Well hot diggidy dog. Here we are again. Fresh Air Recommends Newsletter comin’ atcha like Cleopatra* and ready to fill your inbox with pleasure every single Friday morning from now until Christmas.
There’s a lot to fill you in on, from metaphorical earthquakes in the podcast world to WTF moments in Fresh Air Towers. In fact, there’s so much news that I’ll probably string it out over the next few weeks. There’s no point in using all the best material in this first post-summer edition, and having nothing left to talk about by mid-September, is ther
*One for the kids, straight off the bat
Hello Finlay
At the start of August, we welcomed a brand new face into Fresh Air. Finlay is our new Assistant Producer and Head of Moustaches, having been with us on work experience for the last few months. He’s graduated from City University’s Masters in Podcasting and therefore knows more about podcasting than the rest of the team who’ve never actually studied this stuff at all.
Broadly speaking, most of our knowledge, as with the vast majority of people in podcasting, was built through mashing up years of experience from radio, marketing, strategy and figuring it out as we went along to become leaders in the field. However, Finlay has learnt from the very best across a whole year of academic study of this new medium, analysed the industry, understood the dynamics and the science of podcasting and is ready to apply it in the world’s finest agency. His sharp mind will take in what Fresh Air does, apply the insight he’s gathered, and bring the perspective of a ready-made expert to elevate our work to a whole new level. Anyway, as I said, he’s the Head of Moustaches because he’s got a lovely moustache.
Bye Bye Wondery
When I wrote the last newsletter before the summer, the podcast industry was feeling pretty relaxed, no major dramas. All hunky dory and ready to switch off for a bit. And then Wondery went bang. You can’t turn your back for a second, I’m telling you.
Wondery was the golden child of the podcast world. Setting the gold standard of narrative storytelling, it was home to shows like Dr Death, The Shrink Next Door, and that mind-boggling one where the guy got jiggy with a dolphin. Founded in 2016 and sold to Amazon in 2020 for $300 million, Wondery really felt like a big shiny thing in the podcast world, but Jeff Bezos had other ideas. So at the start of August, 110 people at Wondery lost their jobs, a whole raft of shows were cancelled and it was decided that what was left would be folded into another Amazon audio label – Audible.
Selfishly, there are very few consequences for Fresh Air because it’s not generally our market, but it’s a genuine shock for a huge chunk of the podcast production industry who either relied on Wondery for major commissions or saw them as a barometer for the health of the narrative audio world. Their statement read:
“The podcast landscape has evolved significantly over the past few years. As video podcasting has grown in popularity, we have learned that creator-led, video-integrated shows have different audience needs and require distinct discovery, growth and monetization strategies compared to audio-first, narrative series. The rise of video has also blurred the lines on what it means to be a podcast creator.”
What does all that mean? Well, it’s stating the obvious that video-based celebrity podcasts live or die by a different economic model to long form audio-first narrative shows. They’re much cheaper and quicker to make and appeal to a different audience, but surely that doesn’t mean they have to cannibalise the beauty of the long form piece?
Sometimes you’re in the mood for a celebrity chat snack, and sometimes you want full length audio story-telling with all the trimmings. Audio narrative shows are difficult and expensive to visualise, but that’s because they’re beautiful on your ears. However, Spotify in particular is driving as much of the audience as possible towards video to compete with YouTube. So when the world’s two biggest podcast platforms put all their promotion behind shows you can watch, it’s difficult for the big, expensive, shiny and thoughtful things to punch through the noise. Also, the only way to make big money out of these types of shows is to get a Netflix/TV commission which will be a) a long shot and b) at least 5 years in the pipeline.
