Podcast Radio – 24/7 Podcasting with a International Stage

When investing, your capital is in danger.

You’re feeling curious, so that you go on the hunt for a podcast. You spend the subsequent hour searching content material, listening to snippets right here and there. You’re ultimately pissed off and not curious.

It’s referred to as selection paralysis, and it occurs to the most effective of us – particularly in a day and age the place there’s extra content material to have interaction with than ever earlier than in historical past. 

Podcast Radio has developed an answer, by marrying radio broadcasting with podcasting. They’re on a mission to turn out to be the ‘trusted information’ to high quality content material utilizing a medium that listeners love now simply as a lot as they all the time have – radio.

We sat down with founder Gerard Edwards to get the complete story.

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What’s Podcast Radio’s mission?

We’re creating a world community of Podcast Radio stations, permitting listeners to find new podcasts utilizing our digital broadcast radio channels and our on-line instruments akin to cell apps, web site and smart-speakers.

How did the thought for the corporate first come about, and what was the primary plan of action to convey it to market?

Podcast Radio was created as a Bootstrap, which I initially integrated myself as founder.

I had beforehand designed two UK radio stations from scratch, and likewise managed the funding, budgeting, programming and staffing of every. After creating my very own early side-hustle model of a podcasting firm, I realised there was an enormous gap within the podcasting marketplace for discovering new content material, in addition to a lacking hyperlink for the advertising of podcasts.

I spent over a yr researching and creating the thought, in addition to connecting with networks of podcasters. The ultimate pre-market stage was negotiating transmission contracts, creating our personal audio-tech platforms (app, web site, smartspeaker), and flicking the ‘on’ swap on the 11th February 2020.

How has your skilled expertise, and that of your staff, helped the corporate obtain development?

After connecting with a Fellow of the UK’s Radio Academy (Paul Chantler), we labored on the design of the platform. We additionally grew to become properly related with the fast-paced podcast ecosystem after Podcast Radio’s launch was introduced on the Worldwide RAIN convention in London (bringing collectively world specialists in radio and streaming audio).

Additional staff members, who have been introduced in early, had loads of success and expertise in audio-technology, podcasting and the launching of broadcast channels. We snatched up unbelievable employees members who vary from Corridor of Famers in US broadcasting to a UK Head of Gross sales who has offered and excelled in numerous digital platforms, together with each visible and audio.

Personally, I’ve overseen two broadcast channel launches, managed the programming and development of assorted radio stations, and have expertise as a prime 10 ranked podcaster within the UK Apple rankings. This profession historical past has positioned me within the excellent place to drive the platform ahead, however has additionally given me the contacts to make sure we’ve got constructed a unbelievable staff from the very begin.

What downside is Podcast Radio attempting to resolve for shoppers?

Our resolution to the podcasting discoverability downside is twofold.

Firstly, listeners attempting to find their subsequent podcast are pissed off by the large pool of podcasting content material. That’s, there are just too many podcasts to select from, and a close to not possible job of sampling them of their audio format. But we all know that there’s an insatiable demand for podcast content material.

Secondly, Podcasters are feeling pissed off on the lack of promoting cut-through, particularly in making their content material out there to new listeners. This goes for each unbiased podcasts and full-blown networks (consider Spotify and Amazon’s Audible now creating new, unique content material).

Podcasting has seen unbelievable development and listener demand, however the low price of entry has seen an over-saturation of podcast content material. Podcast Radio is the world’s solely radio-driven promotional software for the worldwide podcasting business.

Are there any opponents on this area? How does Podcast Radio differentiate?

With regards to ‘discovering’ a brand new podcast to take heed to, listeners have relied on word-of-mouth from family and friends, or learn written evaluations of podcasts.

Earlier than Podcast Radio, there had been no advertising platform with the flexibility to broadcast podcasts in mass media format. Additional, our platform permits listeners to pattern a 24/7 curated linear platform within the medium podcasts have been designed to be sampled: audio.

The place conventional radio might have seen podcasting as a competitor, our unbiased Podcast Radio platform has been capable of harness the strengths of each the radio and the podcast industries, permitting them to enhance each other.

Radio brings mass-media advertising attain to podcasting, whereas podcasting brings an ever-increasing pool of unbelievable speech audio content material.

Who’re Podcast Radio’s goal listeners and the way do you attain them?

Completely each single podcast listener within the English-speaking world can use and have interaction with Podcast Radio’s platforms. No different audio-based podcasting product has a possible broadcast attain of over 15 million adults within the UK alone, whereas the platform can be out there globally through app, web site, smart-speaker integration, and our personal distinctive on-line search/discovery software.

Any listener who needs to strive podcast listening for the primary time, or the various tens of millions of listeners already consuming them weekly within the UK, US, Canada and Australia, can use Podcast Radio totally free, any time they like, 24/7.

We’ve been very happy with the quantity of early and engaged month-to-month lively customers of Podcast Radio, from all around the world. Our broadcast channels have already expanded to incorporate Larger London, Surrey, Manchester and Glasgow. Our advertising plans for 2021 are set to construct on this unbelievable first yr of operation.

What’s subsequent within the pipeline for the enterprise, when it comes to partnerships, product releases and many others.?

The place do I begin! We have already got a number of worldwide content material partnerships prepared for announcement within the subsequent quarter, in addition to unique content material to be launched, together with an ad-technology partnership that may enable us to open a number of extra income streams.

We’re in dialogue with digital broadcast networks abroad that may see our first worldwide expansions, and we’ve got a staff creating additional Podcast Radio channels to introduce throughout our personal subscription-led tech platform.

However most significantly maybe, we’re all the time negotiating additional UK-wide growth to our broadcast attain city-by-city, so as to add to our potential attain of 15 million adults in London, Surrey, Manchester, Glasgow.

What has been the best success to this point?

Though it will possibly typically be neglected, I might argue that our biggest success to this point has been the time spent successfully in analysis and growth pre-launch. This difficult work and early team-building allowed us to make sure no different firm might catch up any time quickly.

By the constructing of our intercontinental community of podcasters, our huge relationships with media companions, our transmission contracts, licence functions, and profitable execution and growth has made Podcast Radio a really distinctive platform that’s now tackling the worldwide podcast discoverability downside.

What’s your favorite podcast?

My favorite podcast is Alan Alda’s Clear and Vivid podcast. This podcast merges science, world points and superstar standing in a single place. The podcast is predicated round exploring, explaining and defining what it means to speak. The perfect half: Alan was blissful to attach with Podcast Radio and we now carry a lot of his unbelievable episodes, introducing them to a model new viewers through our personal platform.

Give it a pay attention.

What’s one piece of key recommendation you’d give to an entrepreneur within the media area?

Encompass your self early with team-members who each encourage you and problem you.

If you’re not bringing content material to audiences across the UK, what are you doing?

For sanity and well being, I be certain I run, stroll or train – while listening to podcasts! In my spare time, I prefer to learn books and articles on the human thoughts, area and historical past. Nonetheless, I all the time make time to observe my beloved Everton Soccer Membership and likewise spend time with nieces and nephews after I get the possibility.

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Podcast Radio’s marketing campaign is closing quickly. To search out out extra, take a look at the pitch now.