Pod-casting is just one tactic that Newspapers are well qualified to leverage in their quest for re-invention…and survival. Radio and local advertisers would be wise to pay attention to how the Newspaper industry handles this opportunity.
Print circulation is still falling. Readership and advertisers are moving online. In light of these facts, how can heritage publishers create more unique value for both readers and advertisers? How can the info-pillars of society defend against their own demise?
Pod-casting, digital story telling, and enabling online commerce are a few such keys to Newspaper’s survival in the digital age.
Pod-casting is ‘talk radio’ or ‘spoken word’ programming on-demand. You might also consider Pod-casting the audio version of Netflix or YouTube. Video on Demand from your local cable company is another analogy. Counter-intuitively, we think Newspaper orgs could become better pod-casters than their Radio counterparts.
Should Radio dominate pod-casting by default? You would think so, but not necessarily.
While radio stations are typically well-versed with audio production, very few radio orgs have news-gathering teams, in-house newsrooms. Due to severe budget cutbacks, few radio stations even have live, news and talk show hosts.
Many Radio stations still struggle with the simple act of recording, uploading and search-optimizing their proprietary audio content to the web.
In the Atlantic City market, the local newspaper could eventually become the dominant AUDIO news source, overtaking the local talk/news radio station in town.
In AC, Newspaper & Talk Radio are frenemies; both friend and enemy.
In AC, Newspaper & Talk Radio are frenemies; both friend and enemy. The two traditional media players battle for the same small pool of advertisers, but they also lovingly partner-up by openly sharing both the news and the air-waves.
Here’s how it works: The Press of Atlantic City newspaper provides access to all of their breaking news and coverage to the news / talk station in town; WOND Radio. In exchange, The Press of Atlantic City gets to place their top reporters, brands and advertisers on the WOND airwaves, in prime time, on a daily basis. The newspaper is mentioned often throughout the day as well.
Who gets the better of the deal? The Radio station or the Newspaper? It’s not even a close call. We think the Newspaper gets the better deal. Print is in a much more precarious position as readership continues to decline.
Even with circulation declines, The Press of Atlantic City still controls a majority of the advertising relationships in market. The Press of AC gets to use their free WOND Radio time to replace lost readership reach in print. They use their Radio time as an add-on for their print advertisers. This added-value helps to make up for the substantial decline in their print reach. The air-time also comes in handy as The Press of AC seemingly has free reign to hype-up their own print advertisers, clients, and interests on the airwaves of WOND Radio.
In effect, The Press of Atlantic City is re-training their staff for the coming days of pod-casting ubiquity. As more consumers listen to audio via their smartphone streams and downloads, they will have less motivation to share their expensive news-gathering & content with their old-school media partner: WOND Radio.
NOTE: WOND Radio is managed by a general manager with a considerable background in casino & sports marketing. At this time, it’s unknown if WOND has a full-time program director or sales manager. The Press of Atlantic City is currently managed by a publisher with most of his successful background in accounting.