Media’s Impact on SOTU: Veteran Journalist Mosheh Oinounou Breaks It Down; “Save the Live Read”; Oxford CEO Challenges Industry @ Hot Pod NYC

Six months ago, few might have believed that Vladimir Putin would invade Ukraine, uniting US Democrats and Republicans, as well as most of the world against him, California would lift mask mandates, and that CNN would undergo a regime change and pivot from heavy opinion to unbiased news reporting.

Suddenly we are in a different world, and for those of us seeking signs of hope that our polarized nation will not be undone by our differences, we have some recent signs of encouragement. Following last night’s State of the Union address where Biden presented his four-point, unity agenda, this week’s episode of The Media Roundtable offer’s a fifth point for Biden’s Plan: Mosheh Oinounou.

Mosheh Oinounou. Oinounou is an Emmy-winning journalist with 20 years of experience as a reporter and executive producer at CBS, Fox News, Bloomberg TV, Conde Nast Entertainment, and CNBC. In that time, he’s produced interviews with dozens of world leaders including five American presidents. (He also consulted with us in launching our Media Roundtable Initiative).

Seeing the problem that news consumers face with too many sources competing for our attention and too little trust, Mosheh is now part of a new movement of independent journalists who are moving away from sensationalism and toward objectivity and mindful curation. His new venture, Mo News, which includes his Newsletter, Instagram feed, and weekly Q&A, Mondays with Mosh, is proving that there is a market for even-handed, calm discussion around today’s leading news events.

“I’m trying to be a good news story in a bad news media environment, and luckily, the audience has responded well.” -Mosheh Oinounou

Oinounou is that incredibly rare thing–a voice of reason. To listen to him is to feel calmer and more informed. After seeing how the incentive structure of the media landscape rewards the most opinionated and click-baity news coverage, Oinounou is trying, and succeeding with a different approach.

Oinounou is not playing by the old rules of building a talking head. Through his own curated and well-sourced news channel, Mo News, on Instagram where he shows tremendous respect for his nearly quarter-million-strong audience. He informs without panicking and provides much-needed context. He is a perfect example of a new type of news source that brands should be falling over each other to align with and sponsor.

Tune in to hear:

The 11 minute stat that meant death for fact-based news coverage
Why “I don’t know” is a powerful tool for building trust.

If you want to understand the future of the news–and maybe feel a little hopeful– you need to check out this week’s episode. Click below to tune in.

Listen to the Interview

The Classifieds

Championship Lakers’ Drama Gets Watch Along Podcast

The LA Times is partnering with HBO to create a one-of-a-kind podcast opportunity. Premiering March 7th, HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty will cover the non-stop victories and personal dramas of the 1980s LA Lakers. Simultaneously, Binge Sesh will be dropping; a watch-along podcast that has exclusive access to the production’s key players, weaving together outsider audience reactions with behind-the-scenes content. The podcast will cover the show’s origins as an unfilmable book, through the production helmed by Adam McKay, and ultimately answer any and all fan questions before they can even be asked. In an era where few must-see TV options still exist, Winning Time is already a hotly anticipated show from sports fans and figures alike. A test would be an absolute must for anyone interested in sports, nostalgia, TV & Film, and popular culture trends. If interested do not rely on a half-court shot, click below for a sure slam dunk.

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The Vampire Bats Come Home to Roost

Where the hell have you been, loca? If the answer is waiting patiently for a new Twilight-themed podcast, Kast has you covered. Buoyed by the recent Twilight resurgence via Netflix, film series’ star Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen) and her best friend, Melanie Howe, are bringing you a weekly Twilight deep dive starting this March. Featuring interviews with cast members and frank discussions between Ashley and her Twi-hard bestie, the show will discuss the immediate effect on the cast during their meteoric rise to fame, the pop culture influence the films have had, and the on-set drama, crushes, and moments of celebration. This is a limited series that will run for 30 episodes and is already in high demand. Advertisers interested in reaching a female skew millennial audience, or testing the TV & Film genre should surely reach out. It doesn’t matter if you’re Team Edward or Team Jacob, all are welcome to see below for details.

