The room lit up as Gregory Cosman, managing director at shoutcast, explained to a packed room the importance of making a “wow” moment for listeners. As echoed throughout the conference, Cosman emphasised that content is king, and is the best way for audio creators and producers to boost their audience and engage their listeners into another dimension.
Native content is critically important in the contemporary audio era, examples of successful executions of this range from TED Talks partnership with NPR, a famous show within the US to accelerate native content, and BBC Sounds Audio Lab. No matter what your bottom line, the goal for public radio should be to use native content to grow the audience and find different ways to attract new ones.
Creating a podcast centred around native content is a multi-player ecosystem. But what is unique is that the broadcaster, the middle person in this case, controls much of the editorial decision making, enabling them to keep content consistent with their brand. Additional advice put forth by the panel was the importance of art work so the podcast is visually attractive, hiring young people that understand their audience group, and utilising Crosspod in order to promote other shows in a broadcasters channel.
While native content is brimming with possibilities, one restraint for public broadcasters is that it relies on advertising, which in some jurisdictions is prohibited.
By implementing an organised and strategic plan, native content can be a valuable tool in your broadcasting companies ecosystem in order to push your content to a wider audience.
