When Game of Thrones was in its prime in 2014, I used to be actually, actually annoying about it. All I needed to do was speak in regards to the show and books, and I used to be working out of people in my life who cared sufficient about it. Podcasting as an business was far much less developed than it’s now, however there have been nonetheless loads of GOT recap and evaluation pods to feed my obsession — some good, like Boars, Gore, and Swords and A Cast of Kings, and a few very unhealthy, which I gained’t identify as a result of it was eight years in the past and we’re all totally different folks now. They allowed me to obsess over particulars, criticize the show when needed (which was usually), and, perhaps most significantly, saved me awake on my 4AM commute to MSNBC.
Inspired by grassroots recap podcasts, official podcasts for TV exhibits at the moment are all over the place. Today, I take a have a look at how companion podcasts have develop into highly effective advertising and marketing instruments in Hollywood.
Plus, Spotify will get a new head of podcast tech and The Atlantic provides an inside have a look at Steve Bannon’s huge, however precarious, podcast empire.
Rise of the companion pods
Chances are, if there may be a show you’re keen on (or hatewatch), there may be a recap podcast for it. And the studios have caught smart. A couple of years in the past, studios began making their very own “official” podcasts as companions to their exhibits, and at the moment, it will possibly really feel like every show is getting one: podcasts for Hacks, RuPaul’s Drag Race, and The Staircase debuted in simply the previous month. Producers say these exhibits are comparatively simple to make, they usually’ve develop into highly effective advertising and marketing instruments for studios, often hanging out on the high of Apple and Spotify’s TV & Film charts, and sometimes cracking the highest 100 general.
Companion podcasts aren’t the identical because the homegrown stuff — they usually have larger manufacturing values and greater stars, because of their studio budgets, they usually don’t precisely flip a crucial eye to the supply materials. But listeners are nonetheless consuming them up.
“These studios and showrunners of TV exhibits are merely attempting to fulfill their viewers the place they already are, they usually’re already listening to podcasts,” says Will Malnati, whose firm At Will Media has produced companion podcasts for Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV Plus. “So let’s not make it troublesome for them to type of connect themselves to one thing that offers them a little extra behind the scenes.”
Behind the scenes content material was once a perk for many who purchased or rented a DVD. If executed appropriately, the podcast model may be an occasion in and of itself. For the second iteration of Succession’s podcast, HBO tapped journalist Kara Swisher to interview public figures like Mark Cuban and Anthony Scaramucci, along with individuals who labored on the show. The podcast peaked on Apple’s high 100 at quantity 16. And whereas the primary season of The Problem with Jon Stewart reportedly had disappointing scores, its extra informal companion podcast has carried out a lot better. It debuted on the high of Apple and Spotify’s charts final fall and lingered within the high 100 for months after.
“Podcasting affords us to go a lot deeper, and I feel achieve this in a method that’s cost-effective,” says Michael Gluckstadt, who labored on digital and video advertising and marketing content material for HBO earlier than turning into the studio’s director of podcasts. “Behind the scenes movies are costly, you want complete movie crews to do it … We put a lot of labor into our podcasts and we do a lot of manufacturing on them. But comparatively, it’s nothing like movies.”
Not solely are companion podcasts low-cost, however they don’t need to make cash. The Wire at 20, HBO’s look-back podcast on the critically acclaimed show, sits at quantity 87 on Apple Podcasts. Unlike principally every different show within the high 100, it doesn’t have a single advert, as a result of advert cash isn’t the purpose. The purpose is to get followers who love, or as soon as beloved, the show to rediscover it and join HBO Max (or a minimum of keep their subscriptions). A survey carried out by HBO Max discovered that 85 p.c of those that listened to a program’s official podcast felt extra linked to the show.
The podcasts additionally usually transcend the scope of speaking in regards to the show, and attempt to mimic different in style podcast genres. The first season of For All Mankind’s podcast was for house freaks, that includes interviews with astronauts and exploring the state of the house program. With Rebel Robin: Surviving Hawkins, Netflix created a fictional, in-universe spookcast starring Maya Hawke that gave followers one thing to chew on throughout Stranger Things’ three-year break. For The Official Gilded Age Podcast, HBO tapped Turner Classic Movies host Alicia Malone and Bowery Boys co-host Tom Meyers to dig into the historical past behind the show.
“It’s much less about type of {dollars} and cents ROI and extra about fanbase ROI, which serves the aim of producing buzz and visibility,” Malnati says.
It appears to perform that elusive factor that manufacturers are all the time attempting, and infrequently failing, to realize: advertising and marketing that doesn’t really feel like advertising and marketing. Netflix tried to generate fandom with Tudum, poaching leisure journalists to provide interviews and different bonus content material. It didn’t click on, and the corporate fired a lot of Tudum’s employees in April. However, it doesn’t seem that anybody from Netflix’s podcasting group was laid off.
According to Becky Rho, director of podcast content material at HBO, a part of why podcasting succeeds the place different digital advertising and marketing content material fails is that it doesn’t ask an excessive amount of of followers. “There’s a profit proper to this being an audio medium. It’s extra of a lean-back expertise for the viewers,” she says. “They can put it on their AirPods, put it on their speaker, and simply hear whereas they’re doing different issues.”
Spotify will get a new head of podcasting tech
Spotify has discovered a alternative for Michael Mignano, the Anchor co-founder who led the corporate’s podcast and speak tech stack for the previous three years. Mignano introduced his departure in May, and can depart on the finish of the month. Talk R&D director Maya Prohovnik will take his spot, Bloomberg reported Monday.
Prohovnik, who was the VP of product at Anchor, got here to Spotify with Mignano after the 2019 acquisition. Spotify declined to touch upon the matter, however Mignano appeared to verify Prohovnik’s appointment in a tweet Monday afternoon.
“Supreme confidence in @mayafish, arguably the most effective product chief I do know,” he tweeted. “After working collectively for greater than a decade, I’ve little question she’ll be taking the Talk audio group/technique, @anchor, and @Spotify to new heights ”
Prohovnik’s promotion is the most recent transfer in Spotify’s government reshuffle. Last month, Max Cutler, Bill Simmons, and Julie McNamara have been all promoted within the wake of head of studios Courtney Holt’s departure. A alternative for head of Gimlet Lydia Polgreen has not but been introduced.
A glance inside Bannon’s podcast empire
On Monday, The Atlantic printed a fascinating have a look at far-right nationalist Steve Bannon’s podcast operation. He insists War Room is a TV show, not a podcast (okay!), even though he has one of many largest political podcasts round. It shouldn’t shock anybody that, based on a Brookings Institution examine, his show had essentially the most episodes pushing election disinformation of any in style political podcast.
The article additionally factors to potential monetary hassle together with his enterprise. Bannon claims it’s a “money machine,” and that he added a fourth hour to accommodate all his sponsors. But he seems to lack mainstream advertisers, relying as an alternative on Mike Lindell’s MyPillow and Birch Gold Group, a treasured metals IRA that touts endorsements from Ben Shapiro and Ron Paul. It can also’t assist that Bannon’s election lies have gotten his show banned from YouTube and Spotify, the 2 largest podcast platforms, based on a latest examine from Cumulus. War Room remains to be allowed on Apple Podcasts, nonetheless, the place it presently ranks at quantity 136.
That’s all for at the moment! For Insiders, I shall be again on Thursday with the products from Spotify’s investor day.
https://www.theverge.com/23157885/tv-shows-podcasts-apple-hbo-netflix-bannon-spotify
