This guest column by Larry Rosin, President of Edison Research, was originally published on The Infinite Dial blog.
A story of great potential significance appeared in today’s radio/audio trades. Eddie “PiolĂn” Sotelo, one of the most popular morning talents in America and leader of the once top-rated show in Los Angeles, signed to do a daily podcast show with PodcastOne.
While this is likely not quite the kind of turning point that the hiring of Howard Stern was for Sirius Satellite Radio, it has the possibility to greatly raise the profile of podcasting among Hispanics.
Until now, podcasting is much better known among Whites and African-Americans than among the Hispanic population. Witness the graph below from our Infinite Dial 2015 report:
Awareness of Podcasting is being significantly held back by the low number among Hispanics. And while Hispanics are slightly less likely to be online or to have smartphones, this does not explain nearly all of the difference in the graph above. The better explanation is a lack of compelling programming, especially in Spanish. The hiring of a Spanish Radio superstar might change things.