PodMov Daily: Monday, August 31

Episode 275: Your Monday Mix

Edison Research: The Latest on Quarantine Podcast Listening

Now into summer, how's the relationship between lockdown and podcast listening in America? In a 15-minute webinar, Edison Research SVP Tom Webster breaks down the latest from Edison’s Share of Ear study and The Podcast Consumer Tracker. It appears that consumption has normalized and is on the upswing.

More than 4 in 10 weekly listeners have had their work lives disrupted. The end of the commute had a huge impact, Webster says. “It was that lack of ‘me time’ that really impacted podcast listening early on.” By the second half of Q2, as Americans adjusted to new routines, podcast quality time “had changed for the better.”

All good news, but listening patterns won’t approach ‘normal’ anytime soon. Google employees won’t return “until the middle of next year at the earliest,” and they’re far from the only ones. “These are not necessarily ephemeral habits,” Webster points out. “Many of them are going to stick even after quarantine is over.”

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Atlanta's Podcast Kingmaker: Tenderfoot TV President Donald Albright

Tenderfoot TV, the podcast company behind the true-crime megahit Up and Vanished, was founded four years ago this month. Since then, it’s racked up half a billion downloads. Gavin Godfrey of Atlanta magazine speaks with Tenderfoot president and co-founder Donald Albright, “Atlanta’s podcast kingmaker.”

Godfrey begins in 2017, with Tenderfoot’s “dubious debut at Podcast Movement in Anaheim.” Shortly thereafter, production on the acclaimed series Atlanta Monster began. Albright reflects on his transition from music to podcasting, and the decisions that built Tenderfoot into a multimillion-dollar media company. 

Five years ago Albright was “struggling to find his place […] in Atlanta’s cutthroat hip-hop scene,” Godfrey writes. Now, Tenderfoot's president has a clear mission: “Find compelling storytellers, unearth great and often overlooked narratives, and help establish Atlanta as a national podcast hub in the process.”

Welcome, new podcasters: Today is the last day to register for September's 28-Day Challenge! Join dozens of other participants in our online community to build skills and launch with confidence.

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Here's what else is going on:

• Double down: What can radio learn from a quirky regional comics store? Newbury Comics has thrived against all odds by embracing its niche, says David Moore of WBUR Boston. “It foresaw the coming changes, diversified its risk, made the appropriate adaptations and survived.”

• What's next: According to The Root, “It’s quite the day for Black podcasts.” J'na Jefferson goes beyond Joe Budden into two new shows: A yet-unnamed Spotify project with Rickey Thompson and Denzel Dion and Own The Label, hosted by Billboard hip-hop editor Carl Lamarre.

• Wise words: 20-year radio veteran Fyona Smith has valuable advice for emerging podcast and radio producers. As the Head of Radio at the Australia, Film, Television, and Radio School, Smith focuses on career building in the field and why, in audio, “Content is Queen.” 

• Gear shift: Lemonada Media, known for the acclaimed podcast Last Day, has moved to Stitcher’s Midroll for ad sales. CEO Jessica Cordova Kramer tells Jeff Umbro about international growth plans and why the company switched hosting platforms from Megaphone to Omny.