Compiled by Trent Thomas
Matthew Hardy on turning his book into a podcast with the Moonman
Author Matthew Hardy and Lawrence Mooney are teaming up for the new LiSTNR podcast Saturday Afternoon Fever which is a riotous retrospective of childhood and adolescent haphazards.
Mediaweek‘s Trent Thomas spoke to Hardy about how two football tragics turned his book into a podcast.
“In 2019, I did a 20th-anniversary live show of the one-man show version that I have done, at Melbourne Comedy Festivals,” said Hardy.
“On the back of Lawrence re-seeing the 20th-anniversary show he said to me that there is more life in it yet. As podcasts grew over the last couple of years, Lawrence said that instead of speaking about this shit socially between ourselves about our childhood or our youth, and our footy fanaticism, why don’t we try a podcast version? And I agreed, and here we are.”
Hardy wrote Saturday Afternoon Fever as a love letter of sorts to his idol St Kilda’s Trevor Barker, AFL, footy cards and Melbourne suburbia. Hardy credited fellow footy tragic and child of the suburbs Mooney, who has known for 30 years, for being the driving force behind the podcast.
“He is outrageous socially and professionally as we all know, and he is excitable and he is fearless and funny. A Fantastic person to hang around with on and off-air.”
Throughout the episodes, Hardy dives deep into the motivations behind writing his book while going back and forth with Mooney.
“I don’t know whether Rosie Waterland pioneered this structure but she wrote a memoir that was about her childhood and somewhat unorthodox parents, and her mum took exception to some of the claims she wrote about. So, Rosie said okay let’s do a podcast called Mum Says My Memoir Is A Lie, where Rosie would read her book and have her mum would comment upon various aspects of the content.
“I don’t know whether it was a conscious manoeuvre or not but Lawrence said, ‘Why don’t you read your book out loud and I will interrupt you at every opportunity whether I am criticising you or being prompted to recall my own parallel recollections.”
The pair have currently pre-recorded half of the book, but a spanner has been thrown into the works because of the various Covid lockdowns.
“Lawrence and I would prefer to be in the same room because that is a greater human connection. But we have got to concede that that is not going to be able to happen. Any media on earth has had to concede that, even one on one interviews are done remotely at the moment.”
Hardy said that one of the initial inspirations for the content of the book and the podcast was the genre of autobiographies called misery lit.
“It started off with a book called Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt about his terrible Irish childhood. As a result of that massive success, publishers were basically knocking on remote Irish farmhouse doors asking them if they had a more terrible childhood than this bloke? Because there is a market for it.
“I read a lot of those myself but then they started bringing me down and I thought hasn’t someone had a happy childhood? Wouldn’t that possibly sell?
“In order to write your memoir, I thought the best way to start is to do your firsts. Your first kiss, your first bike, your first fight, your first part-time job, your first day at school, your first sex, and your first broken heart and I realised all of those in my life were a diabolical disaster and fortunately a lot of people found that funny.”
The podcast is produced by Hardy’s company Smart Fella and he also credited co-founder Meshel Laurie for pushing him to make the project.
“She was the person who first got behind it, and made me and Lawrence stop talking about it and start actually recording stuff in a studio.”
[Listen to Saturday Afternoon Fever here]
Podsights & iHeartPodcast Network measurement masterclass
ARN’s head of digital audio Corey Layton last week hosted a Podsights & iHeartPodcast Network measurement masterclass, reports Podcast Week‘s James Manning. The presentation aimed to demonstrate how ARN, with global measurement and attribution platform Podsights, is setting a benchmark in Australia for Podcast measurement and attribution.
Joining Layton on the virtual masterclass was director of partnerships at Podsights, Matthew Drengler. He revealed how Podsights uses technology to measure the consumption of podcasts. “This is not the wild west anymore,” Drengler told the advertisers watching him online from New York. “Podcast media is measurable – in a way that digital marketers are used to seeing.”
