Podcast Week welcome Mikey Robins: podcaster, Hot genre – money climbs the chart
Toon talks: Is Clubhouse audio app a threat to podcasters? Maybe!
Compiled by James Manning
Healthy Her’s Amelia Phillips talks with Pete Murray
PodcastOne’s Amelia Phillips (pictured above) this week released a new series of Healthy Her. Philips had previously released 30 episodes on the PodcastOne platform. Her new season of eight episodes delivers guests discussing everything from sun care for families to boosting confidence at work, perimenopause, reclaiming sensuality and parenting from a dad’s perspective. Phillips has a well-known guest to share some insights on that episode – singer/songwriter Pete Murray.
“There is a real contrast of emotional and functional episodes this season,” Phillips told Mediaweek. She noted she continues to get great feedback from her continually growing audiences.
“My audience is specifically mums so everything is run through a mum filter. One of the emotional episodes features Pete Murray and we had a great chat about parenting and creativity. He was so generous with his personal information and gave a real insight into how he unlocks his creativity with his music and how also parenting has changed his music career. It’s a fascinating perspective from such an iconic Aussie,” said Phillips about the father of three.
Phillips also wanted to highlight two other episodes for Mediaweek readers. “I spoke to author and The Briefing co-host Jamila Rizvi and her sharp mind gave me a new angle and a new take about women’s confidence deficit at work and why it happens and how to get back control. It will be quite an eye opener and I expect a lot of feedback.
“I also did an episode with Margret Fulton’s grand-daughter Louise Keats. Her mother and grandmother were both amazing cooks. The way she spoke and talked about her upbringing and how she has brought it into the modern world inspired me to fall in love with cooking rather than dread it. She had some fascinating stats about the benefits of home cooking and its benefits too.”
See also: More Healthy Her – When she first started podcasting Amelia Phillips was passing on news from the frontline as a busy mum as well as sharing the learning of experts in different fields.
Diamantina Media builds podcast portfolio: Two more this week
Antony Stockdale is the founder of Diamantina Media (DM) and currently looks after strategy and partnerships. DM linked up with iHeartPodcast Network in 2020 after running a ruler over what other major platforms could offer his growing podcast network.
The key property within Diamantina is The Betoota Advocate. Diamantina has two Betoota podcasts The Betoota Advocate and Betoota Daily News Bulletin. Stockdale was involved with Betoota and after Australia’s oldest newspaper started its podcast, Stockdale decided to launch their own podcast company. In total Diamantina now has 25 podcasts with two of them being launched just this week. (See below)
“We have about 10 new titles in development,” Stockdale told Mediaweek.
Stockdale can also be heard hosting the Behind the Podcast series which is done in conjunction with the Australian Podcast Awards. “The aim is to keep the Podcast Awards more front of mind all year round. It’s also a great excuse to talk with people I want to meet and learn more from those doing a great job in podcasting.”
DM will soon be announcing its second Spotify Original, after the six-episode Generation Betoota. This new one will be a weekly show. With seven Betoota podcast episodes weekly, Stockdale said DM is careful not to exploit the brand too much. However he admitted, “A lot of people don’t know we do Betoota podcasts. Many just relate to the brand as an Instagram page [700,000+ followers]. Some of those people don’t even know we have a website.”
Diamantina’s Antony Stockdale (right) with Have a Go podcasters Dane Eldridge (left) and Dave Edwards
Have an existing audience is the first thing that attracts DM to a new podscast opportunity. “Discoverability is the biggest challenge for any podcast.” The attraction of joining iHeartPodcast Network started with the personnel, explained Stockdale. “We were previously with Whooshkaa which is where Corey Layton [ARN head of digital audio] worked and we had a great experience with him. When Covid happened we looked at every podcast platform and the best one we found was Megaphone. It is what iHeartMedia and Spotify sits on.” Spotify bought Megaphone for close to $300m last November. “Megaphone is home to the most podcasts and they are investing the most in technology. It is also doing good work with the big social media companies which helps with discoverability.
