Outside Outside-The-Box

What if we've been looking at this all wrong?

What if we've been thinking inside the box all along, even when we thought we were being cutting edge and radical?

That was my reaction when Dan Le Batard and John Skipper announced that the destination for Le Batard's show wasn't a radio network or satellite service or podcast network but would instead be DraftKings, which is not just sponsoring the content but will make the distribution arrangements for the show and its related podcasts. Instead of making a deal with the usual suspects, they went with a company whose primary business isn't radio or television. Wherever the show lands -- whether DraftKings makes a deal with a syndicator, or with satellite, or distributes the show itself by streaming, or syndicates the show on its own or with VSiN, which it also now owns -- it will find its audience.

We are conditioned to think that if you do a radio show, you need to make a direct deal with one of the big radio companies. You need an iHeart, an Enter... er, Audacy, a traditional radio operator. If you do a podcast, and unless you're the biggest of the independent shows, you want to align with Spotify or Wondery or NPR or PodcastOne or any of the big networks. It's always been binary -- you do it alone, or you do it with an established company in the desired medium. I admit, that was how I saw the game, too.

Now, we see a third way, and maybe there were signs all along. Take branded content podcasts, and, yes, they're often really infomercials, but not always. The content companies are developing those shows not for a podcast network but for the client, whether it's a flat-out half-hour multiple-episode ad or a series like Trader Joe's that tells interesting stories that happen to be about the client or one of the shows that aren't about the client at all but carry its brand. Interested listeners can find those shows the same way they get any other podcast, but the intermediary isn't always a podcast network. Really, it's the client's desire to be attached to that content that drives the creation and distribution. And to the listener, it doesn't matter where it's coming from.

What this portends is that the possibilities for audio content distribution are wider than we might have assumed, and not just for someone like Le Batard who's an established entity with a large built-in following. (Or Barstool Sports, which was outright sold to Penn National, another sports betting and casino operation.) We think of the radio chains and podcast companies as how things are done, but there might be opportunity to produce content -- not just branded content podcasts, but entire stations, streaming or broadcast -- for companies you wouldn't think of as "radio" or "podcast" operations. Hey, you know... doesn't Red Bull have its own streaming station? Yes, it does.

I've seen some debate over the use of "audio" instead of "radio" to refer to this industry, as if the word is a cover-up intended to deceive. It isn't; it's a reflection of how the audience doesn't care if it's FM, a stream, or podcasts, or if it's coming through a radio, a phone, or a smart speaker. It's all one thing, they don't really call it anything in particular, and "audio" covers it all. What's different to me is that the blurring of lines has come to the business side of things, and the possibilities are huge. What the Meadowlark-DraftKings deal tells us is that the competition isn't just among traditional radio companies or companies that declare themselves podcast networks. Any company can do audio and video with or without a media partner. Perhaps instead of sending your airchecks to radio programmers, you should be developing content and business plans and approaching businesses looking to attach their name to quality programming and maybe make a few bucks in the process.

There might just be more opportunity for you than we thought. As Stugotz would say, how 'bout THAT?

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Whether you do a regular ol' radio show or podcast or video or whatever, if it involves you talking, you need material. And you'll find fresh things to talk about at All Access' unimaginatively-named show prep column Talk Topics. You want that. So click here and/or follow the Talk Topics Twitter feed at @talktopics with every story individually linked to the appropriate item.

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For years, I've used this tag section of the column to promote my upcoming convention coverage and appearances, but other than the virtual shows like the All Access Audio Summit, it's been a long time since I've hit the road for those things. But we're coming up on a few -- Podcast Movement, Morning Show Boot Camp, the NAB Show/Radio Show, CES 2022 -- that are planning to go back to in-person events, and I'm wondering how you feel about that. I'm fully immunized now, but I'm still on the fence about whether it's too soon to travel and too soon to go to a convention with hundreds or thousands of people in confined spaces. If you're making those same decisions, let me know what you're thinking. As much as I want to get back to normal, I'm also a little nervous about it. And you?

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