12 years and going strong: Podcast Pioneer Tim Reid on the Small Business Big Marketing Show 

Tim Reid is one of Australian podcasting’s earliest adopters after hosting the Small Business Big Marketing Show for over 12 years. He has spent the last two years producing his show for the LiSTNR network. 

Podcast Week’s Trent Thomas caught up with Reid to talk about his journey as a pioneer of the medium and how his program is positioned both now and into the future.

“I’ve been going for 12 years and was probably one of the first business and marketing podcasts in Australia,” said Reid.  “Back then no one really knew what they were, including me. And now everyone would appear to know. I call myself, a bespoke podcast, because I operate by myself as a one-man show. Now we’re seeing all the radio networks, celebs, public figures, jumping on the bandwagon in the last 12 months, and probably making it harder for the individual podcaster to get a leg up because it’s just a noisy marketplace.”

Check out Small Business Big Marketing’s website here.

When asked how he has maintained a passion for his show after 12 years, Reid said that you need to have deep interest and curiosity in your subject matter to do a podcast of this nature.

“I have a deep passion for business owners, particularly small business owners, I have a lot of empathy for their struggles with marketing. So, the reason I put my show together is to shine a bright light on marketing for those business owners who find it a bit frustrating. So that keeps me going.”

The Small Business Big Marketing Show has episodes in and around the 60-minute mark, when asked how he determines the best length for an episode he said an episode should be “as long as it needs to be a not a second more”.

“People go, ‘you know, we’ve got short attention spans, so they should be shorter’ and then someone else says ‘the average commute is 30 minutes’ well, that depends where you live. Then you’ve got the most popular podcast in the world with an average duration of two and a half to three hours with Joe Rogan.”

After 10 years of going it alone, two years ago Reid joined LiSTNR (PodcastOne Australia at the time). When asked how life was at the big network, Reid described it as both “good and frustrating”.

“Being part of the LiSTNR network means that I’m surrounded by great resources. I have a producer and editor, access to 90 studios around the country. Because I live in regional Australia, it’s really nice to be able to access all that. Then they represent you in the marketplace to get sponsors and advertisers. That’s the bit that’s changed a lot, coinciding with me joining PodcastOne Australia two years ago. I used to deal directly with the marketing directors of companies. I would contact for example an American Express, and speak to the marketing director, and then you develop a relationship and they become a sponsor. Whereas now it’s sort of a step removed, where I’m being represented inside digital media agencies. The market is a lot more competitive and that’s just a part of being a part of a big network.”

When asked about the increased competitiveness in the market now as opposed to 12 years ago, Reid said he has always had a simple response.

“The marketer in me always says the best marketing is a great product. I am just head down, bum up and try and create great audio content that solves the problems of my listeners, and that entertains or engages them at the same time.”

When asked about the future of the Small Business Big Marketing Show, Reid said that he just wants to keep growing the brand.

“My aim is just to continue to build that audience, get more subscribers, get the marketing conversation happening amongst small business owners. I’ve actually made a living out of podcasting, probably one of the few in the last decade, where it’s not a means to an end. Podcasting is actually my end. But it has created up until Covid a really good speaking career for me over the course of the years where I have been asked to speak at more and more conferences, and there’s a direct line, literally a direct line between my podcast and getting speaking gigs.”

[Listen to the Small Business Big Marketing Show here]

SCA’s LiSTNR and Schwartz Media enter strategic partnership

SCA’s LiSTNR and Schwartz Media have announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership for Schwartz’s existing podcast titles, 7am and The Culture, along with co-production opportunities between the companies to develop and publish new journalist-led podcasts.

Schwartz Media publishes The Saturday Paper and The Monthly magazine and produces the daily news podcast 7am and weekly arts and entertainment show The Culture.

Hosted by award-winning investigative journalist Ruby Jones, 7am is Australia’s most popular daily news podcast. It takes the key story of the day and unpacks the background, the main players and why it matters. The Culture, which launched in May, has built on the success of 7am with a weekly deep dive into the latest movies, music, television, streaming, books and art, hosted by Schwartz Media’s head of audio, Osman Faruqi.