“The ARN/iHeartPodcast Network also bring us opportunities. They can bring us sponsorship opportunities, but we don’t have to take them as we also sell our own via existing relationships. Some other platforms wanted a percentage when we sold sponsorship, but we don’t think that is a smart business model.”
Stockdale said DM is ambitious about growing its portfolio. “But not at the expense of quality,” he added. “We are in a golden era for podcasting. We are also big on independent media, and we think we have a model that works. If we partner with a show and we don’t develop it we won’t take any IP in it. If we don’t do a good job, people are free to leave.”
DM has its own studio which helps with the quality of the audio being distributed. “Good sound quality doesn’t ensure you will do well, but bad sound quality will ensure you don’t do well. We also think a podcast needs to be weekly, you need to own a part of a person’s week.”
Diamantina’s latest launches: Mikey and Dave
New podcasts from Mikey Robins and Dave Edwards were launched by Diamantina this week.
Radio and TV legend turned author Mikey Robins’ much-anticipated podcast debut is here with Heroes and Howlers. The comedian is joined each week by historian Paul Wilson as they take listeners on a raucous tour of history’s strangest turning points.
The Heroes and Howlers podcast promises to look into how key events in history have been shaped by serendipity, moments of madness and even the downright banal. The podcast revels in such circumstances: the cock-ups, the mishaps, and the bizarre twists of fate that have changed the course of mankind- sometimes tragic, sometimes comical, sometimes just plain rude.
The other DM launch this week is Have a Go from Dave Edwards who started The Grade Cricket podcast.
Edwards is joined by Dane Eldridge in addition to regular appearances from award-winning Australian comedian Luke Heggie and a range of other guests.
“There’s a lot to be concerned about these days,” Edwards said. “What are we going to do about China? Is the ‘Great Australian Dream’ dead? Has cancel culture killed the ‘larrikin’? Will our treasured ABC survive these endless ‘culture wars’?
“These are the types of questions that keep us up at night, but we’re fairly confident of solving each burning issue within the space of a tightly produced 30-minute weekly comedy podcast.”
Listen to Heroes and Howlers and also Have a Go
Podcast Week hot genre: Money heats up as economy recovers
One of the takeaways from the January Podcast Ranker charts from Triton are the number of podcasts on money that are performing well. iHeartPodcast Network’s She’s on the Money crashed its way into the top 10 some 20 months after it launched, and a number of others were on the move too. We will take a look at She’s on the Money next week, but meantime here are the best performers from January’s Australian chart. Unless otherwise mentioned, these are podcast native series, with ranking position from the Australian Podcast Ranker January 2021 chart.
6 She’s on the Money (iHeartPodcast Network)
22 Motley Fool Money (PodcastOne)
25 Equity Mates Investing Podcast (iHeartPodcast Network)
42 Money News with Brooke Corte (Nine Radio)
52 The Mentor with Mark Bouris (PodcastOne)
64 Get Started Investing with Equity Mates (iHeartPodcast Network)
70 The Money Café with Kirby and Kohler (News Corp/Nova)
74 Fear and Greed (Fear and Greed)
80 Small Business Big Marketing with Timbo Reid (PodcastOne)
We have also split the January Ranker into other genres.
