BuzzFeed India Launches New Original Podcast, Misunderstood The Assignment

Hollywood is still accepted as the movie capital around the world. Do you know there is a country that actually makes more movies than Hollywood? It's India and its "Bollywood" film industry. 

But India isn't just known for movie-making. It is becoming a hub for making podcasts and listening to them. Consider this. 

India’s podcast industry has amassed millions of new listeners over the past 12 months, with 81 percent of them having heard their first podcasts during the period, according to a recent survey by IVM Podcasts. Even during the pandemic lockdown, podcast consumption didn’t dip; if anything, it grew. The overdose of screen time meant podcasts were a good way to break away yet stay entertained or informed.

So it's not a surprise that BuzzFeed India has launched a new original podcast called Misunderstood The Assignment, exploring the ups and downs of life as a twenty-something in India. The podcast is hosted by Shreya Shetty and features a mix of BuzzFeed India creators, influencers, finance experts, comedians, and musicians.

You can listen to the trailer here. 

Listen to episode one here. 

The season includes seven episodes that will be released weekly. Misunderstood The Assignment is now available on all streaming platforms and the BuzzFeed India YouTube channel.

Guests will cover a range of topics that affect people in their twenties, including dealing with heartbreaks, hustle culture, personal finance, adult friendships, identifying toxic people, moving away from home, and more. Podcast guests include popular influencers like Shayan Roy, Navin Noronha, HustleRani, and Anushka Rathod, along with BuzzFeed India creators Aishwarya Katkade, Vishal Langthasa, and Aniket Chitnawis.

Born on the Internet in 2006, BuzzFeed offers a variety of content -- food, news, pop culture, and commerce -- through a host of brands. This new podcast shows its commitment to the growing Indian audio market.

According to journalist Aditya Kuber, "Indians are storytellers by nature. Through the ages, we have transferred knowledge down the line through stories. In the last few years, podcasts have become a preferred choice for consuming entertainment, news, education, and more."

A big driver of the growth has been the increase in the availability of regional content. Marathi, Tamil, Malayalam, and Bengali are the leaders. But not too far behind are Telugu, Gujarati, and other languages. The ability to consume content in a native tongue has seen a large number of listeners from smaller towns take to the medium. 

 There are about 35 apps in India where one can consume spoken word audio content. Free, paid, and micropayment options are now available. The ubiquity of mobile phones has only fueled the consumption of podcasts and additional audio content.

In India, only five percent of consumption happens on desktops. Since podcasts are easy to consume throughout the day while being untethered from a home computer, podcast portability makes them ideal for consumption during commutes, workouts, and daily chores. 

The Indian podcast market is expanding its genre options as well, with newer formats that offer more interactivity and user involvement that will further drive this growth. Quiz shows, Q&A shows, and more such innovations are on the horizon in this market. 

Short-form content is especially attractive to listeners in India. The supposed ideal length for an episode is between 20 and 30 minutes, but snackable content of under three minutes does exceedingly well, so long as it’s scripted and produced well. 

Check out Misunderstood The Assignment about life as a twenty-something in India. After all, podcasting transcends national boundaries and cultural priorities.