Rusty’s Garage for motorsports
PodcastOne’s Rusty’s Garage with Greg Rust has been a big success for the platform.
People with a passion for cars and motorsport should download Rusty’s Garage at high speed. It is hosted by automotive commentator and journalist Greg Rust, better known as Rusty, who speaks with automotive designers, collectors, riders and drivers. Each guest shares their stories about the machines they’ve owned, raced, crashed or restored throughout their lives. Rusty catches up with these guests usually at the race track or in a workshop next to an iconic machine.
Across the series listeners will hear how each vehicle was owned and loved by the respective guests, unlocking memories and moments. Whether it’s a $500 bomb or a more glamorous speed machine, the kind of car you drive can say a lot about who you are.
Guests on the series include Craig Lowndes, Mark Webber, Jeremy Burgess, Toby Price and Tim Schenken.
Listen to Rusty’s Garage here.
To hear more about Greg Rust also listen to Trevor Long’s wonderful EFTM podcast on Rust here.
Don’t Shoot The Messenger at 50
One podcast to really make a mark since it launched last year is the weekly recording Don’t Shoot The Messenger from longtime friends Caroline Wilson and Corrie Perkin. The two met at journalism school at RMIT in Melbourne and then later worked together on The Age. Wilson of course still writes for The Age in addition to her other media commitments including 3AW, Nine and ABC TV while Perkin is a celebrity bookseller in Melbourne.
Don’t Shoot the Messenger Team
The podcast comes from the Crocmedia stable and, as well as celebrating 50 podcasts, the show now also has a regular sponsor.
Counted among its adoring audience is former Melbourne journalist and now CEO of News Corp globally, Robert Thomson.
Mediaweek spoke with the podcast’s producer Jane Nield this week.
Working as panel op/producer for Crocmedia’s AFL Nation product, Nield was asked by Crocmedia CEO Craig Hutchison if she’d also like to look after the podcast and she has been on board from the start.
“Although I have done a lot of radio, I had never produced a podcast before,” she said.
Nield credited actor and friend of Wilson, Marg Downey, for the idea Caro and Corrie should do a podcast. “Annabel Crabb, when she was in Corrie’s bookshop, also suggested it would be a good idea.”
The Sounding Board was Crocmedia’s first big podcast production with Hutchy and Damian Barrett, but Don’t Shoot The Messenger is the next biggest success story. Crocmedia also podcasts many of its SEN radio programs.
“Our aim is to offer people the chance to sit in on what could be a regular chat between two friends,” said Nield.
The hour-long recordings do cover sport, but listeners can also feast on travel, a little politics and plenty of books, screen and food. There are loads of recommendations every week on what to read, watch or eat – the last complete with recipes.
The best segment is perhaps the apologies and corrections at the start of every episode. Nield told Mediaweek that might soon be spun off into a separate podcast, something they also do for their AFL tips every week.
For the 50th episode, Nield picked up the guitar and sang a tune for the milestone.
Her musical background includes time as an announcer and music director at Power FM 3BA Ballarat. Interestingly, that was the first Crocmedia studio too before it relocated to Melbourne. “I also spent 10 years in a rock band singing and playing guitar.”
Nield calls herself a podcast addict. We shall list her favourites next week.
Podcast revenue growing quickly for Cumulus Media
US company Cumulus Media, which operates the Westwood One Podcast Network, is forecasting stunning podcast revenue growth. In the whole of 2016 the company reported podcast revenue of US$100,000. CEO Mary Berner has said the business is now forecasting that to grow to $10m in the current financial year. Cumulus set a new record high for downloads, reporting 35 million in a recent month.
In addition to owning the Westwood One audio syndication business, Cumulus Media operates over 400 radio stations across the US.
Spotify’s first branded podcast
The global music streamer has recently announced a new sponsored podcast, which has been financed by New Amsterdam Vodka.
The Ebb & Flow podcast launched on August 20. The five-episode series features candid conversations with rising hip hop artists and entrepreneurs who have dreamed, worked, and sacrificed their way to the top.
“We chose to do a branded podcast less because of the format and more because of the opportunity with Spotify,” said Michael Sachs, director of marketing for New Amsterdam Spirits, in a statement. “When discussing ways to work together, we wanted to be sure that we were supporting the latest and greatest that Spotify has to offer.”
