On demand streaming services just keep on rocking with growth.
2019 was another good year for the US music industry with total album equivalent consumption growing 15% year-over-year (y-o-y) to reach 785 million. This rise was bolstered by continued impressive growth in on-demand streaming (audio and video), which hit a new record high, per Nielsen’s Year-End Music Report.
On-demand streaming consumption reached 1.15 trillion audio and video streams in 2019, up 29.3% from 2018’s 887.4 billion.
Audio streaming accounts for 745.7 billion of this total (up 23.8%),
The Podcast Consumer
More than one-third of Americans age 12 and over (104 Million) are consuming podcasts regularly, up significantly from 2019, according to The Infinite Dial 2020® from Edison Research and Triton Digital.
Podcasting awareness and consumption in the U.S. continue to rise. Seventy-five percent of Americans age 12+ (approximately 212 million people) are now familiar with podcasting, up from 70% in 2019, and 37% (104 million) listen monthly, up from 32% in 2019. This continues the growth trend that The Infinite Dial® has measured since 2009.
“Podcasts now reach over 100 million Americans every month,” said Tom Webster, SVP of Edison Research, “and are attracting an increasingly diverse audience. Also, with 62% of Americans now saying they have used some kind of voice assistance technology, audio is becoming a bigger part of our everyday lives.”
What does this mean for radio broadcasters?
One, gone are the days when radio companies can have a ‘why bother’ mindset toward on demand.
And two, gone forever are the days when music stations don’t offer spoken word audio. If the Spotify, Pandora, and SiriusXM moves into WORD content tells us anything, it’s that.
In early 2019, the digital music service Spotify dropped more than $300 million on two podcasting companies. Spoken-word, non-music content is now a serious Spotify category. SiriusXM just raised its game in the realm of streamed spoken-word content with the acquisition of Stitcher for $325 million.
These companies have set their sights clearly on terrestrial radio. In March 2020, ceo/cofounder Daniel Ek, told Variety that the lockdown (due to Covid19) has presented the service with “an amazing opportunity to help listeners transition from radio to on-demand audio.”
So, the immediate challenge is to figure out the best ways to build a digital platform and integrate it with terrestrial. A few broadcasters are making headway with digital but many small and medium broadcasters are still struggling to keep up, and it even poses challenges to some large groups and networks.
We see three barriers to on demand integration with Christian radio.
1. Availability of content
Having quality content has always been king, on air and online. With the appetite for on demand audio (spoken word) and video content soaring, it’s proving to be a greater need than most broadcasters can afford – both financially and operationally.
A broadcaster may need to invest more resources into their own content creation efforts, video and podcasts. A more cost effective alternative might be to work with a service, like our company Glorystone Podcasts, whose web app enables you to build your own podcast network and monetize it, right from your website.
2. Lack of human resources
Who is going to make, manage and grow digital, audience engagement, smart speaker distribution and social media presence? A quick look around the station and you see that everyone is already wearing three hats.
There’s no getting around the need for radio companies to invest in staff and skill sets that include on demand audio and video production, web developers, graphic designers, and social media marketers. If that’s just not in the budget, then establishing partners (whether its freelancers or digital service providers) is critical to building a strong, integrated media brand.
3. The sales dilemma
Since digital requires a diverse skill set and the core business must be maintained, radio sales teams are inclined to sell the way they always have. That’s a challenge because nearly all advertisers buy a multi-media mix (traditional + digital), and with Google, Facebook, Pandora and the like, digital now means more than banner ads or spots in the live stream.
When broadcasters focus more resources on digital products – streams, on demand audio and video, social broadcasting, data-oriented engagement campaigns, website personalization and mobile ready websites – it will make sense (and dollars) to hire and train Digital Sales Specialists.
Thrive with innovation
To thrive in the on demand digital world, Christian radio will invest in digital growth services. It will take a cue from other media using digital integration to maintain relationship with loyal listeners and clients. It will transition into a new digital reality with innovation.
If broadcasters are proactive and get a digital transformation strategy in place, there is still time to ride the digital wave. If not, they run the risk of missing it altogether.