In the October podcast ranker, Schwartz Media came in ninth in the top 10 publishers, with 1,557,284 monthly downloads. 7am was the fifth most popular podcast in both the Australian and Overall podcast categories, with 452,085 monthly listeners. The Culture also made the top 100 Australian made podcasts, coming in at #96.

[Listen to 7am here and The Culture here]

Pedestrian.TV partners with Spotify to launch daily news podcast 

Pedestrian.TV, has launched Pedestrian Daily, a daily news podcast in an exclusive partnership with Spotify.

Running Monday to Friday, Pedestrian Daily will give a voice to the headlines dominating Pedestrian.TV in entertainment, music, sport, style, and politics.

Hosted by writer, comedian, Pedestrian.TV alumni and self proclaimed “new king of the airwaves” Louis Hanson, the 5-minute daily news show will hit young Aussie listeners with the local news they care about on their morning commute (or from their lounge room, for WFHers).

James McManus, creative director of Pedestrian Group, says: “We are excited to convert Pedestrian.TV’s eyeball-ripping headlines into the audio space and reach more young Aussies hungry for news tailored to their lives. This Spotify Exclusive adds an important daily news offering to Pedestrian Group’s podcast portfolio.”

Ben Watts, head of studios at Spotify Australia & New Zealand, says: “We’re huge fans of Pedestrian.TV’s irreverent and honest take on daily news and we know our audience are as well. We also know Spotify listeners want more short-form news podcasts, so the opportunity to collaborate with Pedestrian.TV to deliver a daily podcast made perfect sense for our business.” 

[Listen to Pedestrian Daily here]

News.com.au launches daily news podcast, I’ve Got News For You

News.com.au has also launched a weekday news podcast made for young adults on the move, I’ve Got News For You.

Hosted by journalist Andrew ‘Bucky’ Bucklow, the 20-minute podcast dives into an issue or headline that has captured the nation’s attention. It will feature interviews with news.com.au journalists to help break down the big stories, as well as discussions with newsmakers and trendsetters.

News.com.au editor-in-chief Lisa Muxworthy said: “What readers love about news.com.au is its ability to highlight what they really care about. We approach news from the audience’s perspective and can balance hard news with funny, inspiring and quirky stories adding dimension and intrigue. Our audience wants to connect and understand the world around them, and now we can deliver more of that via a new medium.

“Bucky’s radio and podcasting background, combined with his knowledge of what the news.com.au audience really cares about – and his sense of humour – makes him the perfect person to front I’ve Got News For You.”

I’ve Got News For You is produced by News Corp Australia’s on-demand audio division NewsCast. The podcast is available through the news.com.au app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other podcatchers.

[Listen to I’ve Got News For You here]

ARN announces Life Uncut Radio Show to air Saturdays in 2022

Based on audience behaviours and insights, ARN has announced it is launching new Saturday shows across the KIIS Network in 2022. The first show to be announced is hosted by Brittany Hockley and Laura Byrne who will make their radio debut with the Life Uncut Radio Show.

Transforming their successful podcast into a radio show each Saturday on KIIS, it is the first show to be launched as part of ARN’s Podcast to Broadcast Strategy.

See More: “We’ve become a lot more unfiltered”: Brittany Hockley and Laura Byrne on Life Uncut

Brittany Hockley said, “I am beyond excited for the launch of Life Uncut Radio Show! There is nothing we love more than a solid yarn, sharing embarrassing stories, chatting to inspirational people and bringing the lols. We are so proud of what we have created and to be able to take it to a whole new level with a national radio show, allowing us to connect with a whole new bunch of awesome humans.”

Laura Byrne said, “The big secret is out, Life Uncut does radio! For the past two years Britt and I have been behind the mics in our bedrooms and now we’ll be in your ears every Saturday morning with KIIS. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and we can’t wait to have a laugh and share some wild stories with KIIS listeners. It will be everything you’ve come to love and know about Life Uncut, but a little bit more professional.”

[Listen to Life Uncut here]

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have launched a new podcast series, Futurepreneur, designed to give listeners an insight into Australia’s leading business minds and how they see the economy and entrepreneurship.

Each episode of the eight-part series will be hosted by a journalist from the mastheads’ business section and will introduce listeners to the business leaders who are driving Australia’s economy as we step into a post-pandemic future.