True Crime
1 Casefile True Crime (Audioboom/iHeartPodcast Network)
12 Life and Crimes with Andrew Rule (News Corp/Nova)
15 The Night Driver (News Corp/Nova)
18 I Catch Killers with Gary Jubelin (News Corp/Nova)
58 Claremont: The Trial (News Corp/Nova)
Sports
9 The Howie Games (PodcastOne)
20 Fox Sports Audio Bulletin (News Corp/Nova)
54 Cricket Et Cetera (News Corp/Nova)
62 The Matty Johns Podcast (News Corp/Nova)
85 Hello Sport Podcast (Diamantina/iHeartPodcast Network)
Entertainment
2 Life Uncut with Brittany Hockley and Laura Byrne (iHeartPodcast Network)
3 Hamish & Andy (PodcastOne)
17 Betoota Daily News Bulletin (Diamantina/iHeartPodcast Network)
19 Wilosophy with Wil Anderson (TOFOP/Whooshkaa)
24 Matt & Alex: All Day Breakfast (PodcastOne)
26 It’s a Lot with Abbie Chatfield (Nova)
27 Hamish & Andy’s Remembering Project (PodcastOne)
31 The Betoota Advocate Podcast (Diamantina/iHeartPodcast Network)
32 Chat 10 Looks 3 (Diamantina/iHeartPodcast Network)
36 Just the Gist (PodcastOne)
News (Radio and native podcast)
5 The Update (Nova)
7 Sky News News Bulletin (News Corp/Nova)
8. From the Newsroom (News Corp/Nova)
10 7am (Schwartz Media)
14 The National Briefing (SCA)
21 The Briefing (PodcastOne)
Radio shows
4 The Kyle and Jackie O Show (ARN/iHeartPodcast Network)
11 Jase & PJ (ARN/iHeartMedia Network)
13 Kate Tim and Joel (Nova)
23 Ben Fordham Live (Nine Radio)
28 SEN Breakfast (SEN)
30 Whateley (SEN)
34 Chrissie, Sam and Browny (34)
35 Molloy (SCA)
37 Moonman in the Morning (SCA)
39 Rush Hour with JB and Billy (SCA)
43 3AW Breakfast with Ross and Russel (Nine Radio)
46 Fitzy and Wippa (Nova)
47 The Ray Hadley Morning Show (Nine Radio)
48 Morning with Neil Mitchell (Nine Radio)
49 Jonesy and Amanda’s JAMcast! (ARN/iHeartPodcast Network)
50 The Marty Sheargold Show (SCA)
Is Clubhouse a threat to podcasting? Maybe!
Kate Toon is an award-winning entrepreneur, who works with small businesses and big brands to transform their online presence through what she labels powerful SEO, captivating content and making the right digital marketing moves.
As a digital marketing and SEO educator, straight-talking copywriting coach, author, educator, speaker and podcaster, Toon has helped more than 10,000 other businesses demystify digital marketing, grapple the Google “beast”, and grow their success.
Toon hosts three podcast series, the biggest of which is Recipe for SEO Success Show. The others are The Kate Toon Podcast and Hot Copy Podcast. “I started my podcasts to drive audience for my business. I get them to join my email list and once they are in my funnel, they can’t escape!” Toon told Mediaweek.
She has jumped onto the latest social media platform Clubhouse. Part social networking app based on audio-chat and part podcast, Toon has published a guide for newcomers, if you can get on the still invite-only platform, called Your First 7 Days on Clubhouse.
Kate Toon
As to whether Clubhouse could be a threat to podcasters, Toon said perhaps. “Maybe some of the podcasts with smaller audiences. As soon as I got on Clubhouse I saw the potential for it. It feels like a bit of a land grab at present. It’s still invite-only, only for iOS users. We all want to be a member of a club we can’t join. We know how powerful podcasts are, but imagine in a podcast being able to have a two-way discussion part-way through. Clubhouse turns one-way broadcasting into a two-way conversation. It won’t threaten some podcasts, especially those with big audiences. I am an avid podcast listener, but I have stopped listening to some since Clubhouse came along. I’m not sure how long that interest will hold. At present the Clubhouse ‘rooms’ are limited to 5,000.”
Toon noted like podcasting, anyone can start a room on the Clubhouse platform. “It is the great leveller. Another threat perhaps to mainstream media as it is yet another way anyone can broadcast easily.”
Toon into Recipe for SEO Success Show here.