Influencer Weekend Edition; Network Releases First Ever AI Podcast Hosted By “Actual” Historical Figures; Make A Splash with the #2 Branded Podcast

According to your feedback (thank you to those who took the survey), most of our readers appreciate the recapping of our Media Roundtable Podcast content. Still, many of you are missing some of the core industry news and opportunities you’ve come to expect from our little publication.

With this in mind, we bring you our very first, Influencer Special Weekend Edition. Moving forward, during periods like this, where we’re releasing new podcast content at a higher-than-normal cadence, we’ll add a special edition like the one here today.

As always, thank you for reading, and please share your feedback on how we can make these special weekend editions even better. Have a great weekend; we’re back to our regularly scheduled content next week.

The Classifieds

#2 Branded Podcast

Brands from GE to McDonald’s are creating their own original podcast content, with more and more jumping on the bandwagon every month. Traditionally these Branded Podcasts do not allow outside advertisers, but that’s all going down the drain. Colorectal cancer screening company Cologuard is opening up its show, Thinking Outside the Box, to outside advertisers for the first time. The emotional program features Colorguard’s mascot, Little CG, sharing test results with recent customers in an unedited and unscripted format. The podcast is experiencing massive growth and seems to be appealing to aging boomers and those with a low-fiber diet. If that’s your audience, don’t let this opportunity get shipped off like a Cologard box; click the link below to learn more.

Get The Deal

ALF Nostalgic Pod Goes Deeper Than You Think

Listeners get to journey back to the good old days of NBC’s Must-Watch TV, with this newest podcast launch from iHeart Media featuring everyone’s favorite alien lifeform. Original ALF cast members Gordon Shumway (ALF) and Lucky The Cat have reunited to launch the new podcast, Live from Melmack, which will recap all 5 seasons of the landmark TV show. GenX’rs and Boomers alike will love digging into plot summations, inside jokes, and breakdowns of their favorite shared memories and moments like the first time the two met and ALF tried to eat Lucky, or the years after the sitcom ended and the two fell on hard times. The show also features interviews with former cast members, including Max Wright, Anne Schedeen, Andrea Elson, and Benji Gregory, who opened up on a recent episode about the shocking antics he and ALF would get into when the cameras stopped rolling. This is a no-brainer for any client that works well on TV & Film podcasts or has a significant skew towards a weirdo Boomer/Gen X audience. So before you get up for that final snack, click below to learn more about iHeart’s out-of-this-world new offering.

Get The Deal

In Case You Missed It

AI Takes Giant Leap in Solving Radio Attribution

Audio attribution has been a hot topic lately because technology is changing the way marketers are measuring the effectiveness of their campaigns at a faster-than-ever rate. But while pixels have given advertisers a more digital-like view of ad performance on Podcasts and Streaming Audio, Terrestrial Radio has been left with decades-old methods–until now. Analysts from five top US radio networks have joined forces to create a new, completely transparent attribution method that replaces pixels, promo codes, and surveys–they call it “HonorSystemAI.” Each Monday, station reps email the verified accounting of what they think their campaigns brought in the previous week to their advertisers. “The data is infallible,” says Herb Tarlek, Sales Manager of WKRP in Cincinnati, OH, “we trust it because it has AI in the name.” Oxford Road has yet to launch any tests, but advertisers willing to pay the $5 CPM upcharge can partner with us to explore this new frontier by emailing us HERE.

Oprah Lands 4-Figure Podcast Deal

The slowing economy is affecting everyone, but perhaps none as much as celebrities looking to sunset their careers with fat podcast deals. Even Oprah is affected. After months of shopping for a new deal with her OWN Podcast Network, the media mogul is reportedly in talks with Spotify to secure a “mid-4-figure deal” with the streaming giant. “We placed a lot of big bets over the past few years; we’re going to slow play this one,” a representative from Spotify recently said in a company press release. Will the days of multi-million dollar mergers return to the Podcast space? The Influencer will keep you apprised.

Podcasters Unlock Unforeseen Audiences

YouTube is the next big thing in Podcast but why? Industry insiders say the key was hiding in plain sight all along. Virgil Spiker, who hosts Wondery’s popular travel podcast Where’s The Greyhound Station? says he found a “create button” just up and to the right in his browser window. Spiker immediately shared the news with his podcast community, and the word quickly spread. “I had no idea that’s how they did it,” podcast pioneer Marc Maron said on a recent episode, “but I’ve quadrupled my audience all because of this damn button.” How are you leveraging the massive podcast growth on YouTube? If you’re not, the answer may be as simple as emailing the team at Oxford Road.

AI Brings Mark Twain Back From the Dead

Wouldn’t it be exciting to hear what thought leaders of the past would have to say about everything happening in the world today? AI has made it possible, and the folks over the historical startup network HistoPOD launched their experiment with Twain & Simple, the weekly news podcast hosted by American author and humorist Mark Twain. While there are no actual recordings of the famous author, historical linguist experts have recreated what Twain would have sounded like using AI, and the results are uncanny. Oxford Road recently sponsored the first episode of this landmark show on behalf of our client, Fast Growing Trees, and the ad sounds like it was pulled from the pages of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Want to join us in making history by digging up those from the past and having them endorse whatever we’d like? We’d like to help.

Listen Here

OXFORd In The News

What Was Your First Concert?

The Brown Lounge is the best interview show not on your radar…yet. Hosted by Oxford Road’s Director of Growth, Gary Brown, The Brown Lounge has entertained and informed Oxford Road employees for years and now has been picked up by Netflix for an 8-episode test with guests like Kieth Richards, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Dame Judi Dench to name a few. The Influencer interviewed Gary, who says he’s “scared and excited at the same time”, and “really hoping for a season 2 because [he’s] already spent the money.” To RSVP for Oxford Road’s launch party Friday, May 5th, at the actual Brown Lounge in Sherman Oaks, CA, click here.

If you’ve read this far, thank you!

The Influencer is a production from the team at Oxford Road.
If you like our sometimes sassy, mostly informed POVs on the wonderful world of audio advertising, you should see what we do for our clients.

Interested in seeing how we could help your business?
Contact us at influencer@oxfordroad.com!