Podcasts offer deep audience connection
The New Zealand Podcasting Summit, being held at AUT’s city campus on Saturday 13 May, showcases the breadth of podcasts being made in New Zealand and offers something for everyone, from experienced podcasters to the pod-curious.
- NZ On Air Where Are The Audiences research shows podcast audiences continuing to grow
- TRB’s Infinite Dial research says 30% of New Zealanders (16+) listen to podcasts weekly – higher than the UK, USA, Canada and Australia
- Dr Tennant’s Verbal Highs lists more than 700 New Zealand podcasts
Lecturer Dr Lewis Tennant, who also runs the successful and popular Dr Tennant’s Verbal Highs podcast, says this year’s lineup of speakers and sessions shows the New Zealand podcasting scene continues to develop rapidly.
“The composition and trajectory of podcasting in New Zealand is broadly like the US, UK, and Australia. Podcasting has grown from being a medium mainly led and shaped by independent producers and the state’s public service broadcaster (RNZ), to being a desirable and growing sector of the local media market.
“The commercial radio industry—traditionally reliant on formatted music radio—is now focused on growing and marketing podcast content. Many of the country’s main news outlets are presenting long-form journalism as highly-produced podcast series. Most recently a ‘new audio economy’ has been emerging, made up of relatively small podcast production companies and collectives.”
Tennant says the majority of successful podcasts, which have a dedicated audience and regularly release episodes are for a particular audience rather than a general audience. “These shows go an inch wide and a mile deep, making them much more precise target markets for the right advertiser than more general audience advertising can offer. Podcasts that connect with audiences offer richness rather than reach.”
Tickets for the NZ Podcasting Summit are available online. The speaker and session lineup offers something for everyone.