Month: October 2023

2024 New York Radio Awards Is Now Open For Entries

~ jen

The New York Festivals 2024 Radio Awards completion is open for entries.

The New York Festivals Radio Awards provides a showcase to celebrate world-class storytellers from around the glove. NYF’s Radio Awards 66-year legacy honors creative innovation and excellence in a broadcast and audio content across all genres and platforms.

“Our categories for investigative journalism and nonfiction series documentaries and social justice across all genres recognized how individual actions can change the world and the ability of the human spirit to triumph over adversity,” said Rose Anderson, SVP & Executive Director, New York Festivals Radio Awards. “Today’s storytellers are finding innovative ways to keep listeners informed, entertained, and engaged in our ever-changing and interconnected world so that the New York Festivals Radio Awards has introduced eight new categories that encompass that robust creative spirit.”

NYF’s new SciFi/Fantasy/Horror and Mystery Programs categories expand the Entertainment roster. Editorial/Viewpoint News Feature rounds out the journalism-based News Reports/Features category group providing a new outlook on current events and thought-provoking perspectives. Short Form Documentary offers additional opportunities to showcase distinctive points of view.

New podcast categories shine the spotlight on storytelling in a wide variety of topics. Investigate Journalism Podcast features in-depth reporting into significant issues, events or topics, and Mystery Podcast showcases narratives that keep listeners on the edge of their seats. On-Air talent categories honor top audio talent, new categories this year include News Correspondent/Reporter and Sports Correspondent/Reporter.

The National Press Club is the World’s Leading Professional Organization for Journalists. The National Press Club Award, launched in 2023 in partnership with the National Press Club, goes to the highest scoring entry in the following News program categories: Coverage of Breaking News Story, Coverage of Ongoing News Story, Nonfiction Series, and News Podcast.

For 2023, “Start Here” by ABC News in the News Podcast category earned the inaugural National Press Club Award. This year’s winner will be announced during the 2024 Storytellers Gala in April.

“Our partnership with the National Press Club continues, honoring journalists who are using their talents to tell the stories that matter and keep listeners informed,” said Ms. Anderson.

View the 2024 NYF Radio Awards extensive category roster: HERE

The 2023 Radio Awards winners were honored in a virtual ceremony on April 18th during the NAB Show in Las Vegas. This was the 14th consecutive year of NYF’s and NAB’s strategic partnership. Anchored from New York City’s Lincoln Center, over 160 teams sent their acceptances from around the world. Special vignettes featured industry leaders who shared what motivates their passion to create award-winning work. View the 2023 Storytellers Gala. 

NYF’s Radio Awards receives entries from radio stations, networks, and independent producers from over 30 countries around the globe. The mission of the competition is to honor the achievements of the men and women who make up the global audio storytelling community.

New York Festivals invites award-winning industry leaders from 6 continents around the world to become members of their world-class Radio Awards Grand Jury. The 2024 Grand jury will be recruited in the coming weeks. Those jurors will include some of the most world’s recognizable voices and captivating content producers in the radio industry. Entries are judged on production values creativity, content presentation, direction, writing, achievement of purpose, and audience suitability.

All Entires in NYF’s 2024 Radio Awards will be judged by the NYF Grand July of 200+ producers, directors, writers, and other creative media professional from around the globe.

The entry deadline for the 2024 Radio Awards competition is January 31, 2024.

Podcastle Supercharges Its AI Offering To Enhance Podcast Creation

~ jen

Podcastle, an all-in-one platform for podcast creators that helps them record, produce, and publish their content launches Magic Dust AI. The generative AI tool effortlessly transforms audio recordings, ensuring studio-quality sound, while the Cinematic Blur feature elevates video recordings for a more professional look.

In 2023, the global podcast audience reached 464.7 million, a figure set to rise to 504.9 million by 2024. Among the 207 million content creators worldwide, 32% cite podcast editing and production as one of the top-three hurdles when considering podcast creation. Podcastle addresses this concerns. It offers the ultimate creator’s toolkit, combining simplicity with professional-grade functionality.

