Podcasting has seen a lot of innovation in content this year, but not a lot of innovation in form.
Some of my favorite innovations in content this year have been the captivating and technically mind-boggling The Messenger from The Wheeler Centre and journalist Michael Green, our own show at Audible, Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel, and, of course, the novelistic S-Town. But the format of podcasts still remains largely the same: a narrative or conversational arc, perhaps broken up into a few segments, running somewhere between 20-60 minutes.
The reason is simple: form(at) ever follows function.
For the past 13-plus years, and with plenty of exceptions, there have largely been two formats in podcasting: people chatting and people telling stories. That’s great. I — and the 67 million others who regularly listen to podcasting in the U.S. — love these forms. But what about everyone else?
While there have been numerous conversations this year questioning if we’ve hit “peak podcasting,” it’s the wrong question. I think the real conversation should be about “peak audience.” It’s hard to argue that we haven’t topped out on digital public radio types, sports/comedy nerds, and fringe niche geeks (okay, okay, there are always more fringe niche geeks). If the audience for digital audio is going to expand, it needs to bring in more (different) people. Different types of people will have different tastes, different needs, different ideas about what’s “good,” and different ways of using media. They will be interested in other things, they will seek out different voices and talents. Rounding out this year and preparing for the next one, audio producers and networks aren’t prepared for the reality that the next generation of listeners will bear little resemblance to past audiences.
All of this will cause a seismic shift in the definition of podcasting itself, and will invariably be captured in new and different formats.
Despite writing this, I actually don’t like making predictions. Whenever I’m asked to, though, I try to boil it down to the simplest question that our industry is just about to face. When asked about the future of digital audio and podcasting for this coming year, I looked at people who demographically/psychographically should be listening to podcasting, but aren’t: smartphone-carrying lifelong learners who use those devices to listen and enjoy other spoken-word audio. When you look at those folks, the largest cluster of them aren’t interested in storytelling. They are interested in personal growth.
These new listeners will not be interested in journalism, storytelling, or news beyond headlines and pundits. Instead, they seek out leaders and the ideas those leaders share. They will seek out voices that will guide them to a better, happier, more productive self. They want a face. A guru. Something more direct. Think less Ira Glass and more Tim Ferriss. Less Jad & Robert and more Oprah & Ellen.
These are consumers looking for content that ends with “al.” Such as
These already exist, you say. That’s true. There are some “al” podcasts already, in fact, thousands of them. But if you asked someone to describe podcasting, they would probably say it’s someone telling a story, or a bunch of comedians, sports fans, or niche fanatics talking about whatever. Tim Ferriss, Oprah, Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, and the yoga teacher at the studio down the street all have podcasts, but they aren’t fully defining the medium…today. When we look back at this time a year from now, I believe we’ll see a lot more of these than we see now, and their prominence and power within the industry will increase as well. Eventually, these “al” podcasts may even rival narrative storytelling and conversation podcasts for dominance.
Lack of interest in traditional podcasting formats isn’t the only thing these new listeners will lack. They lack time. They want things fast. They don’t want to come back again and again in order to finish something. That’s why this becomes a format issue. A different audience (with different needs) plus a different experience will demand another form.
Imagine a rush of non-traditional users entering the audience. What is replaced? What’s repurposed? What is created new?
I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a lot of this play out in significantly shorter podcast episodes to compliment the “al” content, moving from 20-60 minutes down to 3-5 minutes each for a complete experience. These new folks are even more time-poor than our current audience. They don’t have time. In, out, done. Thank you.
How will we know when this evolution has happened? Two ways: First, you’ll see a lot more of those shorter podcasts popping up in charts and recommendation engines. Second, the audience itself will look less like a clique than podcasting does today. It will start to resemble the audience for television. In other words, it will resemble everyone. It will look like America.
New audiences won’t be interested in our current iconic podcasts simply because those shows won’t appeal to them. Likewise, diehard podcasting fans will probably hate shows tailored towards new audiences, calling them simple, lowbrow, or just plain boring. Just like TV.
And this will all be okay. The more relevant podcasting and digital audio becomes to more people, the healthier, wealthier, and more stable the entire podcast industry will become. And that will benefit all.