Futurepreneur, produced in partnership with Optus, will draw out the journey business leaders have been on and get their perspective on the future of the Australian economy, based on the challenges they have faced. The discussions include some of the country’s best-known leaders opening up on everything from hiring (and firing), raising capital and developing and marketing a product to how to avoid burning out, and dealing with success and failure.

“Our readers are fascinated by entrepreneurship, but it is nowhere near as easy or glamorous as it is often portrayed,” said John McDuling, business editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. “We’re thrilled to release Futurepreneur into the wild. It’s essential listening for anyone who has thought about founding a business, or has already taken the plunge.”

Episode one examines the first step an entrepreneur takes in their business journey and looks at the Australian start-up community with venture capitalist Nick Crocker in conversation with John McDuling.

With later episodes featuring start-ups including Eucalyptus, Shameless and Powerledger, one of Australia’s most successful start-up founders, Scott Farquhar from Atlassian, reveals his thoughts about the “great resignation”, the work from home debate and the role of the office in a post-COVID economy.

In recent months both mastheads have significantly ramped up their audio presence, launching twice-daily audio news bulletins as well as the gripping true-crime podcast, Bondi Badlands. 

New episodes of Futurepreneur will be released weekly on Apple, Google, and Spotify.

Tom Tilley, host of the daily news podcast The Briefing on LiSTNR, has re-signed a new agreement with SCA. 

After a decade of hosting radio, Tom Tilley has grown a following of listeners to his new audio on demand offering The Briefing on LiSTNR. The Briefing is consistently among Australia’s Top 20 podcasts with in excess of 145,000 listeners a month and the podcast reaching 7.5 million downloads to date.  

The Briefing has also recently been announced as a finalist in the upcoming Australian Commercial Radio Awards (Best Original Podcast – Unbranded), and in the upcoming Australian Podcast Awards (Best Current Affairs podcast).    

Tilley has hosted The Briefing since its launch in April 2020, successfully tapping into the news that matters to Australia’s under 40s. Tilley worked closely with LiSTNR head of content – original podcasts, Sam Cavanagh, to develop the concept and record pilot episodes back in 2020. 

Launching the podcast during a pandemic, Tilley, and his team of co-hosts, including Annika Smethurst, Jan Fran, Jamila Rizvi, and Katrina Blowers, have provided young Australians with a ‘go to’ reliable source of well researched information on Covid-19. 

Commenting on his re-signing with LiSTNR, Tilley said: “I’m loving working with SCA and developing The Briefing from scratch. It’s designed to be the best parts of a newsy breakfast radio show all in 20 minutes. I’m proud of the show and the audience we’ve built so far and really looking forward to growing it even further over the next two years.”  

Cavanagh said: “When Tom and I started workshopping ideas for a daily news podcast in January 2020, the world was a far simpler place!  Now 18 months on, and The Briefing has become the fastest growing news podcast in Australia.  Tom’s ability to balance personality and humour, with his razor-sharp journalistic instincts, are what make The Briefing such an entertaining and informative show.”  

During his time hosting The Briefing, Tilley has interviewed Donald Trump’s niece Mary Trump, protestors on the streets of the Black Lives Matter protests, Australia’s leading health experts and some of the biggest names in politics including the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, Malcolm Turnbull, and Julie Bishop.

The Briefing is available daily on the LiSTNR app. 

In August, Spotify began rolling out Anchor Podcast Subscriptions, giving all US podcasters the ability to publish paid content for their listeners on Spotify. From November 18, Spotify will be doubling down on this feature by making it available to all creators in 33 new markets around the world including Australia, with new local podcast Who Killed Bob? by Podshape the first to implement the new feature.

Podcast Subscriptions on Spotify give creators more control over how they monetise their content and connect with listeners. The subscriptions offer wide reach, discoverability, and 100% of their subscriber revenue for the first two years of the feature (in two years, Spotify plans to implement a 5% fee). The platform will also provide creators and listeners with more ways to connect, as podcasters will be able to access contact information for their paying subscribers to offer them even more perks.

