Tom Webster is a Senior VP at Edison Research. There are a few spots on our company calendar we circle in anticipation of Tom. It's either a data release for Edison's Share of Ear, an Infinite Dial Study, or an address at Podcast Movement. This month we would have heard Tom at PM20 but with 2020 being as it is, this episode will have to serve as our fix.
In this episode you will hear about some of the differences between Canadian and U.S. radio listening habits, our discussion around Pandora being unavailable in Canada, and the effects the CBC is having on our listening. We also get into podcasting's growth and what's ahead for an industry closing in on $1 Billion in ad revenue. We also revisited two of Tom's talks from Podcast Movement and discussed if your podcast needs to be in places beyond the RSS feed and if enough mainstream content is being created to satisfy America's podcast appetite. Finally Tom offers lots of advice for the independent podcaster who might be feeling the squeeze from large podcasting creators occupying most of the discovery space.
We mentioned that Tom has a newsletter worth signing up for called I Hear Things.
Towards the end of the episode, Tom told us how he starts his day. From his smart speaker he (and his wife) will access Up First and Curiosity Daily. Other shows mentioned included Twenty Thousand Hertz and Song Exploder.
I mentioned that I have James Cridland Podnews on a flash briefing - although over 15,000 people prefer to read it instead.
I referenced Tom's 2018 Podcast Movement talk - he wrote about Podcasting's Manifesto for Growth here. In 2019, Tom spoke of the two type of podcast listeners and suggested that podcast success means being in more places beyond the traditional RSS feed. A podcast may not be what you think.
Thanks to Catherine O'Brien for submitting a question to the episode. Catherine does a great job making podcasts for people in Louisiana. Check out her company and her work here.