Has Radio Got Podcasting Wrong? Podcast Season 1 radio Music Radio Creative

Making a podcast for your radio station or radio show is a great way to get heard on another platform but is it right to podcast a radio show’s best bits?

How Can You Get A Movie Trailer Voice?

I’ve been asked a couple of times in the last weeks about this topic. Some folk believe there is a preset you can add in audio editing software such as Adobe Audition to get the movie trailer voice sound. I attempt a movie trailer voice in the podcast and tip my hat to the late Don LaFontaine who I’m not a patch on!

We also refer to the recent movie “In A World” which is all about movie trailer voice overs.

There is no effect apart from a little pitch shifting and stereo enhancement that could deepen and stretch your voice a little. The very best way is to hire a great voice over talent like Duke who’s on a previous episode or Pete who you can hear in this podcast.

Testimonial From Kim Doyal

Thank you to Kim Doyal, The WordPress Chick, left an amazing voicemail for us this week about her WordPress Chick podcast intro from Music Radio Creative.

Is Your Show Content Relevant?

As a podcast listener why would you listen back to the ‘best bits’ of a radio show and is a radio station podcasting really a podcast in the truest sense? Izabela believes that a radio show podcast is simply an advert for the radio station and nothing more.

If there is a talk show then it could be relevant to podcast listeners but, Izabela argues, why would you want to hear the weather forecast and bits in between the music tracks in podcast form? It’s simply a show off for the radio presenter. You can tune into the radio when you want to get that content and it doesn’t feel right in podcast form.

Radio Has Got Podcasting Wrong

Izabela suggests that if radio hosts want to create a podcast they should be producing unique content and not simply cutting together highlights of a radio show.

The Definition Of A Podcast

A podcast is not a radio show. Podcasters create content that listeners specifically want to hear and talk TO the listener whereas radio station DJs generally talk more AT the listener. The purpose of a podcast is to engage your listener and generate thought and response. It’s not something that is listened to passively.

When Is A Radio Podcast Acceptable?

It’s great to hear podcasts of famous radio personalities like Rush Limbaugh or Howard Stern. They create unique and compelling content that would be of great value to listeners around the world. Izabela suggests that there is no point in local radio stations podcasting their radio shows as there are not many people that would want to download the episodes. Podcasting is a great platform but is a local radio station likely to get new listeners from having a podcast of their morning show? Create a new podcast outside of your radio show that shows another side of your personality and engages your listener.

What are your thoughts on radio and podcasting? Leave a comment and let us know!

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20 Responses

  1. I think each Radio personalities would have to create new content. Podcast are a great way to reach people around the world but a lot of radio station have not made good use of it.

    1. Mike, thanks for the comment, sure podcasts are an amazing way to reach people on a one-to-one basis by engaging directly with that one listener. That’s a point I feel many radio shows miss.

  2. I would have to disagree with Izabela on this one. I have had the experience of working with a client who was in the exact situation described; host of a morning show on a local radio station who then compiled the best segments from each day’s broadcast into a podcast. He would record a short bit introducing the segments the listener was about to hear and then go right into the content from the morning show. Of course it was never weather reports or such information; it was an interview with an artist, a humorous Top 10 List that was discussed with the co-host, a funny story or joke that was shared. This type of content is timeless and is material that fans would love to listen to again even if they had heard the show live. But many times, as Mike stated, a listener has an obligation that prevents them from catching the show live and in such a circumstance they’d love to be able to grab the podcast afterwards.

    I would agree that not every terrestrial radio announcer has the type of content that would translate into a good podcast. If the presenter is just doing short breaks between tracks with artist/song info, weather reports or time of day stuff, then I’d think that it goes without saying that that would be a terrible podcast. But when they are actually generating some original content during the course of their on-air time and are inserting some personality into it, I feel that it’s perfectly reasonable to considering creating a podcast from those bits.

    As to whether or not it is beneficial to the station for them to produce the podcast is another topic altogether. That would depend entirely on what their goals are for doing it to begin with. (Which I assume would have to be financially motivated.) But to the point of “Will it draw listeners?” then I would have to say yes. I can see where a listener would catch the podcast and enjoy the content so much that they would intentionally start to tune in to the live show because they don’t want to miss anything. Obviously, podcasting is a global medium and you’ll have listeners who are nowhere near the station’s market and will never listen live (unless they have a live stream on their website) but that again goes back to the issue of why they are doing the podcast in the first place.

