Pod-Alization: Latest Listening Trends; Can Computers Be Funny; Sports, Sports & More Sports

 Cumulus Media report on the latest podcast listening trends

 The recently released Cumulus Media 2023 Audioscape -- Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group® blog -- parses the latest podcast consumer and smart speaker trends from Edison Research’s “Share of Ear” Report from Q4 2022 and Nielsen Scarborough’s Podcast Buying Power report.  

• Over half of all U.S. 25-54 time spent with talk/personality content now occurs via podcast, up 2X in five years
     
• Podcast listeners are super audio fans, spending nearly six hours a day with audio, +38% more time than the average American  
  
  
• The median age of the podcast audience holds at 34 despite massive audience growth  
  
  
• The podcast audience profile is employed, upscale, and educated, according to Nielsen Scarborough  
  
  
• Most podcast listening occurs at home throughout the day  
  
  
• Podcasts have opportunities for growth in markets 51+ where listening is underrepresented  
  
  
• Over the last year, Spotify has inched past Apple as the top podcast listening platform; YouTube is a close second, and Apple is third  

iHeart welcomes AI-powered Dad joke podcast

My Lenovo laptop has been reliable, sturdy, and fast -- but never once has it been funny. Maybe a few times when the screen went black, and I had to reboot, and hold my breath that my data wasn't lost, could be somehow construed as funny in a passive-aggressive manner. 

iHeart has decided that the future may be in AI (artificial intelligence) podcasts. That would certainly cut down on the health insurance costs for the hosts.

So last week, iHeartPodcasts announced Daily Dad Jokes, an AI powered stand-up comedy podcast from Klassic Studios, has joined The iHeartPodcast Network. The podcast, started in late 2020 by Klassic Studios and believed to be the first AI-produced show, has surpassed 10 million downloads. 

Daily Dad Jokes is now distributed by iHeartPodcasts. How long before the AI takes over iHeart? We'll never know.

Cumulus purchases BLEAV sports podcast network

 This is the main theme or mission statement of the BLEAV podcast network. Every team. Every topic. Everywhere.

Does that claim include the Turkish soccer league? Billiard teams? There are hundreds in New York City? Kickball? Synchronized swimming events? 

Anyway, the Bleav network has joined the Cumulus Podcast Network. Bleav podcasts cover the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAAF, NCAAB, SEC, and NHL as well as soccer, betting, and pop culture for more than 50 million followers. Bleav will be the first network that will feature a show with a current or former player from every American professional and major college sports team, providing fans the insight and access only a player can provide. (I'm not sure about that boast.)

 The Cumulus Podcast Network will distribute, market, and monetize more than 300 Bleav shows. So sports talk radio, watch out. The rage, vitriol, and borderline crazy discussions that have defined your success is moving to a new and more visible format -- podcasting -- where you can actually rewind and replay the wingnut conversations.

Here's my local example of sports talk radio and many sports podcast shows.

When Rob Thompson took over as manager of baseball's Philadelphia Phillies last year and took them all the way to the World Series, he was hailed as a genius on local sports talk. This year, when the Phillies got off to a horrible start, the sports talk callers were screaming for him to be fired. And these were the same callers who praised him so volubly last October.