The Guardian has had success with podcasts, with their podcasts being some of the most downloaded ever. Podcast listening is growing significantly, especially among millennials. Mobile phones and 4G networks have enabled more listening, and podcasts are becoming integrated into streaming services. While a business model is emerging with advertising revenues growing strongly, challenges remain in discoverability and a lack of investment in the UK podcast market compared to the US.

1. The Power of Podcasts
The Guardian’s adventure in sound

2. “But what to call it? Audioblogging? Podcasting? GuerillaMedia?”
Ben Hammersly 12 Feb 2004 - The Guardian

3. In 2006 Ricky Gervais, Merchant and Pilkinton take a very new world
record - the most downloaded podcast ever!
hosted by The Guardian

7. Podcast Growth

8. The global anglo audience is growing
US growth
● 21% of Americans
have listened to a
podcast in the last
month
● That’s 57m
Americans, 35m
listen to one weekly
(Edison 2016)
Guardian growth
50% of Guardian users
surveyed in 2016
listen to podcasts,
up 9% from 2015
Guardian podcast
listeners are “Super
loyal” (65% vs 43%
readers)
UK growth
● 11% of UK radio
consumers have
listened to podcasts
● In 2015 UK listeners
downloaded 10
million podcasts a
week
(Acast 2015)

9. The finale of Game of Thrones was watched by 8.1m
people in the US

10. The industry is starting to formulate a standard metric -
Podtrac launches May 2016

11. Podtrac measures 7.5 million listens across NPR’s
podcasts in June 2016
“We’re seeing some very encouraging signs that
younger people are coming into NPR that
previously haven’t listened. They get excited
about a podcast and then start listening.”
NPR Chief Jarl Mohn

12. Audience

13. Millennials
A key demographic for the
Guardian, and they are podcast
fanatics
• The headphone generation, 4G, screen
fatigue = boom in pods
• A natural extension of streaming services -
Spotify now includes “podcasts” in their app,
Guardian podcasts soon to be available in
Spotify
• Excellent way to reach young women, for
example in April this year, Forbes announces
10 new podcasts focused on millennial women
• Podcasts have an informal, raw and relevant
sound not on mainstream radio in the UK

14. Drivers for this growth

15. Mobile & 4G
You see a phone I see a radio
for a generation who will never
buy a radio
• Direct correlation between podcast growth
and mobile phone growth in the US
• iTunes still the biggest player although it’s
podcast app and general UX has stalled for
years
• Google Play Music launches a podcast
platform (behind paywall)
• PRX in the US announces a break out
business, a new audio app dev RadioPublic

16. Revenue

17. MONEY
A real business model is
emerging
• Gimlet Media estimated to have brought in $2m in
2015 and growing
• NYT launches new Podcast Studio switching from
video investment to audio investment - clear target at
potential revenue
• Slate’s Panoply network growing - Slate pods
estimated to earn 15% of total digital revenue
• Radiotopia growing to 8m monthly listens, Knight
Foundation funding of $1m
• Buzzfeed’s head of podcasts Jenna Weiss-Berman
leaves to launch Pineapple Street Media
• NPR’s earbud platform helps pod revenues double

18. Guardian podcasting revenues grow by more than 100%
since 2012

19. “We’re probably looking at 85 to 100m [ad spend] last
year, this year it’s on fire”
Sarah Van Mosel CCO of Acast

20. Challenges?

21. Challenges for growth in the UK
Challenge 1
Discoverability & Data
The UX around audio has
stalled for a decade
iTunes is not evolving for
producers and
consumers
Google’s slow start
Challenge 2
No real investment
Tiny UK advertising
market compared to US
BBC’s role unclear,
potentially crucial but so
far cooling on growth
Challenge 3
UK impact in the US
Can we translate strong
radio tradition into
podcasts impact?
Legacy media brands
growing podcasts
Universities?

22. I’ve not even mentioned the real revolution in
podcasting!

23. The car

24. Head of audio - Jason Phipps
@jasotweet
jason.phipps@theguardian.com