Get The Deal

In Case You Missed It

The DTC Diversification Dilemma

Facebook has been the go-to platform for DTC advertisers seeking efficient, targeted campaigns with massive ROIs. But with rising CPMs and limited targeting tools now the norm on the platform, marketers are now forced to spread their ad spend elsewhere. In a recent Digiday article, Justin Fredlender, vice president of acquisition at Ritual shared how his DTC company is diversifying. According to the article, while they still have a presence on Facebook and Instagram, Ritual now spends evenly across digital, podcasts, influencers, TV, streaming audio, search and direct mail. If you find your brand facing this diversification dilemma and would like to know where to start, we’d love to chat. Email us by clicking HERE.

AI-ct Naturally

Meta is demoing a new Voice Assistant Platform that they believe will make AI voice assistants more conversational. Does that mean we’ll begin to have more conversations with our AI voice assistants? Of course. And does that mean our trusted AI “conversation partner” will more easily be able to make a “personal” recommendation to us for a brand? Yes. What does this all mean? As the audio industry moves towards dynamically inserted ads and true host endorsements become less attainable, there are other forces at work to bring a trusted personality back to ad reads. Who better to take advice from, than those you reach out daily to learn recipes, ask the weather, and occasionally yell at to stop playing Van Halen when you wanted it to play Van Morrison?

The Audiosphere Getting All Robin Thicke On Us

For advertisers using post-purchase surveys, we’ve got some news for you. First of all, good job! It’s always good practice to triangulate the response from other attribution methods like pixel-tracking, time-based models, and MMMs. However, the lines are becoming increasingly blurred when it comes to how people perceive the media you’re advertising on, especially in the audio space. According to a recent insideradio.com article, many Americans consider DSPs (digital service providers; Pandora, Spotify, iHeart, etc.), Satellite Radio, even Podcasts, as just, “radio”. So when you run a test on any audio channel, and you see those “radio” survey responses jump, it’s most likely due to the fact that everything audio is perceived as “radio”. If you would like help on making sense of all of this let’s chat.

Real Hair for Real Housewives

Brandi Redmond and Stephanie Hollman know a thing or two about powerful presentations, both on camera and off. On a recent episode of their podcast Weekly Dose of BS, these Real Housewives of Dallas alumni get real about hair extensions and hair loss after pregnancy. Luckily, the all-powerful(and all-natural) hair loss supplement Nutrafol, exists to help silence their hair insecurities. Not only is Nutrafol responsible for all of Brandi’s compliments on her post-pregnancy locks, but it’s also made Stephanie aspire to ditch her extensions altogether. Catch your weekly dose of BS to get more gems on how personalized host endorsements are done right.

Listen Here

OXFORd In The News

Programmatic Problems: “Save The Live Read”

Last week, the who’s who in Podcast publishing descended upon Brooklyn for the Hot Pod Summit 2022. Somehow, Oxford Road founder, CEO, Dan Granger, not only got a ticket, but was also asked to speak on the dangers associated with the industry’s growth and expansion into Programmatic ad placement. In the spirited discussion, Granger shared frustrations with the existing overreliance by networks in Dynamically Inserted Ads, arguing that “Faked-in” ads (those read by hosts, but not read live or baked into the content) are not a clean substitution for the heritage unit type of the industry: Live Read Endorsements.

He went on to forecast the coming challenges that new tech will usher in, including brand safety concerns and fraud associated with counting downloads against ads that no one hears. The solution? Look to radio, where live read ads remain a vibrant revenue stream for most networks, in addition to produced host-read ads, on top of spots and remnant inventory – all priced differently according to their respective value. Work out the brand safety challenges before expecting scale across programmatic (more on this topic soon) and don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater; instead, offer live reads in addition to other unit types for a happy and diverse set of advertiser offerings. Click the full article below to read more.

If you’ve read this far, thank you!

The Influencer is a production from the team at Oxford Road.
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