Sports podcasting is as crowded and competitive as the subject matter it focuses on. The team at Locked On Podcast Network says it's healthier than it seems after Vox Media's announcement last week. Split across a dozen podcasts Activities centered around local teams.continue A similar cut from The Athletic last year. “The local sports podcast model is thriving,” he says of Locked On.
The Tegna-owned sports podcast company said: In a LinkedIn post While it's never a good thing when sports podcasters lose their jobs or have their shows canceled, recent moves by other companies could leave the impression that the local sports podcast model is being challenged. thinking. Lockon says the exact opposite is true. The space is “bigger than ever and still growing dramatically, providing a viable means for local hosts to reach audiences and delivering great results for advertisers.” I am.
Launched in 2016 with one show, Locked On is now a 30-minute podcast with approximately 300 local hosts and team experts covering more than 200 NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and major college teams. is delivered every day. Last year, the episode reached 300 million views. And it is predicted to increase further this year.
“Rock On, a once small sports podcast network that started with just one show in Park City, Utah, is thriving, perhaps at the expense of its competitors,” it reads. “But without a doubt, the local sports podcast category is one of the strongest segments in the podcast business.”
Locked On said in a post that one of the reasons its business model is more successful than others is because it focuses on delivering daily podcasts to all targeted teams. He says he thinks so.
“Sports fans are fans of their teams not just all year round, but every day of the year. Additionally, as listeners and viewers transition away from mature forms of media such as terrestrial sports radio, they are replacing new listening habits. I’m looking for daily media.”
Locked On also says its model of bundling local sports podcasts with a national network for ad sales is working and increasing ad sales. In addition to dynamically inserted host-read ads, Locked On was able to leverage the cross-sports focus in the market. This means, for example, that Dallas' reach across podcasts focused on the Cowboys, Mavericks, Rangers, Stars, Horned Frogs, Longhorns, and Aggies can be combined to present more substantial reach numbers to local advertisers. means.
“To be fair, it is difficult to scale a local sales model to more than 75 markets. Fortunately, our network has been very successful selling nationally, so we We don't have to liquidate large amounts of inventory.”
We value Locked On not only for innovation, but also for having a consistent lineup (two-thirds of our hosts have been with the network for more than three years). That meant being early on with shorter daily episodes and embracing the idea of putting the show on YouTube. The company says it is currently “actively working” on his OTT with FAST TV and video-on-demand distribution on platforms such as Roku and Amazon Fire TV.
“We practice a bottom-up philosophy in product development,” he said. “Listeners tell us what they want and how they want to follow us, and we deliver a product that caters to them. In doing so, our network and advertisers also You will be a winner.”