Launching November 18, Who Killed Bob? focuses on murder, intrigue and injustice following the disappearance of Bob Chappell aboard the yacht ‘Four Winds’ in Tasmania in 2009. Despite there being no body, no murder weapon and no witnesses, Bob’s long time partner Sue Neill-Fraser was convicted of his murder and imprisoned for 23 years. Over 10 episodes psychologist and film producer Eve Ash shares her 13-year journey to uncovering the truth of Who Killed Bob, exposing the shocking and bizarre twists of the case and the unyielding and unfair justice system that sees Sue Neill-Fraser still behind bars as she awaits the outcome of her latest appeal.

In June this year, Spotify Audience Network was launched in Australia. Within three months of launch, nearly 60% of Spotify’s US podcast advertiser base was advertising with the Spotify Audience Network. The platform allows advertisers to reach highly engaged, targeted audiences within podcasts both on and off-Spotify. 

Check out the Who Killed Bob? podcast here.

Freeview Australia has announced that it has appointed Dean Dezius as its new general manager.

Freeview Australia presents and promotes free-to-air channels and content to all Australians and recently launched a free enhanced HbbTV service, providing Australians with a more seamless integration between TV broadcast and on-demand video services.

A former vice president of entertainment channels at Fox Networks Group for the Asia Pacific region, Dezius brings over 25 years media experience to the role with a track record in developing critical and commercially successful content for global audiences. He brings leadership, strategy, brand and digital skills from his time with multiple media organisations including Fox International and Foxtel.

Dezius replaces interim general manager, Karim Yousfi who has steered the operations of Freeview over the past 18 months and has overseen the successful launch of Freeview’s new HbbTV product, which has recently been nominated for an international Award at the HbbTV Symposium in Paris in November 2021.

Freeview chair, Helen Clifton commented “I am very proud of the work that the Freeview team has delivered to significantly grow and improve the user experience, with a 30% uplift in audience engagement with Freeview since the new product became available for smart TV users.

“Dean was the stand-out candidate for our new general manager with strong marketing and strategic skills and the experience to take Freeview to the next level” Clifton said.

“I look forward to working alongside Dean as we continue to build on the success of Freeview.”

Dean Dezius said ” I am looking forward to working collaboratively with Helen Clifton and the Freeview board along with the dedicated Freeview team to ensure the continued successful development and roll out of Freeview services. With a focus on continued product improvement and marketing, Freeview remains committed to delivering the best content to all Australians for free.”

TikTok and the Australasian Performing Right Association and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (APRA AMCOS) have announced the signing of a multi-year music licensing deal. This agreement will allow for the collection of digital mechanical and performance royalties for APRA AMCOS’ 111,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in Australia and New Zealand, and deliver a new revenue stream for creators of music.

This agreement marks the first deal between TikTok and APRA AMCOS, and sets up a partnership to further support the local music industry in Australia and New Zealand. The new deal will also account for TikTok’s past use of musical works, including the service Musical.ly.

“I’m delighted that TikTok has inked this landmark deal with the distinctive community of publishers and songwriters in Australia and New Zealand, who bring such creativity and joy to our platform through their music. TikTok is committed to paying creators and artists when their music is used, and we look forward to discovering many more local talents and sounds”, said Jordan Lowy, head of music publishing licensing and partnerships at TikTok.

Ollie Wards, director of music for TikTok Australia and New Zealand, said the agreement builds on the strong ties already established with the local industry. “TikTok is super-charging music discovery and playing an increasingly important role in helping Kiwi and Australian music creators connect with a global audience. We’re thrilled to enter into this agreement with APRA AMCOS, which secures royalty payments for local song-writers and publishers, and cements our partnership with the music industry in this region.”

“Music is often integral to the success of innovative digital services, and there’s been no better example than the phenomenal rise of TikTok. We’re really pleased to have finalised an agreement with TikTok on behalf of the 111,000 Australian and New Zealand music creators and publishers that APRA AMCOS proudly represents. APRA AMCOS’ agreement with TikTok legitimises the use of music on the platform in Australia and New Zealand, and recognises the important contribution that the songwriters, composers and publishers of that music make to TikTok’s success,” said APRA AMCOS chief executive, Dean Ormston.

After significant growth, Sandbox Media continues to build out its digital expertise with the recent hire of Ashleigh James into the position of programmatic solutions lead. James joins Sandbox after 5 years in various roles at Dentsu including programmatic buying for Woolworths, Big Red Group and George Weston Foods.