Podcastle stands as the complete audio & video production and distribution platform, catering to a diverse community of podcasters, solopreneures, marketers, educators, and anyone else passionate about crafting top-tier production-ready podcasts. Since its funding round in 2021, the platform’s user base has surged from 150,000 to a one million-strong community of creators that has collectively generated over 12 million podcast episodes and pieces content.

Podcastle streamlines the entire podcasting process, making it a seamless solution for producing and distributing top-notch content for solo podcasts, interviews, audiobooks, voiceovers, and more. With exceptional audio and video recording on a user-friendly web platform, it’s a comprehensive solution for content production.

Users can take advantage of Podcastle’s suite of AI tools to record studio-quality remote interviews, edit audio & video, transcribe speech to text, and even generate an AI clone of their own voice with its Revoice product. Its seamless Hosting Hub also allows users to publish and distribute their shows to all major podcast networks in one place.

The newly introduced Magic Dust AI is an advanced audio enhancement tool that automatically transforms any ordinary or low-quality audio file into professional studio-quality sound by using generative AI. It eliminates background noise, enhances dynamic range and gives any speaker a booming studio sound. Magic Dust AI stands apart due to its versatility, which allows users to record audio with any equipment in any environment. They can also seamlessly clean the recordings of remote guests even if they lack a professional setup, which can cost in excess of $5,000.

Cinematic Blur makes the subject stand out in a video, regardless of the camera used. It enhances the visual quality of the content by introducing a shallow depth of field that creates a distinct separation between the foreground and background. By applying this bokeh effect, you ensure a high production value and keep the audience’s focus on the central subject.

“At Podcastle, our mission to democratize podcasting by providing a suite of collaborative tools that simplify the entire workflow for creators and teams. We strive to empower the future of podcasting, where anyone with a voice can bring their vision to life,” says Artavazd Yeritsyan, founder and CEO of Podcastle. “With our new Magic Dust AI and Cinematic Blur features, were taking a huge step forward in making generative AI technology accessible to all kinds of content creators.”

In the future, Podcastle envisions incorporating additional AI functionality onto its platform. Notably, the Company has plans to develop a “Marketing Hub” that will assist with its content distribution. This feature will allow the AI model to autonomously analyze content transcripts and assist in drafting compelling titles, descriptions, metadata, as well as posts for sharing on platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, and more.

Libsyn Unveils September 2023 Podcast Advertising Rates

~ jen

Liberated Syndication Inc. (“Libsyn”), the leading all-in-one podcasting platform for creators and advertisers, announced its September 2023 Podcast Advertising Rates, including the highest and most accessible CPM categories, and touched on advancements in its brand safety and sustainability targeting solutions.

The Podcasting Advanced: Building Brand Trust & Safety

Podcast advertising elevates consumers’ brand awareness, sparking curiosity, driving engagement, and boosting their interest in making a purchase from that brand’s products of services, according to Nielsen’s ‘Podcasting Today’ report. This is driving home why brands are increasingly choosing podcasts as a medium for advertising, but they want to ensure brand safety and protection of their reputation across such digital audio campaigns.

That’s why Libsyn is committed to prioritizing brand safety for its advertisers. The Company’s AdvertiseCast marketplace leverages ComScore technology to scan and analyze the transcripts of individual podcast shows within the marketplace, enabling contextual profiling of their audio inventory. These integrated components work seamlessly together to score shows, empowering brands to ensure ad placement safety and suitability.

Dave Hanley, Chief Revenue Officer of Libsyn’s AdvertiseCast, affirms, “Our advanced brand safety and suitability solutions prioritize advertisers’ peace of mind. Through our AdvertiseCast marketplace, we utilize ComScore technology to meticulously analyze podcast show transcripts, enabling contextual profiling and show scoring. This commitment ensures brands can confidently navigate the digital audio landscape.”

The following rates, which are denoted as cost per thousand or CPM, are published monthly by Libsyn’s AdvertiseCast, the industry’s premier podcast advertising marketplace that connects advertisers with podcaster. The Company releases the figures to empower the podcaster and advertiser communities to readily monitor market pricing and provide greater insight into podcasting advertising as a monetization vehicle. The data is derived from actual sales data across AdvertiseCast’s network of thousands of shows.