So, maybe long form multi-layered audio narrative will once again become a marginal activity, and maybe it always was. We’ll all say we loved Serial and enjoy indulging ourselves in a crafted work of audio art over 12 episodes, but perhaps in reality we really want engaging conversations in a relatively simple form that we can watch if we want to. Whether that’s thought leadership, comedy, sports discussion, branded content, political insight, disposable chat from Jamie Laing or Katharine Ryan’s 11th podcast of the week, it’s what we reach for and what’s most likely to be economically viable. In the radio world, long form narrative audio is the preserve of public-service networks and maybe the best of this audio genre will now sit with the BBC who address the obvious market failure or behind Audible’s paywall for those who are willing to fund premium, expensive content. You can call it sad, or you can call it the maturing of an industry that’s working out sustainable business models by giving the public what they want, whether or not that appeals to the sensibilities of us audio snobs.
Don’t be Boring
Sometimes in a world of innovation and gimmickery, it’s good to know that old rules still apply. And so it is with podcast listening, and why people turn off. The good people at Strategic Solutions Research unveiled their latest podcast study during August, and revealed the main reasons people press stop on a show. Those reasons in order are:
- It’s Boring
- Meaningless talk
- Too much off-topic
- Repeating themselves
- There isn’t enough interesting talk
- The discussion moves too slowly
- Talking over one another
- Trying too hard to be funny
After checking that this wasn’t a personal critique from my wife after our two week summer holiday, I was relieved to see that success still comes down to providing sustained engagement in between the ears rather than just mindless waffle. Presenting is a talent that not everyone has, talking well is a skill, and having conversations that other people want to stick with is a science as much as an art. Preparation, personality, production and just not being boring is still, thankfully as important as ever.
Annie Day thinks back fondly to the 90s…
Anyone else feel like they’re living in a time warp? Oasis are touring, Pulp have released new music, Gladiators is on and the jeans and Reebok trainers I wore 30 years ago are now back in fashion. It feels like we are living the 90’s again. I was born in ’79 so the decade was huge for me. The Euros, Brit Pop, Pulp Fiction, TFI Friday, every girl in school smelling of Impulse. I only saw the title of Miranda Sawyer’s new podcast, ‘Talk 90’s to Me’ and hit follow immediately. It’s an excellent addition to my library. Each week Miranda invites a different guest to unpick a huge story or moment from the decade. Episodes so far have included the rise of Oasis, Trainspotting and the influence of Friends. It’s got that glorious mix of nostalgia and insight from Miranda’s time working for publications like Smash Hits. The guests are excellent too. Jack Guiness, curator of The Queer Bible, talking about George Michael’s life and legacy was both funny and deeply moving. It feels like a podcast that can run and run with so many stories to discuss. Girl Power, Tony Blair and The X-Files must surely be on the list.
Julie-Anna Needham turns to AI…
I loved this series about people and their interactions and relationships with AI companions.
This podcast follows the story of Travis (amongst others), a likeable but lonely man, who creates an online girlfriend using the app Replika.
It would be easy to be judgmental about those who AI companions. But this series helps you understand why people turn to them.
It also explores the darker side of AI companions, including the case of the Jaswant Singh Chail, who broke into Windsor Castle with the intention of killing the Queen in 2021, after exchanging 5,000 messages with a chatbot.
It’s presented by Suruthi Bala and Hannah Maguire, the hosts of RedHanded, who get the tone just right.
What we’ve been listening to this week
Taylor Swift
While lots of the podcast world were grumbling about Wondery, some of the others were getting very excited about Taylor Swift announcing her new album on a podcast. This was a landmark moment apparently. The world’s biggest artist chose our medium to do her big launch.
Well yes… and … when your boyfriend, now fiance, has one of the world’s biggest shows it’s probably the easiest way to do it. You don’t have to leave the house and if there are any awkward questions you can get your own back by making him sleep on the less comfortable bit of the mattress. Also, podcasting’s mainstream now, get used to it. In a few years, podcasting will be the home of the King’s Christmas speech, I’m telling you.
What we’ve been doing this week
Marvelling at Alistair Campbell being interviewed by Count Binface. 45 minutes.
45 minutes.
Don’t watch the whole thing. Just dip in, take it all in for a few seconds and then go back to what you were doing.
