this is hot pod, The VergeNewsletter about the podcasting and audio industry.
today is the last day The Vergethis will be my final issue hot pod. There's another story coming out in the next week or two. But in the meantime, I wanted to offer some parting thoughts about the industry I've been covering closely over the past two years.
In my career, I have always arrived at the party too late. I joined my university's newspaper at a time when it was becoming clear that printing a daily newspaper no longer calculated.I had a good year with melissa harris perry The show aired on MSNBC shortly before its beloved executive producer stepped down and the show folded.I was nostalgic for the enchanting old days. forbes A time when magazine writers used their company's dime to drink champagne on ships. Maybe I'm a lucky charm, or maybe I'm just too stuck in old ways of thinking about media.
In a sense, I think the same thing was true during my time there. hot pod. When I started two years ago, I was so excited. However, even though talent deals and M&A were still underway, concerns were already present. You know what happened next.
Some shows have adapted to new circumstances and are doing well
But the podcast party isn't over. This medium is still in its infancy and is becoming an increasingly integral part of the nation's media diet. But I came at the end of a certain era. There was a time when it seemed like podcasts might become the new magazines, a place where writers and producers could take their time and focus on in-depth reporting and storytelling. Therefore, many top journalistic talents flocked to the media. And those types of shows are still being made (10 years later, serial remains at the top of the charts), but it's clear it won't scale as companies refrain from spending on limited series and time-consuming and expensive projects.
Podcasting is experiencing the same macro effects that have led to layoffs and closures across media. Investment is drying up and all projects need to be profitable to survive. In this way, podcasting is no exception. But even if podcasting's lofty early promises never materialized, there are shows that have adapted to the new situation and made it work.I suppose normal gossipmanages to combine storytelling and bullshit in a brilliant way, publishing it frequently enough to avoid the dips that other seasonal podcasts experience.or Unholy: Two Jews in the newsuses a weekly chat format to feature truly challenging conversations when you really, really need them.or decoder ring, we went from seasonal to biweekly, which is a very personal benefit for me. Even if producers, hosts, and editors should have benefited much better from their corporate overlords than what has happened in the past few years (and they did!), I believe that the creators in this industry We look forward to continuing to innovate.
Another thing that has changed in my time here is that even the way we define what a podcast is has changed.Nick and I talked about this. 1.5x speed It was announced a few weeks ago that “podcasts” are more about aesthetics than form, just as many other types of media such as YouTube videos, audiobooks, and X videos interact with podcasts. It seems that there is. It increases the potential for scale (and scale means money and jobs), but I hope podcasting doesn't lose that distinction (Jake please give me a good attitude) I sincerely hope so, and not just because I am.)
Proceeding from hot pod, I know I'm going to miss this community. I had the chance to meet many of you at the Hot Pod Summit and emailed with even more readers. Not many media reporters get the chance to actually talk to their audience, and it's an honor.
And now I would like to express my many gratitude. Jake Castrenquez for putting up with my nonsense and letting me write some cheeky things in my newsletter. I would like to thank Esther Cohen and Carla Verlaney for their work in making the Hot Pod Summit such a success and for keeping me on my toes. Amrita Khalid did a great job even though I was on maternity leave while she was always slacking off with me on podcasting and stuff. Thank you to Mia Sato for being a great friend and the best technology feature writer in the game. Nilay Patel, for hiring me to figure out how to make AI fun at his podcasting conference. Nick Quah, for having the foresight to create a newsletter about podcasting and for continuing to answer my silly little questions. Scott Newman, Jenny Mills, and Jeff Weiner from work x work for letting me clown on stage and organizing such great industry events (twice a year? Forget it) . And of course our readers! Without your insight and gossip, this wouldn't be as interesting.