Drengler explained how every ad campaign with ARN gets access to a Podsights dashboard. He had a number of takeaways for advertisers. Drengler said Podsights data indicated that regarding podcast ad placement, pre-roll is now outperforming mid-roll, but only just.
Layton said, “Through our Podsights partnership, we give our clients the ability to monitor and measure the effectiveness of their campaign in real-time using best in class technology. Our Benchmarks report demonstrates the impact of podcasts for advertisers – with a conversion rate equal to or better than other digital and social platforms. ARN is setting the standard for podcast measurement in Australia. This, combined with iHeartPodcast Network’s diverse and ever-expanding content, is why our commercial offering for brands is industry-leading.”
Speaking about ARN’s recently released Podsights Benchmark Report, Drengler said, “This report demonstrates that podcast reporting now matches brand expectations of any and all digital channels. Our digital reporting and attribution capabilities enable advertisers to track their return on investment, elevating the offering across the iHeartPodcast Network to ensure every campaign achieves the desired outcomes.”
Key findings from the benchmark report and additional analysis include:
When breaking down global conversion rates by industry, Restaurants and Retail categories experienced the strongest attribution results.
Globally, the average conversion rate rises with the number of spot placements within an episode.
The highest conversion rates came from full buyouts of episodes.
Watch a recording of ARN’s Podsights masterclass here.
Dean Lewis joins Ella Hooper for Front & Centre
In a LiSTNR exclusive, Dean Lewis joins Ella Hooper in a Front & Centre special where he gives a rare and candid insight into his life. With behind-the-scenes stories of his hit songs, this is a deeply personal story of Dean Lewis – in his own words.
Enjoying success in Australia and around the world, with his debut album A Place We Knew, Lewis had a number one hit and certified 11 times platinum in Australia and 3 times platinum in the United States with his single Be Alright. Lewis this year released his new single Falling Up.
Lewis said: “We had a great chat, really going back to where it all began, we spoke about life before, during and after success, the crazy life on the road, how it affected me and about the lessons learnt along the way.”
SCA’s head of music Mickey Maher said, “Until now Australia (and the world) have got to know and connected with Dean through his music and lyrics, now they get to go deeper to discover who he is as a person, not just the hit writing successful musicians we love.”
[Listen to Front & Centre with Dean Lewis here]
Acast launches natural disaster podcast The Elements
The Elements, a new podcast by Acast that journeys into the heart of surviving a natural disaster, will be hosted by Stuart Diver, the sole survivor of the 1997 Thredbo Landslide. The show will premier on the week of the 24th anniversary of the landslide on July 30.
Each week listeners will be taken on a tense and harrowing ride with those who courageously fought against some of Australia’s most devastating natural disasters.
The show will use archival audio and immersive soundscapes to feature stories never told before. Each episode of Season One will focus on one of the elements, including Cyclone Tracy, the Newcastle Earthquake, the 2019/20 Black Summer, and the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Disaster.
The Elements is written and produced by Tim Russell, and audio produced and composed by Slade Gibson — who won a Gold Walkley for his work with journalist Hedley Thomas on The Teacher’s Pet.
Gibson said: “I’m drawn to stories of how people overcome obstacles or traumatic events in their lives. It’s that universal idea of finding the strength within that they maybe didn’t know they had. Putting together this series has been incredible in so many ways, but hearing the unique, personal perspective of how these people have survived these events that have affected entire communities creates a real emotional connection to the tragedy.”
Radio Today Podcast Award winners announced
This past week saw the announcement of the winners of the Radio Today Podcast Awards with LiSTNR.
Henrik Isaksson from Acast Australia was named podcast executive leader of the year, and SCA/ LiSTNR’s Nic McClure was awarded podcast executive producer of the year.
ARN’s iHeartRadio was named the podcast network/ platform of the year, and SCA’s LiSTNR won the podcast company of the year award.
Acast’s Josh Szeps won podcast host or presenter of the year for Uncomfortable Conversations, while 7am, by Schwartz Media won the Australian podcast of the year.
[See the full list of winners here]
