Compiled by Trent Thomas and James Manning
SCA’s Grant Blackley on LiSTNR growth
SCA presented its full year results this week and amongst the detail was an update on the performance of its audio app LiSTNR which is now the home of its digital play in podcasting and linear streaming.
The company revealed radio streaming was climbing and that podcasts listening was up over 200% in the five months since the launch of LiSTNR.
In the month of July LiSTNR served close to 1,400,000 podcast and radio plays.
SCA made what was a bold move early in 2021 to launch its own audio app and asked users to register to consume podcasts and radio content, but Blackley said it was paying off.
“We celebrated our six-month birthday this week and it has lived up to every internal target we set it,” the SCA CEO told Podcast Week‘s James Manning.
“The first phase was to ensure it was technically sound with performance where it needed to be. Secondly, we wanted to ensure we populated it with more premium content both on demand and linear. The third thing was to pursue customer acquisition to try and accelerate that as much as possible.
“The last point is related to build it and they will come. We have been seeing early and positive signs of digital audio growth. SCA digital revenues grew by 40% in FY21 and we are forecasting 75% to 100% growth which is a meaningful amount.”
SCA is starting to offer more exclusive content. The DAB+ suite of music channels are also available through the LiSTNR app for users without a DAB+ enabled device.
Blackley indicated future seasons of The Remembering Project from Hamish & Andy will be exclusive to LiSTNR.
Blackley added: “We have also done a Cricket Australia deal where we have the metro FM rights for One Day Internationals and Ashes Tests. We will have that on our linear service, and cricket streaming rights Australia-wide only on LiSTNR.”
AFL football is already available also through the LiSTNR app, not something all broadcasters can stream outside of the AFL app.
See also: SCA FY21 results: Despite flat TV and radio revenue, profit climbs, debt falls
Turia Pitt talks Hard Work at LiSTNR
Turia Pitt is sharing her wisdom and exploring the stories of others in the new LiSTNR podcast series, Turia Pitt is Hard Work.
After suffering burns to 65% of her body from being trapped in a grass fire while completing an ultra-marathon, Pitt has gone on to become a best-selling author, well-respected humanitarian, extreme athlete and motivational speaker.
In the podcast, Pitt will unpack and explore the stories behind others’ tales of rising from adversity. The podcast asks the question, ‘What do we learn about ourselves from doing hard things?’
Mediaweek’s Trent Thomas caught up with Pitt to discuss her first foray into podcasting.
Pitt said the idea for the podcast started over a year ago when she started talking to the show’s executive producer and the head of entertainment and news content – Digital Audio – for SCA, Sam Cavanagh.
“He realised that I’d done an Iron Man after being trapped by the grassfire during the ultramarathon, and he was like why and how?
“I realised even if it’s been 10 years since I’ve been caught by that fire that I still wasn’t exactly sure why I challenge myself or how I’ve done the hard things I’ve done. We really wanted to speak to other people who’ve done extremely difficult things, extremely hard things that they’ve chosen, like Charlie (Teo), and things that they haven’t chosen, like Curtis McGrath, to see what we can learn from doing hard things.”
Pitt said that she has always wanted to do a podcast but was trepidatious at the same time.
“I’m not a podcaster, I’m not an experienced journalist, I’ve got no background there. I always wanted to do it, but at the same time, I didn’t, I wasn’t sure if I had the right skill set to be able to do it. I don’t know if it was like an item on my to do list. It was just something that I wanted to do.”
Guests on the show will include Professor Charlie Teo, known for operating on high-risk and often deemed inoperable brain cancers; Jamila Rizvi the best-selling author and host of The Weekend Briefing podcast; and Curtis McGrath OAM, who took up competitive canoeing after having his legs amputated as a result of a mine blast while serving in the Australian Army in Afghanistan. Other guests throughout the series include Nikki Webster, Rabia Siddique, Dr Yumiko Kadato and Kate Sanderson.
Pitt said that talking to the diverse range of guests had taught her things that she wasn’t expecting.