For September 2023, the average CPM rate was $22.91 for a 60-second ad spot. That figure is up 3.8% compared to last month (August 2023 avg. CPM rate: $22.07) and has decreased year-over-year (September 2022 avg. CPM rate: $23.94).

The three highest CPM categories in September based on delivered advertising were:

Education: $27

Arts: $26

Technology: $25

Moreover, three categories where advertisers can effectively tap into highly engaged audiences at more accessible CPM rates include Fiction, News, and TV & Film, which averaged around the low 20s in September.

Libsyn’s AdvertiseCast combines an industry-leading ad buying and management platform with full-service capabilities that makes it easy for podcast advertisers to initiate and manage highly targeted and measurable campaigns, while providing maximum return for creators. Historical monthly CPM rates can be found on AdvertiseCast’s website at www.advertisecast.com/podcast-advertising-rates.

Blue Wire And Sounder Announce Strategic Partnership

~ jen

Premier sports podcast network Blue Wire and Sounder, the AI-powered audio intelligence platform, announced they have partnered to provide Blue Wire’s advertisers with access to Sounder’s brand safety, suitability, and precision ad targeting tools across its entire catalog.

Sounder’s cutting-edge technology will enhance brand safety and ensure suitability and precision in ad targeting, creating a win-win scenario for both content creators and advertisers. With this partnership, Blue Wire is poised to strengthen its position as the go-to destination for top-tier sports content while delivering a more personalized and engaging podcast experience for its listeners. This strategic alliance underscores Blue Wire’s commitment to innovation and excellence in the sports podcasting arena.

“We are excited to partner with Sounder to provide our network with access to the best precision targeting and podcast analytics tools available,” said Blue Wire CEO and Founder Kevin Jones. “Sounder’s insights will boost tailored monetization opportunities across Blue Wire’s network to align with relevant and suitable inventory in the ultimate win-win for our content creators and advertisers.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Blue Wire,” said Sounder’s Vice President of Sales and Client Success, Brittany Hall. “Blue Wire’s podcast advertising operations will scale with our AI-powered targeting tools, driving trust at scale for advertisers.”

The partnership between Blue Wire and Sounder is a podcasting game-changer, creating new opportunities for advertisers to reach relevant content. Podcast fans can look forward to a new era of richer, more diverse listening experiences.

 

Study Reveals Podcast Listening Trends In Nigeria For 2023

~ jen
A sign in green letters says: Podcast Listening Habits 2023"

In a recent survey conducted in Nigeria, a comprehensive examination of podcast listening habits among Nigerians has uncovered intriguing insights into the nation’s podcast landscape in 2023.

The survey, which engaged a diverse sample of 500 participants, provides a fascinating snapshot of the podcast ecosystem in Nigeria. Some key highlights from the survey include: 

Frequency of Podcast Listening: The survey revealed that a substantial portion of Nigerians listen to podcasts regularly. A significant 35.8% listen multiple times a week, with an additional 34.2% tuning in at least once a month.

Diverse Content Preferences: Nigerian listeners exhibit diverse tastes when it comes to podcast content. Popular genres include Society and Culture (53.3%) and Personal Development and Self-Improvement (56.7%).

Smartphones Dominate: Smartphones emerged as the preferred device for podcast consumption, with a staggering 94.2% of respondents using them to access their favorite shows.

Word-of-Mouth and Social Media: Recommendations from friends and family, along with social media platforms, were identified as primary sources for discovering new podcasts.

Audio Quality Matters: An overwhelming 62.5% of participants emphasized the importance of clear audio quality, underlining the significance of good sound production.

The survey also provided valuable demographic insights, revealing that the majority of Nigerian podcast enthusiasts fall within the 25-34 age group, with the South West region leading in terms of podcast engagement.

These findings highlight the evolving podcast landscape in Nigeria and the growing appetite for diverse audio content among its citizens. Podcast creators and enthusiasts alike are encouraged to explore and embrace this burgeon medium. 

For further details and access to the full survey results and presentation slides, please visit Podcast Listening Habits in Nigeria -2023.