Since the beginning of time (and the advent of humans), oral storytelling has served a critical role as the sole means of abstracting experiences and emotions in narrative form. Ancient oral storytellers were revered keepers of local knowledge, history, and traditions in their communities.
Fast-forward many millennia and storytelling has greatly changed-- video’s basically killed the radio star (save maybe Ira Glass and Howard Stern), but now we’ve got podcasts. And 2015 was a huge year for podcasting. Among other milestones, we saw megahit Serial crest 100 million downloads and the medium have its first interview with a sitting U.S. President. The buzz and attention translated into a 24% increase in regular listeners.
Coming off this seismic growth, it’s natural to question if podcasting’s growth will be sustained or whether a collection of fluke events drove unusually high listener numbers, soon to revert back to the mean.
I believe podcasts are here to stay. In fact, I believe podcasting will become the most important storytelling medium. Here are six reasons why.
1.) Investment is increasing
In recent months, podcasting has seen unprecedented investment. Last fall, my employer (Gimlet Media) raised $6 million in Series A funding, and WNYC announced plans to open a new podcast division, with $2 million in funding committed. More recently, this winter, a new network, Wondery, founded by
All of this translates to greater investment in content. Funds in hand, networks are backing bigger and bolder projects than ever before.
2.) Content is improving
With swelling investment, podcasting’s shows have and will continue to grow in ambition, sure. But it is not investment alone that is driving improvements in content. It is the instinct of the medium’s savvy creators to exploit the same luxury afforded in digital video: freedom. Freedom from a network programming clock, and freedom from broadcast.
As a unicast media form, podcasts needn’t adhere to radio’s clock, in which content must fit 15 minute increments. If an episode wants to be 53 minutes, by all means let it! The creators of fictional podcast Limetown skillfully exercised this right, sending several one to three minute character updates down listeners’ feeds on weeks between regular episodes.
Unicast also affords creators the opportunity to pursue controversial projects deemed inappropriate for national broadcast. Case in point: this episode of podcast Reply All, in which host PJ Vogt and producer Phia Bennin document their experience micro-dosing on LSD.
The possibilities are limitless, and I really believe we’ve just scratched the surface. I can count on one hand the number of major fictional works in the medium, for example.
3.) Talent base is growing
With real dollars available and an increasing body of buzzy and ambitious works completed in the medium, premiere talent is more interested in podcasting than ever before. We now see names such as Lena Dunham dabbling in the space, among other celebrity participants.
The medium’s talent base is additionally boosted by an increasingly stable business model. As lucrative CPMs increase and monetization strategies tighten, there is the possibility to earn a living wage. This, combined with the prospect of creating ambitious content that will find a meaningful audience, is attracting more standout talent at the bottom of the pyramid. These new entrants will contribute yet more great work to the ecosystem, generating yet greater listenership and growth investment.
4.) Distribution is expanding
So we’ve got investment, content, and talent, all of which neatly lock in a virtuous cycle. What about distribution? An estimated 57 million Americans, or 21% of the U.S. population, listen to podcasts regularly. This might sound like a lot, but really, it’s peanuts compared with terrestrial radio, which captures nearly 300 million regular listeners, 93% of the population.
I believe the difference is largely due to access and platforms. Right now, the majority of podcast content is consumed through
Indeed, over 80% of podcast listening takes place on iOS devices, despite the fact that Android is America’s largest smartphone platform And yet despite a much larger install base, just 16% of podcast listening takes place on Android devices.
This is about to change. I believe Android listening will soon grow tremendously, as the launch of Google’s podcasting service through their Play app is imminent. Similar to Apple’s Podcast app on iPhones, Play is pre-installed and undeletable on Android devices. What’s more, the Play app is much bigger than its Android base, since it can be installed on iOS devices.
And it’s not just Play broadening distribution. Spotify, with an active user base over 75 million, has launched its podcasting service as well. Pandora, too, is getting in on the game, having made Serial available to their 78 million active users. In all of these cases, podcast content lives alongside music. This is important to note, as it means users with no deliberate intention of seeking out podcast content will now encounter it, hopefully growing the listener pie yet further.
5.) The connected car is here
How has terrestrial radio remained undisrupted and, against all trends in media, kept at bay its digital counterpart? The car, where 44% of radio listening takes place.
Dashboards are changing, though. Of the estimated 75 million new vehicles shipped in 2015, 13% were ‘connected’, or internet-enabled and will help provide easy access to streams.
6.) Virtual Reality is on the way
Walking about town, when one can’t hold a book or ogle a screen, streaming audio is the only viable entertainment option. The podcast’s lithe ability to contort itself across myriad activities and settings, venturing where print and video cannot, is ultimately what cements its growth prospects. Not just in our cars, commutes, and meanderings, but center stage in our living rooms and at entertainment venues.
Virtual reality, if not the computing platform of the future as held by Mark Zuckerberg, is set to become a major format in entertainment, and podcasting stands to benefit.
Why? In audio storytelling, listeners are moved through a narrative by sound – building music, character dialogue, and narration. Given the difficulty of taking an audience through a controlled visual sequence in a spherically immersive VR environment, audio storytelling is the best option for traditional linear stories in the format.
Within this model, the VR environment can serve as an immersive, contextually relevant backdrop to the plot you’re moving through. For instance, imagine sitting in Marc Maron’s garage as you listen to his interview with the President. You need not rely on the visuals as your guide; just hang in the environment, and enjoy the story.
I predict we’ll return to our roots, our avatars huddled around a virtual fire sharing stories. I hope to see you there.
Follow Chris Giliberti on Twitter.