    Hopefully my comments aren’t too long for your liking, but I wanted to toss out my two cents.

    Enjoying the show very much. Keep ‘em coming.

    1. Hi J.D. Sutter!

      I’m glad that your comment got through and what a great insight too. Izabela and I are grateful that you’ve taken the time to contribute and value you as a listener. Thanks!

  3. This week’s MRC topic is a great discussion. As a pro within the industry (Bridging various forms of Terrestrial and new media), I absolutely agree with Izabela Russell.

    Quite frankly, radio (At least in the US) is simply out of convenience and largely a background experience, such as while driving to and from work. Very few choose to listen to radio outside of the commute (Unless it is a nationally known personality such as Stern).

    Most local radio shows are based on timely local topics with generally local market/audience appeal. There is not a sense of urgency and the bits (Typically comedic relief) are best experienced in real-time. Most local shows do not generate or create relevant content and bits (In between songs) are not a compelling enough reason to listen to a re-broadcast of chicanery. The concept is similar to a party – would you rather attend the party or simply watch a video of the party afterward? Definitely not the same experience.

    Listening to a podcast is a foreground experience of deliberate intention in which you choose to listen to content that is useful and/or for a specific reason. There is no real value or clear reason to listen to a typical radio show, outside of the above mentioned convenience (Background experience).

    To compete with podcasting, on-air types would need to actually create unique content that would appeal to a larger audience – most stations (At least those owned by media conglomerates) would scrutinize such endeavors as many are bound by non-compete agreements and conditional employment contracts.

    1. Thanks for the valuable comment Val. Izabela and I appreciate your insights on this and you made a great distinction on much of local music radio being a background experience compared to podcasting being a foreground experience.

      Thanks for listening and contributing to the debate 🙂

  4. Hey Izabela and Mike,
    Regarding the idea of radio stations incorporating podcasts into their broadcast model, our own CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) is offering podcast versions of most of their shows. This is great for people who would listen to a show at a particular time, but might be working or otherwise unavailable. CBC is doing podcasting right. Most of their shows are on iTunes and I’m sure it’s helping to build their reach.

    Thanks!

    Rem

    1. Thanks for the feedback Rem. It’s great to hear that the CBC are repurposing content into podcast form well. Here in the UK I believe that the BBC also do this pretty well with many of their podcasts or “free downloads” as the BBC has re-branded them 😉

  5. Mike and Izabela GREAT podcast! I found myself laughing out loud as I listened to the two of you argue this one out. …And I agree with BOTH of you.

    A podcast (in its TRUEST sense) should be a program that produces ORIGINAL content in which the host shares his (or her) passion about a subject which allows him to connect with his audience on a personal level — thus creating a sense of community around the subject matter. This is often something that someone would SUBSCRIBE to in order to stay CURRENT, and is not necessarily another “channel” to push rehashed content out to the masses.

    If a BROADCAST radio station is utilizing the platform of podcasting to showcase their “best of” clips for their weekday morning show (as an example)…. I see this, not as a podcast (as described above), but rather as a LOGICAL and PRACTICAL way to ARCHIVE their shows. This is very similar to a church podcasting their sermons. Those that attend the church service “Live” are not likely to listen to the sermon again, UNLESS something was said that they wanted (or needed) to hear again. In keeping with the church example… a Live Attender would find the podcasted sermons easy and convenient to SHARE (for a variety of reasons) with others too. They would also find that if they MISSED a sermon because of travel or illness, they would be able to “tune in” and not get behind. In addition… if they moved away from the area and were missing their old church, they could listen to the podcast and still feel somewhat CONNECTED to their old community. Lastly… the beauty of archiving the sermons on the podcast platform is that they are SEARCHABLE and ACCESSIBLE anywhere one has an internet connection. So… in this way, the radio show that podcasts their “best of” bits is really offering this feature, if you will, to their BROADCAST LISTENERSHIP as a “value-add” BENEFIT for all the reasons listed above. Will it draw in brand new listeners to their broadcast? Maybe. But the focus, in my opinion, for a radio station using the platform of podcasting in this capacity, is really for the ESTABLISHED listener.

