
What Is the Future of Podcasting? - apotatopot
As a podcast host&#x2F;producer, I&#x27;ve been thinking a lot about the long journey YouTube has taken over the last decade. I know podcasts have been around for a very long time, but they&#x27;re definitely booming right now. I&#x27;ve seen ads for interactive podcast services and all kinds of wiz-bang stuff.<p>What do you predict for podcasting in the near future, culturally or technically that we who create them could prepare&#x2F;plan for?
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jborichevskiy
Whatever this future is, I seriously hope someone figures out global
transcription and search:

I want to be able to step outside, type in some random topic on Spotify (or
some other player) and see _every_ podcast episode ever produced about it with
snippets of how that search term appears in it. Preferably sorted by podcast
producers I listen to regularly or am subscribed to.

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imagetic
That's a really loaded question.

There's not much new in terms of what a podcast is. At it's core, it's been
traditionally radio format with modifications for video. And as a medium,
radio/talk-show formats haven't shifted dramatically since I started doing
production 14 years ago. Popularity and delivery medium have shifted more than
anything.

The direction an individual podcast takes is really where it's potential and
limitations can be found. A podcast with a live/video component and a post-
production edited side, will vary greatly vs a product review 1-man-band type
of show format.

My biggest concern is always saturation, and the ability to curate quality
content to keep the most relevant and quality content in a visible spectrum.
YouTube has become pretty muddy. My suggestions keep me in a loop of the same
content, and the only way I discover something new is if it's recommended to
me, or it goes ultra-viral.

Also the ability to sustain itself. YouTube had a large ad model backing it.
People made a lot of money from their efforts. But then as it became more
saturated, that translation to income has become more watered down. I see more
and more concerns with how to get paid a living wage. Podcast have been a far
more direct interaction with sponsors.

We pitched podcast content for TV show productions for years, and someone high
up always shot it down. The ad revenue wasn't viable. It wasn't until Serial
became crazy popular and break all the records that our bosses started to come
around.

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hakanito
Podcasts are maturing and is starting to be seen as a serious alternative for
advertisers, and thus becoming a real source of income for professional
podcasters.

Companies like Acast[0] and Midroll have tech to dynamically insert targeted
ads right into the audio stream while playing. So two people listening to the
same podcast will get different ads.

[0] [https://acast.com](https://acast.com)

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MS90
It is interesting (I don't know if that's the right word, but I can't think of
another) to see how podcasts have become such a target for advertising. I
remember when I first listened to podcasts in like 2008 I'd pretty rarely hear
an ad, and when I did it was usually some gimmicky product from a company no
one had ever heard of. But nowadays I can't think of any podcasts that I
listen to that _don 't_ have ads, save for Hardcore History, and it's
frequently an ad for a big company or service like Door Dash, Turbo Tax, etc.

I know he's an outlier due to the enormity of his podcast, but it's been
said[1] that Joe Rogan now makes $75,000 per _episode_

That's a long way from his early days of being sponsored by the Fleshlight.

[1] [https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/joe-rogan-how-
much-...](https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/joe-rogan-how-much-money-
does-he-make-per-episode-on-his-podcast.html/)

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hackermailman
Alternative color commentary for live events/sports has happened a bit (Rogan
UFC) but that will likely increase in the future. Your cable/streaming
provider should give you an option of various podcast color commentary to sync
with the live event

