PODCASTING, A FRESH MEDIUM

Prepared for
Clear Channel Radio
San Francisco, California

Prepared by
Jeremy Gonzalez
Group Leader
Group 3

April 18, 2015

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

ii

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.

iii

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).

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.

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

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

2006
2012
% CHANGE

Awareness (% of
consumers)
22%
45%
105%

% Of people who have

listened to a podcast
11%
29%
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

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

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?

Brendan Monaghan

Attracting the audience.

Alex Blumberg, CEO of

PRX

Getting the word out.

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."
By utilizing your regular
audience on social
media.

Adam Sachs, CEO of

podcast network
Earwolf

Understating what the

audience needs.

Using social media.

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.

Whats something
big about
podcasting?
It will become
something big, if
you put in the
work.

Were at the very

beginning of how
[podcasting] is
enabling
innovation
Every time we roll
out a show with an
inventive format, it
surprises us at
how well it does
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

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)

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.

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-statisticstrends-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-27steps-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

iv