“I always thought that what motivated us had to come from somewhere positive. But Charlie Teo talked about some dark things in his life, which was the driving force or part of the driving force of why he is where he is today.
“I also thought the insight from people’s relationship I got was really interesting, particularly Curtis McGrath who was a soldier in Afghanistan, who got his legs blown off by an IED. He’s now a gold medallist, Paralympian. I found his insight into his relationship with his wife. really fascinating.
“I think if I was to draw, like a roadmap of what helps people do hard things, one of them would definitely be the support of people that they have around them.
“One of the guests was Nikki Webster, who talked about how she navigated her career through intense media scrutiny and how she navigated the tall poppy syndrome. When you first think of Niki Webster you just think of that smiley, happy, bubbly woman, you might not necessarily think about all of the hard stuff that she’s done.”
Pitt is still recording the first season of eight episodes but hopes that LiSTNR will commission more.
“I’m working with a great team at LiSTNR. And I am absolutely loving it. I love speaking with people that I have loved and been fascinated by for years.”
[Listen to Turia Pitt is Hard Work here]
Two Blokes celebrate 500 episodes
The Australian tech gurus Stephen Fenech and Trevor Long this week celebrate the 500th episode of their must-listen collaboration Two Blokes Talking Tech. The special milestone episode will be broadcast live on Facebook on Thursday night August 18.
Fenech and Long originally met on a Mediaweek podcast way back in early 2011 on an episode hosted by James Manning and Brenden Wood. They subsequently decided to launch a new podcast featuring them both.
The busy tech publishers also still host their own separate podcasts too. Stephen Fenech can be heard on Tech Guide every Monday and that too will reach a milestone soon too as the current episode is #464.
Trevor Long’s EFTM podcast had had several contributors over the years, with Long realising he works better solo! His Tech, Cars & Lifestyle podcast is less regular than his Two Blokes contributions. EFTM is currently in series three with the most recent ep August 17 which was series 3, ep 51.
Listen to Two Blokes Talking Tech here.
ESPN launches Beyond the Lead for Australia and New Zealand
ESPN has a new audio offering for sports fans in Australia and New Zealand with the launch of Beyond the Lead.
The series is hosted by journalist Joey Lynch and features long-form versions of interviews from ESPN’s stable of journalists, as they speak with some of the biggest names in world sport.
The podcast promises to go beyond the headlines to provide insight into sport’s biggest stories, individuals and personalities.
The first three episodes now available are in-depth interviews with Olympic gold medalist swim star Kyle Chalmers, current Juventus women’s manager Joe Montemurro and Australian rugby international Sekope Kepu.
Future episodes include the likes of Jessica Hull, Dr Annette Bromdal and Chris Bond.
[Listen to Beyond the Lead here]
iHeartPodcast Network announces sports partnerships
The iHeartPodcast Network has announced two new sports partnerships in the last week with Sports Illustrated and the NBA.
The deal with the NBA is a multi-year podcast partnership, which will feature the launch of more than 20 new iHeartRadio-NBA co-produced podcasts. The new slate of NBA podcasts will be distributed widely by the iHeartPodcast Network with the first show set to debut in Australia this Spring.
The new shows will be produced using a wide variety of content from the NBA archives to tell the backstories of some of the greatest moments in sports history, along with a mix of the latest league news, player commentary, insider analysis.
The Sports Illustrated deal is a multi-year exclusive agreement to co-produce eight original podcasts with newly formed joint venture Sports Illustrated Studios. The iHeartPodcast Network will distribute all eight original titles as well as distribute Sports Illustrated’s existing podcasts across iHeartRadio.
Additionally, mutual marketing and promotion commitments will apply to all joint projects. Two of the eight original podcasts are scheduled to launch by Q1 2022.
Set to debut later this year, Sports Illustrated Weekly is a podcast that will feature the best of Sports Illustrated’s unrivalled journalism in a premium audio magazine. Each 45-minute episode will feature deep-dive segments on the biggest news of the week and the most compelling personalities, trends and themes in sports, on and off the field. More details including its host will be announced at a later date.
