PODCASTING, A FRESH MEDIUM

Prepared for Clear Channel Radio

San Francisco, California

Prepared by Jeremy Gonzalez

Group Leader Group 3

April 18, 2015

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TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................. iii

Purpose ........................................................................................................................................................................... iii Findings ........................................................................................................................................................................... iii Conclusions & Recommendation ......................................................................................................................... iii

INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 1 Background .................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Purpose ............................................................................................................................................................................ 1 Significance ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Scope ................................................................................................................................................................................. 2 Organization ................................................................................................................................................................... 2

FINDINGS ........................................................................................................................................................... 3 1 in 3 Americans Have Listened to a Podcast .................................................................................................. 3

Who .............................................................................................................................................................................. 3 When............................................................................................................................................................................ 4

63% Of Listeners Buy Something A Host Mentions ..................................................................................... 6 Successful Podcasts ............................................................................................................................................... 6

Anyone With A Little Ambition And Elbow Grease Can Make A Terrific Podcast .......................... 7 Equipment ................................................................................................................................................................. 7 Production................................................................................................................................................................. 7 Examples .................................................................................................................................................................... 7 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................... 8

Summary of Problems and Procedures ............................................................................................................. 8 Summary of Findings ................................................................................................................................................. 8 Conclusions..................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................................................... 8

Works Cited .................................................................................................................................................... iv Appendix .......................................................................................................................................................... iv

Checklist..v

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1- Number of Podcast Listeners ................................................................................................. 3

Figure 2 - Awareness and Listener Percentages for 2006 & 2012 ............................................. 4

Figure 3 - Where People are Listening .................................................................................................. 4

Figure 4 - Share of Ear .................................................................................................................................. 5

Figure 5 - What Podcasters Have to Say ............................................................................................... 6

Figure 6 - List of Business Podcasts ........................................................................................................ 7

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Purpose

The purpose of this report is to look at podcasting as an alternative medium for Business Now.

This report goes through why Clear Channel Radio needs a new medium and describes what

podcasting is.

Findings

Data collected primarily from Edison Research shows that Podcasting is a growing medium.

Findings demonstrate that every year more and more Americans become exposed to podcasts

and that they use them at specific times. Findings show that in conjunction with social media

podcasts have become successful. Findings also reveal that turning Business Now into a podcast

will cost very little additional capital.

Conclusions & Recommendation

Based on the findings, it is recommended that Clear Channel Radio invest into making Business

Now a podcast in addition to its live radio presence. Also, that Clear Channel Radio use social

media in order to gain more views and engage with the audience.

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INTRODUCTION

Background

Clear Channel Radio has a current live radio show Business Now that is currently

suffering from poor ratings, and low viewership. Clear Channel Radio has asked Group 3 to

conduct research to find an alternative distribution method for Business Now.

Podcasting will be the alternative method discussed in this report. Podcasting is a

digital medium that consists of an episodic series of audio, video, digital radio, PDF, or ePub

files subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed online to a

computer or mobile device (Podcasting, 2015). Podcasting was first known as audio

blogging in the 1980s. At the time the software didnt exist to automatically download files

until the release of Audio Feast in 2004. That service was episodic and helped formed the

way for iPodderX later that year. Apple eventually shut down iPodderX over trademark

issues, but that was the first service to be recognized as a podcast. In June 2005 Apple

added a podcast section to the iTunes store, creating the necessary framework for everyone

to organize and subscribe to podcasts.

Purpose

This report will cover podcasting as an alternative distribution method for Business

now.

Significance

Podcasting is a special kind of service and is worth coverage in this report. Adam

Sachs puts podcasting in perspective when he said, There is no TV show where every

episode is a pilot. It doesnt exist anywhere else (Greenfield, 2015).

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Scope

This report will look at who listens to podcasts, and the success of other business

podcasts. It will also go into how Clear Channel Radio can create a podcast.

Organization

The report will go through its findings about who listens to podcasts and successful

podcasts, before then explaining how podcasts are made. Then, the report will be

summarized in a conclusion about the usefulness of podcasts. Finally, ending with

recommendations for making Business Now a podcast.

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FINDINGS

1 in 3 Americans Have Listened to a Podcast

Who

According to recent Edison research, nearly one in three Americans have listened to

a podcast (Figure 1). Figure 1 also gives a good look at the demographic that listens to

podcasts, mostly men ages 12- 34 years old.

Figure 1- Number of Podcast Listeners

Infographic from Marketing Podcasts.com

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Figure 2, put together from data off Edison Research, shows that the percentages of

consumers who know about and who listen to podcasts have increased substantially since

2006.

Figure 2 - Awareness and Listener Percentages for 2006 & 2012

Awareness (% of consumers)

% Of people who have listened to a podcast

2006 22% 11% 2012 45% 29% % CHANGE 105% 163% Put together by Jeremy from (Martin, 2012)

When

According to Figure 3, an infographic made by Edison Research, shows that people

are listening to podcasts while in their car, at the gym, and when they are doing chores. The

figure also shows that people have plenty of time to listen when they are doing these

activities.

Figure 3 - Where People are Listening

Infographic from Marketing Podcasts.com

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Figure 4, Also by Edison Research, shows that podcasts are starting to take a majority of the

time that people spend listening to any audio source.

