Even
though this blog is about podcasting, a technologically advanced medium, that
couldn’t have existed 15 or 20 years ago – and I have a great deal of
enthusiasm for this media technology, I’m still probably behind the times in
parts of podcasting technology.
Ad
skipping, as far as I was aware, meant trying to slide the timeline with one
fat finger on a tiny (outdated and old) player only 30 seconds or 1 minute at a
time to skip ads. Apple’s podcast app, now a primary distribution channel, does
offer 15 and 30 second skipping, although those buttons have been made harder
to find on newer versions of the app. Other similar apps, Instacast, Downcast
and Pocket Casts, have 15, 30 or 45 second skip capabilities.
From the
podcasters’ point of view, of course, skipping is a bad thing because it erodes
the effectiveness of advertisements and the honest numbers for ads’ reach that
they can show advertisers. Having hosts read the ads – even if those ads are
dynamically inserted – is touted as a way to combat ad skipping, because
listeners will be less likely to bother skipping if the ad is in the same style
as the rest of the podcast – and especially if the host makes the ads as
compelling as the rest of the podcast program.
The one
monkey wrench in the host read theory is that hosts can end up eroding their
credibility – if they later end up reading an ad for a competing sponsor, or,
even worse, if the advertisement raises questions of a conflict of interest
with the programming. Last February, Wired cited the Containers podcast, a
specialized show about how the Oakland, California port functions, as an
example, because that show had host reads for the Flexport freight company.
This, however, seems like such a specific field and instance, that one wonders
if there was a significant direct competitor that was actively frozen out of
advertising on Containers.
The one
solution I can think of so far, which admittedly risks driving listeners away
from the medium, is to put technology in place that forces listeners to hear at
least some portion of an ad, if not all of it, before skipping ahead. YouTube
and many media outlets do this with online video. It’s an interesting question –
is podcasting mature enough as a medium to retain listeners throughout ad
breaks? There is another related debate – do younger listeners have enough
attention span so that enforced advertising time doesn’t lose them?
Podcast
listeners may be a more patient bunch, however, than those watching short
videos. Or, just as with video, if the marquee value of a show is greater,
viewers or listeners will tolerate more embedded ads.
Podcast of
the Moment:
Celebration
Rock, “1987 Is One Of Rock’s Best Years,” August 14, 2017. There are the albums
that most who were around in that generation recognize as great –“ The Joshua
Tree,” “Appetite For Destruction” and “Sign O’ The Times”. Then there are
others by big acts that got criticized as sounding dated later, like
Springsteen’s “Tunnel Of Love” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Tango In The Night,” but
have ended up sounding contemporary now. These thoughts are the spark for host
Steven Hyden and guest Brian Hiatt, of Rolling Stone, to nerd out about the
creative forces that peaked in what they call a watershed year for music.
