“Don’t Make Podcast Radio” Oxford Road CEO Pleads to Networks at Podcast Movement; YouTube Automates Podcast; Podcast Listeners Long for the Holidays

“Don’t make podcast ‘radio.’” – Dan Granger, Oxford Road CEO & Founder

This week on the Media Roundtable: Special Edition, we present a rebroadcast of Oxford Road CEO Dan Granger‘s address from Podcast Movement 2023, “A Decade of Defiance,” with participation from Oxford Road founding team members, Gary Brown and Miranda Romano. For the full effect, we highly recommend checking out the video version on YouTube–there are some great visuals along the way you won’t want to miss.

This may be the most important message we’ve put out to the market to date.

The talk offers insights gathered from hard-won experience and Oxford Road’s first ever Chief Audio Officer Summit held earlier this year. We’re tracing Podcasting’s disruptive origins while taking today’s new challenges (from Brand Safety to AI) as an opportunity to disrupt ourselves again. Because if we don’t, we risk turning Podcasts into “Radio 2.0.” Let’s dig in.

• Brokering Trust – “Not everything that is artificial belongs in an authentic medium like audio,” says Dan. Podcasting is an industry built on trust– an intimate connection from host to audience, sharing what’s important to them.  What guidelines can we use with programmatic and synth voices to improve the inefficient, genuine connections that make audio special, without destroying it?
• Responsible, Not Restricted – One of the best things about podcasts? They give space to voices and communities that didn’t exist in radio. The goal isn’t to create unnecessary restrictions on what people can say but to accurately label who’s being responsible with their platforms. Tools like Seekr’s Civility Score give advertisers an “audio nutrition label” for better transparency about who they’re supporting.
• Giving Podcast Its Fair Share ️ – “Podcasting will never capture its full share of media allocation without third party verification,” says Miranda Romano (VP Media Operations, Oxford Road). This, along with listen-through rates and placement transparency, are the pillars of clear measurement standards that will help grow the industry past $2B.

If you were at Podcast Movement in August, this is a perfect opportunity to watch our presentation again, without a negroni induced hangover. If you missed this year’s event, for the full effect, work on getting a negroni hangover, and to digest all the industry insights distilled from a “decade of defiance” in the audio advertising industry.

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The Classifieds

Beauty Queen’s Story Gets Royal Treatment

From the true crime behemoth, Dateline, comes Murder in Apartment 12, the new limited series telling the fascinating true story of a small town in crisis, and the murder that shook residents to the core. The show is intricately produced and well researched, featuring interviews with key witnesses and experts. The story is full of twists and turns, false starts, baffling courtroom drama, and plenty of intrigue to keep listeners hooked.
This Midroll true crime series has been climbing the charts and staying steady throughout October, bringing in a high level of impressions and an admirable amount of reach. For anyone interested in tune-in opportunities with a female skew audience, look no further than this Keith Morrison hosted offering. We suspect you need a motive to test Q4 dollars, so get a clue and click below.

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Podcast Mic Records the Call of the Wild 

The newest addition to the Backyard Ventures network brings The Wild Times Podcast the adventure and excitement of the great outdoors to your ears. Hosted by outdoorsman Forrest Galante with co-hosts Patrick DeLuca and Peter Fitzer, this simulcast option covers a wide array of topics focused on conservation, animal science, and environmental science. Of course, they often divert onto random tangents, which add a friendly level of comedy and camaraderie, making for both an educational and easy listening experience. Lovers of Galante’s work discovering eight formerly thought extinct animals, and appearing on Discovery shows are the key demo for this opportunity. This podcast currently has a loyal fanbase, featuring lifelong learners who skew heavily male. It’s more wise than wild to test this podcast and to do so, simply click the link below.

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In Case You Missed It

The Dubya B & Acast Strike Deal

This week in; “of course they did”, Acast announced an exclusive partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery to distribute and monetize select cable network brand podcasts, including; Food Network, TLC, HGTV, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, and the Travel Channel. Acast has successfully handled Investigation Discovery content since 2020, including many true crime hits. Acast’s collaboration with WB Discovery offers the potential to engage new audiences through content from high affinity cable networks, with brandsafe content that advertisers are seeking… Just make sure you’re with a measurement partner that can measure Acast placements.

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YouTube’s Music App Sets Pods to Auto Mode

YouTube Music has introduced auto downloading for podcasts, aligning with Google’s push to expand its podcast presence on the platform. Users can now enable auto download to have current podcast episodes stored offline. Although there’s no auto delete feature, it’s expected to be added soon. According to the article, Google plans to migrate “Google Podcasts” users to YouTube Music, shifting its focus toward growing the audience on YouTube. YouTube is already one of the most popular platforms for consuming podcast content. The auto download feature now makes it even easier for consumers to get their Podcast content via YouTube.

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Forget the Pumpkin Spice – It’s Candy Cane Time

We know you don’t want to think about the holidays until the turkey leftovers are put away, but there’s a reason to get jolly now! As reported in Radio Ink, a recent festive study by Veritonic found that 76% of US respondents who regularly listen to podcasts and streaming audio expect holiday themed ads now. Of the categories surveyed, the top three subjects respondents want to hear ads for are beauty, health & fitness, and travel & local amusements. 63% of respondents say during the end-of-year, the majority of podcast and streaming audio listening will be holiday themed episodes and/or playlists. More than half of respondents mentioned they tune into podcast ads for gift ideas. They are even more receptive when these ads include holiday music and soundscapes. So, while it may seem cliché and a bit cringe, if it’s effective, it’s effective.

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#SaveTheLiveReads

You Down with OKOP?

Sit back and relax, OKURRR, as we talk about the awesome hosts of OKOP with Sam and John. In their recent ad for Zocdoc, Sam and John show they know how to make an audience pay attention. With some Cardi B flare and groovy background music, the hosts nail many of the Audiolytics main components. They smashed the areas of demonstration and substantiation by talking about how difficult it was to get an orthodontist before using the Zocdoc app. And then BAM… the golden buzzer, finding one in 15 seconds on Zocdoc! But the unsung hero of this read is in the countless hours behind the scenes, crafting an ad that sounds like it’s “off the cuff”, and onboarding the hosts so they can talk about their experience like they were talking to a friend.

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