Beaujon, A. (2014, December 30). After 'Serial,' NPR Says Podcasts Are Mainstream Now. Retrieved January 26, 2015, from http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/capitalcomment/media/how-npr-is-preparing-for-the-year-of-the-podcast.php
NPR's vice president Eric Nuzum has boldly labeled 2015 as "the year of the podcast", which is not a huge assumption to make considering the wild success of NPR's podcast Serial , which became the most popular podcast in history. NPR's newest podcast, which has been recently released, is called Invisibilia, but a new action they are doing is plugging in this podcast into other podcasts and radio shows the company uses, as well as having the podcast on its own. Nuzum argues "for a lot of people [podcasts] do serve as the gateway to public radio." Many people are using smartphones to listen to podcasts and that has brought a larger audience. Another podcast, TED Radio Hour, does depend on the digital audience to sustain terrestrial radio. "…[TED Radio Hour] wouldn’t be sustainable if it were “just supporting itself off its radio underwriting revenue.” Podcast listeners do associate the podcast to the radio station. When radio stations ask for donations, users mistake the money they are giving as going directly to their favorite podcast, when the donations are going to the radio station in general. But Nuzum says this time is a "golden moment" in podcast history and the NPR team will continue to take advantage of this new age of the podcast in front of them.
I agree with NPR that 2015 could be the year of the podcast. Serial was a monumental feat in podcast history. Podcasts now bring in a larger, but digital, audience; they are no longer seen as "nerdy" or "boring." In my personal experience, I see younger people, like teenagers, become drawn in by podcasts now. The popular podcast was a game changer for NPR and podcasts in general, and podcast shows are going to shift and respond to that. It makes sense Invisibilia will make small cameos in other shows in the sense that NPR wants to draw podcast audiences into the radio station as well, not just on-demand podcasts. They want the radio station audience to grow bigger and not get stuck in the podcast world.
26 January 2015
22 January 2015
Analysis Finds Flat Core Audience for Public Radio's Web Streams
Mook, B. (2014, June 2). Analysis finds flat core audience for public radio’s web streams. Current.org. Retrieved December 10, 2014, from http://www.current.org/2014/06/analysis-finds-flat-core-audience-for-public-radios-web-streams/
Steve Mulder, director of user experience and analytics at NPR Digital Services, analyzed recent numbers of web metrics and realized while the number of mobile users is increasing, a decline of the amount of time users spend on a website and of the audience in general is apparent. "'Visits from tablet and mobile users have grown explosively across stations’ online platforms, increasing 200 percent since the end of 2012,' Mulder said. These users now account for about 35 percent of visits to member websites." Mulder has a theory as to why the amount of time spent on a webpage has decreased. Users would like to quickly look up an article, wanting "bite-size content," and leave the page once their goal is met. Audio content, instead of text, is an option they are considering. According to Mulder, "The heaviest visitors listened to five times more audio while on station websites but read three times less text than the lightest users." Therefore, creation of more audio content is a big possibility to bring and keep larger audiences."
I agree with the statistics that users spend little time on a webpage. With search engine websites and the Internet at our fingertips, it is simple to quickly search something and then leave the webpage. But it makes sense the users on the website more often listen to audio. Audio can seem more entertaining and a new way of learning about the news, while text can seem like "more work" to some. I agree more audio content needs to be addressed in order for more people to stick around the webpage.
Steve Mulder, director of user experience and analytics at NPR Digital Services, analyzed recent numbers of web metrics and realized while the number of mobile users is increasing, a decline of the amount of time users spend on a website and of the audience in general is apparent. "'Visits from tablet and mobile users have grown explosively across stations’ online platforms, increasing 200 percent since the end of 2012,' Mulder said. These users now account for about 35 percent of visits to member websites." Mulder has a theory as to why the amount of time spent on a webpage has decreased. Users would like to quickly look up an article, wanting "bite-size content," and leave the page once their goal is met. Audio content, instead of text, is an option they are considering. According to Mulder, "The heaviest visitors listened to five times more audio while on station websites but read three times less text than the lightest users." Therefore, creation of more audio content is a big possibility to bring and keep larger audiences."
I agree with the statistics that users spend little time on a webpage. With search engine websites and the Internet at our fingertips, it is simple to quickly search something and then leave the webpage. But it makes sense the users on the website more often listen to audio. Audio can seem more entertaining and a new way of learning about the news, while text can seem like "more work" to some. I agree more audio content needs to be addressed in order for more people to stick around the webpage.
10 January 2015
What Happens When You Make a Podcast about Podcasts about a Podcast
Holmes, L. (2014, November 14). What Happens When You Make a Podcast about Podcasts about a Podcast. NPR. Retrieved January 8, 2014, from http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2014/11/19/365225722/what-happens-when-you-make-a-podcast-about-podcasts-about-a-podcast
In a section of NPR called "Monkey See", where pop-culture is spoken about, the podcast Serial and its incredible popularity is brought up into discussion. Just like rabid fans of popular television shows create blogs and websites summarizing the current episode of said television shows, podcasts have been created discussing and summarizing new episodes of Serial. As Holmes goes on to say, "So to me one of the things that is funny about this is that it almost feels like that level of meta-analysis is very important to validating Serial as something that a bunch of people have compared it to...like a show like True Detective..." Multiple Reddit threads have also been created in which Reddit users analyze and discuss information they have been given. Many people are hooked to this podcast and it shows with the multiple platforms discussing the case. But, as simple as it sounds, "You're talking about a real murder case. When you analyze it like you would an episode of Boardwalk Empire, it feels really weird." Serial is much different than fictional television shows the podcast is compared to because it is about a reporter rediscovering a real murder case that came with an ending, but the podcast questions if it was the correct ending. That is what drew in a huge audience, they discuss.
I am completely blown by the fact a podcast about a podcast exists. I realize the popularity of the show now when there are recap podcasts and Reddit threads where so many people are discussing and wanting to know the answer. This podcast really turned about radio journalism and podcasts. I think podcasts will become more popular now. I am even starting to listen to more podcasts because of Serial. This podcast truly made history in radio journalism. When parodies of this podcast exist, and recap platforms are out there, that's when something is really popular.
In a section of NPR called "Monkey See", where pop-culture is spoken about, the podcast Serial and its incredible popularity is brought up into discussion. Just like rabid fans of popular television shows create blogs and websites summarizing the current episode of said television shows, podcasts have been created discussing and summarizing new episodes of Serial. As Holmes goes on to say, "So to me one of the things that is funny about this is that it almost feels like that level of meta-analysis is very important to validating Serial as something that a bunch of people have compared it to...like a show like True Detective..." Multiple Reddit threads have also been created in which Reddit users analyze and discuss information they have been given. Many people are hooked to this podcast and it shows with the multiple platforms discussing the case. But, as simple as it sounds, "You're talking about a real murder case. When you analyze it like you would an episode of Boardwalk Empire, it feels really weird." Serial is much different than fictional television shows the podcast is compared to because it is about a reporter rediscovering a real murder case that came with an ending, but the podcast questions if it was the correct ending. That is what drew in a huge audience, they discuss.
I am completely blown by the fact a podcast about a podcast exists. I realize the popularity of the show now when there are recap podcasts and Reddit threads where so many people are discussing and wanting to know the answer. This podcast really turned about radio journalism and podcasts. I think podcasts will become more popular now. I am even starting to listen to more podcasts because of Serial. This podcast truly made history in radio journalism. When parodies of this podcast exist, and recap platforms are out there, that's when something is really popular.
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