Notes from the Podcast Business Summit: Video, Video and More Video
I managed to snag a front row seat at the Bloomberg-sponsored event at On Air Fest. Up for discussion - what should we call all this video-driven content?
At this year’s Podcast Business Summit in Brooklyn, I arrived early so I could get a front row seat.
Late, great baseball announcer Bob Uecker would have been proud. “I must be in the front row!”
I jotted down a collection of insights and ideas from speakers on stage; really some of the best and brightest in our industry.
Video, as you would imagine, coursed through most of the discussions.
Should we retire the word podcast? What should we call the blurring of video and audio? With so many podcasts appearing on YouTube, A.J. Feliciano, the general manager at the Roost Podcast Network, suggests “simulcasting.” He also is thinking about the term “new broadcast.” He says the word podcasting is no longer part of his vocabulary.
How can you connect with your audience? TikTok star turned YouTube powerhouse John “MrBallen” Allen recommends authenticity. Just be yourself. Engage as a human being. Admit mistakes. He spends hours responding to DMs. He’s on a mission to show “John is a regular person.” Thinking about doing video? Worried about the quality? Allen revealed that he used to shoot his video on an old iPhone.
In this video age, when booking guests for The Cutting Room Floor podcast, Recho Omondi revealed she now looks for certain strengths: Expertise. Charisma. Storyteller. Her shorthand for these requirements is ECS.
David Tishelman, the head of production at Betr, said he thinks about short video clips as “amplification” for content. He looks at CTRs - click-through rates - on video thumbnails. He’s also holding off on publishing video content on Spotify. Not until the CPMs are higher, he said.
Shawn Ryan has been on fire, emerging as a force on Spotify, YouTube and Apple. But what does he think about TikTok? Apparently, not much. He has two million followers on TikTok, but Ryan revealed he doesn’t have the TikTok app on his phone.
Finally, kudos to Ashley Carman and Lucas Shaw for putting on the summit this year. I’ve been going since 2020 (when we were told not to shake hands because of concerns about some virus called Covid - remember that?) and this year’s conference had strong panels, diverse breakout sessions, ample time to network with friends, and plenty of room to eat lunch in the restaurant.
Thanks for the invite!
John Wordock served as Executive Editor and SVP for Podcasting at Westwood One from 2019 to 2024, helping build Cumulus Podcast Network into a top ten network and top channel on Apple Podcasts. He also used to be Executive Producer for podcasts at The Wall Street Journal until 2019. He now runs his own podcast consulting company, John Wordock Media LLC.