I ran a local podcast for 56 episodes. Other than a short period of having a volunteer producer, I pretty much did everything myself. Selling sponsorships went surprisingly well, and it made money but not a ton (a nice little side income). Discovery is really hard. I learned early on you need to do video too, and that adds technically difficulty. I found local businesses were eager to support the podcast because they thought it was cool that someone was doing a local podcast and I think they liked that there was a podcast option to advertise on. The main reason I dropped it was it became really difficult to book guests post-COVID, and I just wasn’t enjoying it anymore. I rebranded the YT channel for my newsletter and have used it to do livestreams like say on election night - kind of an ad-on for my subscribers. (The other pain point on the podcast was actually collecting payments - I I’d to hound some of them to get payment which is annoying)
Are we discussing podcasts that are audio-only, or do we include video podcasts as well? I believe that, on a local level, audio podcasts might not align with the typical habits of news consumption. It seems more promising to focus on shows or web TV formats that people can watch on their smart TVs. The related question to consider is whether local YouTube channels are sustainable. I have a strong belief in their potential for success.
Yeah, I've always wondered about the viability of local YouTube channels but have rarely come across any -- except for the ones owned by local TV stations that simply repurpose clips.
I ran a local podcast for 56 episodes. Other than a short period of having a volunteer producer, I pretty much did everything myself. Selling sponsorships went surprisingly well, and it made money but not a ton (a nice little side income). Discovery is really hard. I learned early on you need to do video too, and that adds technically difficulty. I found local businesses were eager to support the podcast because they thought it was cool that someone was doing a local podcast and I think they liked that there was a podcast option to advertise on. The main reason I dropped it was it became really difficult to book guests post-COVID, and I just wasn’t enjoying it anymore. I rebranded the YT channel for my newsletter and have used it to do livestreams like say on election night - kind of an ad-on for my subscribers. (The other pain point on the podcast was actually collecting payments - I I’d to hound some of them to get payment which is annoying)
That's interesting, thanks!
Are we discussing podcasts that are audio-only, or do we include video podcasts as well? I believe that, on a local level, audio podcasts might not align with the typical habits of news consumption. It seems more promising to focus on shows or web TV formats that people can watch on their smart TVs. The related question to consider is whether local YouTube channels are sustainable. I have a strong belief in their potential for success.
Yeah, I've always wondered about the viability of local YouTube channels but have rarely come across any -- except for the ones owned by local TV stations that simply repurpose clips.
Right on time https://open.substack.com/pub/on/p/substack-podcast-spotify?r=38ebp&utm_medium=ios