    NOW… if a radio station was to do a hybrid of the two…. play the “best of bits” with the host(s) interjecting some fresh, exclusive content that gave the listener some extra “behind the scenes” information surrounding the bit being played or something similar, that would change the game up a bit. 🙂

    My two cents. Keep up the great work.

    Dr. Thomas Lamar
    http://SpinalColumnRadio.com
    http://ScandiaBibleChurch.org
    and 4 others

    1. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment Dr. Lamar and add to the definition of what a podcast really is. I love your examples of making sermons or radio shows (with fresh content) available to all online. That is the wonderful thing about podcasting online – unlike a radio show – your content is there forever for listeners to discover and enjoy 🙂

  6. I will try to keep this short, ha.

    I think if the show is topic-related-talk (ESPN First Take Podcast for example) where the presenters have a lot of domain knowledge – then both Radio and TV programs can make for great Podcast content – in particular for an internationally recognized industry/sport/author/film/celebrity/personality etc.

    But I do agree with Iza – the spoken word content from your local Top 40’s station is probably too weak to compare to the expertise and/or entertainment value of professional Podcasters and Podcasts in 2013!

    In conclusion:
    Talk, Interview or Comedy Radio = potentially good Podcast material
    Generic Top 40’s = most likely poor Podcast content

    ~ josh
    http://braverbytheday.com

    1. I like that concise conclusion Josh. You’re right in that talk content can easily be repurposed from radio to podcast form and I’ve seen many ex-talk radio hosts starting to do this well. Music radio has a challenge in that it uses the music as a crutch to the content of the DJ who will often make very current remarks which decay fast and don’t have much evergreen value. In today’s world of online music services a music radio station that relies on its music policy to attract listeners is in trouble! 😉

  7. Hi guys,

    Izza is right about radio not making good podcasts in the strictest sense of both terms. But she seems to mention things like the weather forecast as being boring. When they say “best bits”, it would not include stuff like traffic and weather and song intros.

    It might defy category definition, but there are several podcasts that are just a persons thoughts on subjects, some funny and some serious. This would be like that. Not many people would stumble over it searching iTunes. The promotion would primarily be via the radio station itself. But maybe there are ways using targeted online advertising to reach out also. You guys would know more about that!

    Let me clarify something, while I am at it. For many years, coaches have been telling radio hosts/teams to present as if you were talking to someone, not at them. Most morning programs use phone calls and emails (posts, tweets) from listeners to help preserve that “to, not at” feeling.

    So who would listen to a radio program’s podcast? An average morning show in the US is 4 hours. The average commute is 35 minutes. For a fan of a show who may not be able to listen at home (outvoted by the rest of the family) or at work, or who has a variable (swing) shift, this keeps him in touch with the radio hosts that he has grown attached to. It also helps him to keep their future shows “in context”.

    Also, most radio is trimming down staff and many only have live hosting in the AM. Your best people are all on the air at the same time. This way you could listen to the thoughts of (all) the best people servicing your community. Time-shifting via podcasts makes that possible.

    The most obvious benefit is for the DJ. He always has a fresh demo available for anyone looking to hire!

    But there is a benefit for the station as well. It can become an alternate stream of income. You can sell mentions on the podcast, and it might be more desirable to some sponsors than the (likely) more expensive on-air ads. You are not as tightly regulated with podcasts as with over-the-air advertising, which may create some more opportunities.

    There is also the ability to be “shared”. You might find it hard to share a radio morning program with a friend in another community, but you can share a link to the podcast. If they interview you, you will post the link on social media so your friends can hear.

    The more I write, the more comes to mind. So I am going to stop there. But, needless to say, I think it can be a good investment for a radio show to do their own podcast. If the content is interesting and relevant, and not just the same show prep that every other station reads from, it will find an audience.

    Thanks for all you do to make podcasting (and audio production in general) so much better! Loved the show from the beginning, but Izabella adds a certain brilliance to Mike’s cheerful content. Keep it up!

    1. I like the idea of revenue opportunities for radio stations from podcasting Ron. It will be interesting when more and more radio folk discover that there is money to be made from podcasting (not necessarily in a direct sponsorship type model). There is certainly a ton of opportunity.

      Thanks for listening and commenting Ron 🙂

  8. With today’s constant development of technology, we ourselves need to evolve all the time. Otherwise we will just get stuck in time. Therefore, podcasts as a new branch are a great way to do this.

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