Where's The Churn Rate In Podcasting?

Podcasters love regular listeners. And regular listeners love their podcasts. Dependability on both sides has been a driving and differentiating factor for podcasting. But is that still a good thing?

When the book I'm reading ends, I go get another book.  With millions of choices for me to read, there's never a time when I can't find anything to read. 

When the series I'm watching ends, I go get another TV series. With hundreds or maybe even thousands of shows I can watch, there's never a time when I can't find anything I want to watch. 

When I'm in the mood for a new movie, I'm spoiled for choice, and there's never a time when I can't find a new movie to watch.

There's a lot of content at our fingertips. More content than any one person can hope to consume. People start and finish dozens or hundreds of books, tv shows, and movies every year.

But a lot fewer podcasts. Not podcast episodes, which easily get to the hundreds. But discrete, podcast titles or shows. Why is that? I have a hypothesis.

Edison Research's Infinte Dial report tells us that you can count the number of "shows" the average listener is actively consuming on one hand. And the most common type of podcast is the episodic, ongoing show. The type of show that doesn't give a chance to say "Well, that's over, so I guess I gotta go find something new to listen to."

Episodic podcasts don't have the terminal nature of books, television series, or movies. They don't have a finite end-point. They don't have a natural conclusion. There's no "the end" experience with forces listeners to hunt for something else to fill their time. Not with most episodic podcasts. They. Just. Keep. Going. For months on end. For years. 

Podcasting is different from other media forms. They've adapted to provide their consumers a "get this and then get this when you're done" content fountain. 

But much of podcasting is still built around the "get this and then never leave mode". 

But I wonder for how long? Perhaps we'll learn more about that when the 2022 Infinite Dial by Edison Research comes out next week. 

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Links

Edison Research's Infinite Dial reportsOver 100K active podcasters trust BuzzsproutGot a podcasting service? Become a sponsor of Podcast Pontifications. Serious about podcasting? Join the Advancing Podcasting Community today!

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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released four times a week, providing ideas and questions every serious podcaster should be thinking about.

It's created and hosted by Evo Terra. Follow him on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come. Allie Press assists with the production and transcription of the show.

If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value, and there are many ways to show your support.

Mentioned in this...

Podcasters love regular listeners. And regular listeners love their podcasts. Dependability on both sides has been a driving and differentiating factor for podcasting. But is that still a good thing?

When the book I'm reading ends, I go get another book.  With millions of choices for me to read, there's never a time when I can't find anything to read. 

When the series I'm watching ends, I go get another TV series. With hundreds or maybe even thousands of shows I can watch, there's never a time when I can't find anything I want to watch. 

When I'm in the mood for a new movie, I'm spoiled for choice, and there's never a time when I can't find a new movie to watch.

There's a lot of content at our fingertips. More content than any one person can hope to consume. People start and finish dozens or hundreds of books, tv shows, and movies every year.

But a lot fewer podcasts. Not podcast episodes, which easily get to the hundreds. But discrete, podcast titles or shows. Why is that? I have a hypothesis.

Edison Research's Infinte Dial report tells us that you can count the number of "shows" the average listener is actively consuming on one hand. And the most common type of podcast is the episodic, ongoing show. The type of show that doesn't give a chance to say "Well, that's over, so I guess I gotta go find something new to listen to."

Episodic podcasts don't have the terminal nature of books, television series, or movies. They don't have a finite end-point. They don't have a natural conclusion. There's no "the end" experience with forces listeners to hunt for something else to fill their time. Not with most episodic podcasts. They. Just. Keep. Going. For months on end. For years. 

Podcasting is different from other media forms. They've adapted to provide their consumers a "get this and then get this when you're done" content fountain. 

But much of podcasting is still built around the "get this and then never leave mode". 

But I wonder for how long? Perhaps we'll learn more about that when the 2022 Infinite Dial by Edison Research comes out next week. 

-----

Links

Edison Research's Infinite Dial reportsOver 100K active podcasters trust BuzzsproutGot a podcasting service? Become a sponsor of Podcast Pontifications. Serious about podcasting? Join the Advancing Podcasting Community today!

------ 

Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released four times a week, providing ideas and questions every serious podcaster should be thinking about.

It's created and hosted by Evo Terra. Follow him on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come. Allie Press assists with the production and transcription of the show.

If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value, and there are many ways to show your support.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

Abortion is a basic healthcare need for the millions of people who can become pregnant. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what’s best for themselves and their families, including when it comes to ending a pregnancy. This decision has dire consequences for individual health and safety, and could have harsh repercussions for other landmark decisions.

Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health and independence of all Americans. Even if you live in a state where abortion rights are upheld, access to safe medical procedures shouldn’t be determined by location, and it shouldn't be the privilege of a small few.

You can help by donating to local abortion funds. To find out where to donate for each state, visit donations4abortion.com.

If you or someone you know needs help, or if you want to get more involved, here are 5 resources:

1. ShoutYourAbortion.com is a campaign to normalize abortion.
2. DontBanEquality.com is a campaign for companies to take a stand against abortion restrictions.
3. Abortion.cafe has information about where to find clinics.
4. PlanCPills.org provides early at-home abortion pills that you can keep in your medicine cabinet.
5. Choice.CRD.co has a collection of these resources and more.

We encourage you to speak up! And spread the word.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy