy. You can't just make a show and assume it'll be the next "Serial," or put someone on the radio as the "next Howard Stern." You can develop talent, create unique premises, market the hell out of something, give it awards, but the public will decide what they want, not an awards show or an academy. Awards are a part of marketing, and marketing is going to be a critical element of things for both podcasting and radio moving forward -- cutting through the clutter and all that -- but, like everything else in the media and marketing and anything consumer-focused, it's all a crap shoot.

So, sure, do a podcast awards show on national TV with Hollywood production values. Radio can do the same thing. Just don't think it's going to work magic on its own. There's no substitute for a big viral hit, and there's no single sure-shot formula for creating one of those.

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Maybe I haven't won an award, but my award to you (okay, that's a terrible segue, sorry) is Talk Topics, the show prep column at All Access News-Talk-Sports, with stuff you can talk about on your radio show or podcast or in those moments when you're muttering to yourself. Just click here and/or follow the Talk Topics Twitter feed at @talktopics with every story individually linked to the appropriate item. Then check out "10 Questions With..." WWSR (93.1 The Fan)/Lima, Ohio PD and host Garrett Searight, who has great insight into what works for local sports talk in a non-pro-sports market and tells the story of having to find the right host to replace a market institution who passed away.

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My podcast is "The Evening Bulletin with Perry Michael Simon," a quick (two minutes or less) daily thing, and you can get it by just clicking here, which should take you directly to the page or app that will work best for your device. It's also on Spotify; just search for it there, or ask for it on your Amazon Alexa-enabled device by saying "Alexa, play the Evening Bulletin podcast."

You can follow my personal Twitter account at @pmsimon, and my Instagram account (same handle, @pmsimon) as well. And you can find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pmsimon, and at pmsimon.com.

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Hey, it's my wife's birthday! Give her a present you don't even have to pay for by following her on Twitter at @fransimonrpv. (She doesn't know I'm doing this, and she'll be confused by all the new followers. Should be fun.) Follow me, too, at @pmsimon, if you don't already. And next week, I'll be at the BSM Summit in New York. See you there. And the following week, I'm at Talk Show Boot Camp in Cincinnati, moderating a roundtable panel with a great lineup including WSB/Atlanta's Drew Anderssen, iHeartMedia's Chris Berry, WBAL/Baltimore's Scott Masteller, KNX/Los Angeles' Ken Charles, WINS/New York's Lee Harris, and Alpha Media/Portland's Bruce Collins; and then I'll be at All Access' own Worldwide Radio Summit in Burbank March 25-27, where I'll be moderating a panel as well. Fun times!

Perry Michael Simon
Vice President/Editor, News-Talk-Sports and Podcast
AllAccess.com
psimon@allaccess.com
www.facebook.com/pmsimon
Twitter @pmsimon
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