I spent a lot of time listening to podcasts in 2013, and chances are I'll listen even more this year.
And I suspect I won't be the only one. As the podcast listenership grows with the rising tide of continued smartphone growth, better podcast apps and the explosion in great content, dedicated podcast fans like myself will only become bigger consumers of the medium.
What does this mean for podcasting in 2014? Here are a few predictions for the podcast market this year.
An Explosion in Creative Use of The Format
One of the most exciting trends in podcasting in 2013 was the adventuresome use of the format. New entrants such as Welcome to Night Vale and That American Life showed us how the podcast medium can be used for great original storytelling or satire. Given the low cost to entry and the freedom of podcasting as a medium, I expect more new and creative voices to try podcasting in 2014.
Podcast Network Consolidation
Like other forms of Internet entertainment, the podcast market has been witness to a rise of content networks in specific verticals. Tech has well established players like TWiT and 5by5, comedy has its Earwolf and Sideshow, and so on. The reason for this is there are multiplier effects in aggregating talent, and much like we've seen in the YouTube multichannel network space, I expect to greater consolidation in 2014 as established players look to roll up talent through acquisition or merger with other networks.
Growth in Women Listeners
While early podcast listening was male-heavy, I think the greatest opportunity for podcast listening in the future will be the growth in female podcast listeners. This will be a direct result of the continued expansion of podcast content beyond tech and comedy (though there are plenty of women listeners here) and ever-greater accessibility of podcast content as it moves into connected cars and elsewhere.
The Word 'Podcast' Slowly Gives Way to Plain Old 'Talk' (But Not Completely)
A not so little known fact in the podcast space is that many hate the word podcast itself, in part because of the nerdiness it connotes. Old-timers like Leo LaPorte have long used other words like "netcast" and big media players like iHeartRadio have packaged their podcast market offerings with the word "talk". I think that more will follow that path and use the word "talk", but I don't ever expect the word podcast to go away completely.
So...Happy podcasting and talk-listening in 2014!
No doubt podcasting is a growing market. To keep up to date on developments in the space, follow Michael Wolf's analysis of the podcast market at the NextMarket blog, on Twitter, or listen to him talk to podcast market leaders on the NextMarket Podcast.
Image courtesy of Chronicle of the Nerds.