Figure 4 - Share of Ear

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63% Of Listeners Buy Something A Host Mentions

Successful Podcasts

Many successful podcasters think that podcasting is an excellent medium. Figure 5

shows what some of the prominent podcasters have to say about it.

Figure 5 - What Podcasters Have to Say

Podcasting People What is podcastings biggest problem?

How do you over come the problem?

Whats something big about podcasting?

Brendan Monaghan Attracting the audience. Gain access to a broader audience through a variety of strategies including promotion across large platforms like iTunes, Stitcher, social media and, most importantly, within shows themselves."

It will become something big, if you put in the work.

Alex Blumberg, CEO of PRX

Getting the word out. By utilizing your regular audience on social media.

Were at the very beginning of how [podcasting] is enabling innovation

Adam Sachs, CEO of podcast network Earwolf

Understating what the audience needs.

Using social media. Every time we roll out a show with an inventive format, it surprises us at how well it does

Steve Smith Podcasting's problem has never been about listener enthusiasm, but instead scale and discovery--audiences finding what they want and advertisers reaching enough listeners to make it worth buying against.

Listen to the audience you have.

Stick to it and things will get awesome.

Put together by Jeremy from 20 things memo (and made up)

Alex Blumberg, CEO of PRX, says, Were at the very beginning of how [podcasting] is

enabling innovation. Adam Sachs, CEO of podcast network Earwolf says, Every time we

roll out a show with an inventive format, it surprises us at how well it does. Podcasts also

have the potential to be good marketing since, One survey of 300,000 podcast listeners

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found that 63% bought some thing a host had promoted on a show (Steve Smith's Money

Shot: SLATE FORMS PREMIUM PODCAST NETWORK TO FIND SCALE, 2015).

Anyone With A Little Ambition And Elbow Grease Can Make A Terrific Podcast

Equipment

Basic equipment will suffice. All that is needed is an usb microphone connected to a

computer. Any one will do, but for quality something like Blue Microphones four-star Spark

Digital ($205) (Donovan, 2014). Free recording software Audacity is available for capturing

the podcast.

Production

Once the equipment is procured, open up and record the audio file. Then the file

needs to be uploaded to an RSS feed website. If needed Libsyn.com is a hosting site that

costs $15 per month (SOP, 2012). Then its easy to finish it off and get it into the best

location, the iTunes store, by going to the podcasting section and clicking the submit a

podcast button.

Examples

Figure 6 is a list of prominent successful business podcast that can be used to

compare quality.

Figure 6 - List of Business Podcasts

1. All In: Elevating Your Leadership Game

2. As Told by Nomads

3. John Lee Dumas' Entrepreneur on Fire

4. This is Your Life

5. Learning with Leslie

6. Smart Passive Insider

7. Ambitious Entrepreneur show

8. The Entrepreneur Effect

9. Social Triggers Inside

10. The New Business Podcast

Put together by Jeremy from (Newland, 2014)

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SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary of Problems and Procedures

Clear Channel Radios business radio show, Business Now, is suffering from poor

viewership. They wish to find alternative mediums that can grow their show. Clear Channel

has asked group 3 to describe how to take advantage of a new medium in order to produce

more views and or more revenue.

Summary of Findings

Findings reveal that podcasting is an excellent growing medium that can help

Business Now reach a greater audience. Findings also show that podcasting with

collaboration in social media can result in higher viewership. Findings support that

podcasting is growing and will be a viable medium for Business Now to reach a greater

audience base.

Conclusions

Podcasting will help Business Now gain more viewership. It will be simple to make it

a podcast, as well as a live radio show. Clear Channel should invest in the necessary

software and internet infrastructure so that it can utilize podcasting effectively and gain the

increases that the company wants.

Recommendations

Podcasting should be explored as an additional medium. It will be simple to take the

existing radio show on a digital file and upload it to a RSS feed site. From there it will be

simple to get into iTunes. Through collaboration with social media and the existing

audience Business Now will be able to grow.

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Works Cited

Donovan, J. (2014, July 17). HOW TO MAKE A SUCCESSFUL PODCAST.

Retrieved March 6, 2015, from Digital Trends:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/how-to/how-to-make-a-podcast/

Greenfield, R. (2015). Pod Power. Fast Company (193), 43-46.

History pf podcasting. (2015, March 31). Retrieved April 6, 2015, from

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_podcasting

Martin, T. (2012, DEcember 20). Marketing At The Speed of Sound. Retrieved

April 6, 2015, from Converse Digital:

http://www.conversedigital.com/digital-strategy/podcasting-statistics-

trends-future

Newland, M. (2014, December 3). Top 25 Business Podcasts for Entrepreneurs.

Retrieved April 6, 2015, from Entrepeneur:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240202

Podcasting. (2015, March 31). Retrieved April 6, 2015, from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast

SOP. (2012). The 27 Steps To Get Your Podcast Into iTunes. Retrieved April 6,

2015, from School of podcasting: http://schoolofpodcasting.com/the-27-

steps-to-get-your-podcast-into-itunes/

Steve Smith's Money Shot: SLATE FORMS PREMIUM PODCAST NETWORK TO

FIND SCALE. (2015). Media Industry Newsletter 8. Business Source Complete,

EBSCOhost .

Appendix