RAIN Notes: Thursday, June 13
— Feels Like Home (RESOUND)
— Cheap + Beer = Frightful Hilarity (Evergreen Podcasts)
— Exotic Global Streaming (NTS)
Steve Goldstein: Podcasting Captures Younger Audiences In An Aging Media World
“Recently, I’ve had several speaking engagements with media groups,” Steve Goldstein says in his latest guest column, “and there is a surefire way to get an instant gasp from the crowd – show them the median ages of the major media platforms.” The median age of TV viewing has risen from 18-49, to 65 and older. Some cable channels are younger, but Steve is aiming his point at podcasting, where the mean listenerage is 34. Podcasting is the new talk radio for the younger demo. (Commercial radio is median-58.) There is a Fountain of Youth story here for advertisers, is the point. “The plates are shifting” — and this is an important read. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: Wednesday, June 12
— Feels Like Home (Amplitude Media Partners)
— $500,000 No More (Bloomberg)
— Foundational Findings (Edison Research)
James Cridland’s International Radio Trends: Capital – Taylor’s Version
by James Cridland
In his latest edition of International Radio Trends, guest columnist James Cridland listens (with his young daughter) to a pop-up Taylor Swift station in the UK. It’s a Capital contemporary hits station. and is well programmed, James says, and “shows the power of DAB as a flexible radio transmission platform, and more. Also: The UK general election, a BBC radio flashback, a demonstration of dynamic advertising, and more. Continue Reading
Triton Digital ouvre un bureau à Paris. (Triton. Office. Paris.)
Triton Digital is announcing it will be opening a Paris office to work more closely with European publishers. The announcement comes a week before the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. It is Triton’s fourth European office. Continue Reading
Streaming audio up, AM/FM down in new 2024 local advertising forecast from Borrell
Local media analytics company Borrell Associates has released a new forecast of local media advertising. This report is a follow-up to an initial forecast released in November and is, in the company’s words, “triggered by new information from Borrell’s principal sources.” We learn that streaming audio is a high achiever in local advertising expenditures. Click for lots of detail, revealing graphs, and the source link. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: Friday, June 7
— “AM, AM not” (Roger Lanctot)
— It Makes One Dizzy (Spotify)
— Voice On Voice (Voice123)
TuneIn ventures into social media; partners with Discord and its 200M user base
“There’s a new way to listen to music, podcasts, and news with your friends,” gaming and community platform Discord proclaims on its Twitter account. That new way is venerable streaming platform TuneIn. Continue Reading
Podcast audience is big … and under-counted
Westwood One has released the Spring 2024 Podcast Download report. This continuing study seeks to reveal podcast consumer profiles, preferences, and habits. Collaborators in this ongoing project are Cumulus Podcast Network and Signal Hill Insights. In our first summary dive, we present the study’s key findings — two sets of them, actually.
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Podcast ad rate stability continues; small and big campaigns remain bargains. (Libsyn Ads)
The average cost per thousand (CPM) for podcast advertising in April was nearly identical to March , dipping only five cents, or two-tenths of one percent. But there is also something remarkable in this month’s report: Small campaigns reach a new low in average cost. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s International Radio Trends: Momentum 24, and the BBC’s ads
by James Cridland
In his latest edition of International Radio Trends, guest columnist James Cridland summarizes the Christian Music Broadcasters conference “a radio conference like no other.” — dancing before sessions, bands playing between speakers — “never such a positive and vocal audience. (And he “never felt so old, so British, so reserved.”) Then, back to a key topic lately in this column: The BBC’s plan to insert ads into podcasts. He calls it “penalising the UK public.” Plus much more from Australia and Canada. It’s not called “International” for nothing. Continue Reading
Spotify raises subscription rates; pitches innovation, features, and “best experience”
National news organizations are headlining Spotify news this morning: The international streaming giant will raise its premium subscription price. One national publication puts the pricing decision in the context of “Streaming Inflation Continues.” Spotify raised its subscription rates a year ago; before that was a 12-year stretch of stable pricing. Continue Reading