James said of her appointment “‘I am excited to be a part of the amazing team at Sandbox Media and join them as they grow in the Programmatic space. I hope to bring my experience and passion to the team and further drive digital transformation for their clients.”

James Sparkes head of digital and strategy at Sandbox said “We’re scaling up a number of resources internally at Sandbox; across tech stacks, partners and most importantly our people. Ashleigh is a fantastic asset for Sandbox Media who will make a big impact to our programmatic trading capabilities. She is a team player and we’re excited about the opportunities ahead with Ashleigh on board.”

Sandbox Media CEO Luke Sullivan said “James has done a terrific job in building our digital team and Ashleigh’s appointment is timely after the growth in our business in the past 18 months. Ashleigh will be able to lead our client and supplier conversations in the fast changing programmatic space. We have recently won the Prospa media business for Australia and New Zealand and on top of other client wins in the past 12 months, we feel the agency is well poised for post pandemic growth”. 

Kath Colreavy has also been promoted to account director and they have also hired Paige Wiseman as account coordinator and Yvette Willis as senior digital account manager. “All of these staff changes are incredibly positive for our clients and for the future direction we have set for our business”.

TV ratings: Wednesday Week 45 2021

Home and Away was the top non-news program of the night in the total TV ratings with 1.078m, an increase of 21%.

This was followed closely by two programs from the ABC, Hard Quiz with 1.051m (11%) and Gruen 1.051m (30%).

Parental Guidance was the top non-news program on Nine with 915,000, while Gogglebox was the top program on 10 with 877,000.

Big Brother VIP managed to get its viewership up to 607,000 after increasing 33%, while the biggest risers came in the romance department with The Bachelorette up 46% to 491,000 and Love Island Australia up 171%! to 521,000.

Total TV Ratings for October 13, 2021

Primetime News
Seven News 896,000/868,000
Nine News 827,000/812,000
ABC News 629,000
10 News First 274,000 (5:00pm)/ 176,000 (6:00pm)
SBS World News 103,000 (6:30pm) 105,000 (7:00pm)

Daily current affairs
A Current Affair 664,000
7.30 550,000
The Project 228,000 (6:30pm)/373,000 (7pm)
The Drum 169,000

Breakfast TV
Sunrise 234,000
Today 233,000
News Breakfast 282,000

Late News
Nine News Late 91,000
ABC Late News 53,000

Nine

On a relatively quiet Wednesday night on the backend of the TV ratings survey, Nine managed to edge out Seven in both primary (18.7%) and network (28.8%) share.

A Current Affair had 664,000 as the program covered footage that was filmed during the walkthrough with police soon after William Tyrrell‘s disappearance. This followed the news that William’s foster mother is being treated as a person of interest in his disappearance..

Adele – Live in London then aired with the concert from 2015 also featuring an interview with Graham Norton. The special brought in 452,000 viewers.

Emergency then followed with 307,000, before Love Island Australia aired at 9:50pm bringing in 150,000 viewers.

Seven

Home and Away was once again the top non-news program for Seven last night with 526,000.

Big Brother VIP sent its last international celeb home last night in Thomas Markle Jr. with 295,000 tuning in to see him evicted from the hotel. This was down on last week’s 375,000.

The third quarterfinal for America’s Got Talent then aired, bringing in a crowd of 148,000. 

10

The Project had 228,000 (6:30pm) and 373,000 (7:00pm) as the show covered Australians working more unpaid hours than ever before.

The Bachelorette then followed with 256,000 viewers as Luca and Will went home following an episode that saw Holly and Brooke weave bracelets on a single date and a group date that saw the participants take part in a series of games where Brooke observed how they interacted with kids. This episode was up slightly on last week’s 249,000.

ABC 

Hard Quiz narrowly missed out on being the top non-news program of the night for the second week in a row with 617,000 tuning in. The Tom Gleeson hosted program continues to perform well in the Wednesday schedule for the ABC.

Gruen was the top non-news program of the night with 618,000 viewers as the show examined tech companies wanting people to buy now and continue to pay later.

Preppers then had 202,000 viewers.

SBS

The top program on SBS was Scotland’s Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle which brought in 206,000 viewers.