Eric Nuzum is senior vice president for original content development at Audible.
Nicholas Diakopoulos Fortifying social media from automated inauthenticity
Manoush Zomorodi Self-help as a publishing strategy
Raju Narisetti Mirror, mirror on the wall
Joyce Barnathan It will be harder to bury the news
Luke O'Neil The end is already here
Trushar Barot The Jio-fication of India
Hannah Cassius The year of the echo-chamber escapists
Corey Johnson The pro-fact resistance
Felix Salmon Covering bitcoin while owning bitcoin
Rick Berke Value is the watchword
Carlos Martínez de la Serna The new journalism commons
Tamar Charney We get serious about algorithms
Kim Fox Audience teams diversify their approach
Charo Henríquez Training is an investment, not an expense
Pia Frey Address users as individuals
Kinsey Wilson Facebook and Google: Help out or pay up
Mary Meehan Real lives are at stake in rural areas
Jacqui Cheng Retailers move into content
Christopher Meighan Passive partnership is in the rearview
Andrew Haeg The year journalists become relationship builders
An Xiao Mina Memes and visuals come to the fore
Kyle Ellis Let’s build our way out of this
Nushin Rashidian Publishers seek ad dollar alternatives
Joanne McNeil Gatekeeping the gatekeepers
Andrew Ramsammy The year ownership mattered
Edward Roussel Eyes, ears, and brains
Debra Adams Simmons And a woman shall lead them
Federica Cherubini The rise of bridge roles in news organizations
Aron Pilhofer We can’t leave the business to the business side any more
Jamie Mottram From pageviews to t-shirts
Susie Banikarim R.I.P. Pivot to Video (2017–2017)
Richard Tofel The platforms’ power demands more reporters’ attention
Matt DeRienzo A recession, then a collapse
Mandy Velez texting is lit rn, fam
Doris Truong Computer vision vs. the Internet vigilantes
Hossein Derakhshan Television has won
Cory Haik Suffering from realness, pivoting to impact
Jennifer Coogan The future is female
Raney Aronson-Rath Transparency is the antidote to fake news
Matt Carlson Attacks on the press will get worse
Pablo Boczkowski The rise of skeptical reading
Michelle Garcia Navigating journalistic transparency
Ray Soto VR reaches the next level
Alexios Mantzarlis Moving fake news research out of the lab
Damon Krukowski Reviving the alt-weekly soul
Cindy Royal Your journalism curriculum is obsolete
Molly de Aguiar Good journalism won’t be enough
Mi-Ai Parrish Blockchain and trust
Renée Kaplan The year of quiet adjustments (shhh)
Feli Sánchez The year for guerrilla user research
Dannagal G. Young Stop covering politics as a game
Bill Keller A growing turn to philanthropy
José Zamora Revenue-first journalism
Laura E. Davis Writing answers before you know the question
Steve Grove The midterms are an opportunity
Daniel Trielli The rich get richer, the poor scramble
Carrie Brown-Smith Transparency finally takes off
Pete Brown Push alerts, personalized
Rubina Madan Fillion Unlocking the potential of AI
Imaeyen Ibanga Longform video leads the way
Alfred Hermida Going beyond mobile-first
Lanre Akinola Making noise is not a strategy
Sam Sanders Shine the light on ourselves
Juliette De Maeyer A responsible press criticism
Tanzina Vega It’s time for media companies to #PassTheMic
Vivian Schiller Pivot to tomorrow
Cristina Wilson The year of the Instagram Story
Sally Lehrman Trust comes first
Alice Antheaume Are you fluent in AI?
