To increase podcast listenership and help people discover new shows this year, The New York Times says it is experimenting with creating images and videos on platforms such as YouTube and its own audio app. said Nina Russom, vice president of business and head of audience growth at The New York Times. New York Times.
On stage at the Digiday Publishing Summit in Vail, Colorado, on Wednesday, Russom spoke about podcasters' perennial challenge of finding new listeners. The Times' strategy is to promote podcasts through audio ads on popular shows within the network (which often feature personal anecdotes from journalists and other Times employees) and on Market shows on the Times' core news app. , by using more visual assets such as: Images and videos from Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.
“It's a very mature landscape now. We've all been staring at the same tiles for a long time,” she said.
The Times is testing podcast episode-specific art across audio platforms and the Times' own audio app. This way, instead of using the same logo for every new episode of “The Daily,” you can use a graphic or photo related to the topic of that episode to see if it brings in new listeners, for example. please.
“Just having something more visually interesting is great. But that's also what we know from news apps. When you have really interesting photos, it makes for a more persuasive story, so it's great to have something more visually interesting. It's great to be able to try it out in the audio field as well,” Russam said.
The Times is also working on adding more videos to its audio app, just as short animated clips appear in its core news app, she added.
Last October, the Times published fully filmed episodes of two podcasts, “Hard Fork” and “Popcast” (recorded in new studios in San Francisco and New York), on YouTube, arguably one of the largest podcast platforms in the United States. I started posting on.
Russum said this has helped it find new listeners, but growth can be inconsistent and take time.
“We've been told that it takes 18, 24 months of investment before we actually start to see a really exciting level of audience, and we've made sure that's the case. “So we're in the very early stages,” Russom said, adding that YouTube hasn't provided any guidance as to why it's taking so long to see real results. he added.
But the chance of a viral hit on YouTube is worth the investment, she says.
“Viral moments are more real on YouTube than they are on Apple or Spotify. [due to their] Algorithms… So you can see that some episodes work very well. And it creates a new floor for the audience and it becomes consistent for a while. So there's a lot more variation in viewership from episode to episode than what you often see on Apple or Spotify,” Russum said.
Audio app goals
Russum said the New York Times' audio app, launched last year for news and bundle subscribers, allows journalists and columnists to experiment with audio formats that aren't necessarily suited to platforms like Apple, Spotify and RSS feeds. It is said that it is possible.
“Rather, [way to] “When you press play on the front page of The New York Times, the in-app audio program transitions from the day's headlines to short five-minute clips of journalists giving the Daily the latest information on the day's major topics. Masu. Rassam then explained to a journalist reading a lengthy article:
Thanks to the app and its various formats, more than 600 Times journalists contributed audio last year, Russum said. The app has been downloaded more than 1 million times from June to the end of December.
The next step for the audio app is to promote the product (and new podcast shows like “The Interview” launching next month) on the Times' core news app, adding audio clips as well as videos and graphics. is. Latham said it will appear across news apps.
Expansion of listener base
Russom acknowledged that the Times' audience has been increasing “continuously,” but declined to say by how much. (The Times' flagship show, The Daily, has been downloaded about 4 billion times since its launch in 2017, according to Russum.)
Russom said the “consistent” listenership growth was achieved thanks to three initiatives. It involves journalists and columnists promoting their programs to readers, an emphasis on weekly programs, and the production of new programs on a regular basis.
Other podcast networks and publishers have previously spoken to Digiday about the challenges associated with finding an audience for limited series.
“We've realized that it takes a little more time to build the viewership numbers that we're hoping for. So these days, we're more interested in a consistent weekly show with fewer breaks than a seasonal show. is effective. Of course, cereal is the big exception to that…but I'm thinking about it a little more than I used to,” Russum said. “We're seeing an increased demand for things that people can actually build habits with,” she added.
Serial Productions, the company behind the popular podcast series Serial that was acquired by The New York Times in 2020, produces two to three miniseries each year. The first two episodes of “Serial” Season 4 were released on Thursday.
“Continuing to add to our programming suite is another way to ensure our viewership continues to grow,” Russom said.