Zizi Papacharissi Women come back
Caitria O'Neill The new court of public opinion
Jennifer Brandel and Mónica Guzmán The editorial meeting of the future
Jesse Holcomb Information disorder, coming to a congressional district near you
Alan Soon The rise of start of psychographic, micro-targeted media
Alastair Coote The year of self-improvement
Sam Ford The year of investing in processes
Julia Beizer A longer view on the pivot
S. Mitra Kalita The arc of news and audience
Ruth Palmer Risks will grow for news subjects — especially minorities
Helen Havlak Keywords, not publishers, power the world’s biggest feeds
Kathleen McElroy Building a news video experience native to mobile
Evie Nagy Pivot to mobile video frustration
Amy King Let’s amplify visual voice
Monika Bauerlein The firehose of falsehood
Miguel Castro The arrival of the impact producer
Dheerja Kaur Fun with subscription products
Valérie Bélair-Gagnon Seeking trust in fragmented spaces
Michael Kuntz The only pivot that might work
Adam Thomas Sharing is caring: The year of the mentor
Elizabeth Jensen Show your work
Andrew Losowsky The year of resilience
Monique Judge Letting black women tell their own stories
Jim Brady With the people, not just of the people
Kristen Muller The year of the voter
Mike Caulfield Refactoring media literacy for the networked age
Taylor Lorenz Social and media will split
Mary Walter-Brown Show a little vulnerability
Mariana Moura Santos Think local, act global
Marie Gilot No assholes allowed
C.W. Anderson The social media apocalypse
Millie Tran and Stine Bauer Dahlberg (Hint: It’s about your brand)
Brian Lam Sketchy ethics around product reviews
Mario García Storytelling finally adapts to mobile
Jassim Ahmad Thriving on change
Julia B. Chan Looking for loyalty in all the right places
Juleyka Lantigua Women of color will reclaim and monetize our time
Marcela Donini and Thiago Herdy Collaboration is the way forward for Brazilian journalism
Basile Simon We need better career paths for news nerds
Umbreen Bhatti The trust problem isn’t new
David Skok Finding an information-life balance
Vanessa K. DeLuca Women’s voices take center stage
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen The Snapchat scenario and the risk of more closed platforms
Emma Carew Grovum Newsroom culture becomes a priority
Eric Nuzum Beyond the narrative arc
Sara M. Watson Feeds will open up to new user-determined filters
Nikki Usher The year of The Washington Post
Lucas Graves From algorithms to institutions
Sarah Marshall Loyalty as the key performance indicator
Mariano Blejman News games rule
Caitlin Thompson Podcasting models mature and diversify
Borja Echevarría TV goes digital, digital goes TV
Betsy O'Donovan and Melody Kramer Skepticism and narcissism
Tracie Powell The muting of underserved voices
Lam Thuy Vo Breaking free from the tyranny of the loudest
Francesco Marconi The year of machine-to-machine journalism
Nicholas Quah Stop talking trash about young people
Jim Moroney Newspapers have to be good enough for readers to pay for
Niketa Patel Live journalism comes of age
Ståle Grut Reclaiming audience interaction from social networks
Matt Thompson Here come the attention managers
Heather Bryant Building the ecosystems for collaboration
Jessica Parker Gilbert Design connects storytelling and strategy
Claire Wardle Disinformation gets worse
Rachel Schallom Better design helps differentiate opinion and news
Matt Boggie The intellectual equivalent of the Dead Sea
Frédéric Filloux External forces
Joanne Lipman Journalists inventing revenue streams
Jared Newman Venture funding and digital news don’t mix
Sydette Harry Listen to your corner and watch for the hook
Amie Ferris-Rotman More female reporters abroad (please)
Mira Lowe The year of the local watchdog
Michelle Ferrier The year of the great reckoning
Jarrod Dicker Honesty in advertising
Dan Shanoff You down with OTT? (Yeah, DTC)
Will Sommer The year local media gets conservative
Yvonne Leow The rise of video messaging
P. Kim Bui The reckoning is only beginning
Errin Haines At the ballot, it’s time to count black women
Jennifer Choi Standing up for us and for each other
Rodney Benson Better, less read, and less trusted
Justin Kosslyn The year journalists become digital security experts
Kawandeep Virdee Zines had it right all along
Corey Ford The empire strikes back
Ernst-Jan Pfauth Publishing less to give readers more
Tanya Cordrey Finally, the seeds of radical reinvention
Rachel Davis Mersey AI, with real smarts
Eric Ulken The year local publishers get smart(er) about change
Tim Carmody Watch out for Spotify
Rodney Gibbs Tech workers turn to journalism
Craig Newmark Working together toward sustainable solutions