Compiled by Trent Thomas
Shane Jacobson on kicking The Grille into gear for VACC
The Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce (VACC) has teamed up with LiSTNR to launch its first branded podcast, The Grille, which brings together Greg Rust, Shane Jacobson and VACC CEO Geoff Gwilym, to discuss all things motoring.
Jacobson caught up with Podcast Week’s Trent Thomas to talk about what automotive fans can expect from this new podcast.
Jacobson said that his involvement in the podcast is a result of a long relationship with the VACC.
“I’ve been involved with the VACC for quite a few years. It started with me emceeing some events for them. We all got along very well, because it’s pretty obvious that we’re like-minded people and have a common interest in anything to do with motoring or motorsport or just anything with wheels. Then I got involved in some events, and we did the 100th anniversary where we had one car from every year of the last 100 years.
“It was a natural progression. Podcasts are the way people absorb information on topics they like, and we all share a common interest in all things motoring.”
Each episode of The Grille features news and views about Australia’s automotive industry aimed to appeal to automotive industry professionals, motoring enthusiasts and motorsport fans.
The first two episodes are available now on LiSTNR feature former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson and former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion Mick Doohan. Future episodes will be published monthly.
Jacobson said: “What’s great about a podcast is it is recorded in real time. Even if you listen to it the next day, you’re hearing people talk about something with passion, as they will talk about it at a bar. You are genuinely having a chat and that’s what I like about podcasts. If you do FM radio, it’s fast. And you’ve got till the next news break or the next song, you’ve got about three minutes to have your say. And then it’s time for them to play another song again. In AM radio, you get a little bit more time because they do take their time in interviews. But the truth is, there’s only so long they’ll talk before it’s time to move on to the next guest. But a podcast stays with the same group of people having the same discussion – in our case for nearly an hour. With the likes of Jeremy Clarkson we have like a good 20-minute chat, you don’t get that uninterrupted on many talk shows.”
While this is the VACC’s first branded podcast, Jacboson said this has had almost no effect on the content of the show. “They’re actually only interested in the show being interesting to their members and listeners. So, we’re kind of off the leash a bit, if you will. They don’t say we’d like you to mention this or mentioned that. They just want us to bring ourselves to the podcast, as opposed to them inviting us into a room and telling us how we’re going to be.”
Rust is best known for his LiSTNR podcast Rusty’s Garage and he anchors the podcast. Jacobson brings his humour to the show and Gwilym rounds out the trio with his industry rigour and business perspective. Jacobson said that the hosts have good chemistry due to their mutual interest.
“We love all things cars. It’s like any group of friends you know, it’s like a sporting team where we’re all wearing the same jersey but it just happens to be made of steel, and it’s called motoring. Rusty is fantastic. Anyone that knows anything about motorsport in Australia knows the name Greg Rust and like me, he is really enthusiastic about it all. And then Geoff is fantastic. He’s a wealth of knowledge, he is an incredibly smart man. I come from a passion point of view, Rusty comes from a pretty big background in motoring journalism, but having Geoff there means we’re backed up by facts and data. I enjoy listening to our podcast, even though I’m part of it, which which may sound weird.”
While automotive content has traditionally been more suited to visual mediums like television and magazines, Jacobson said that the changing times have made it more possible for audio content to be a strong platform for auto talk.
“People used to have to buy a magazine to look at cars. But if you say Lamborghini now then people know what they look like, if you say that new Lamborghini Countach they’ll have a rough idea what that looks like. When you’re talking about Daniel Ricardo winning a race that’s a passion piece and people if they are into it they would have watched it.”
One key thing that Jacobson pointed out that The Grille is doing differently from almost any other podcast, is that they are also helping people find jobs in the automotive industry.
“There’s actually plenty of jobs available for people out there to work like panel beaters and stuff like that in the motoring trade. There’s a shortfall of people fulfilling roles. What I love about this is I can’t think of another podcast that may actually play an active role in trying to get people jobs, so people who are unemployed, we might be able to guide them to a career.”
Osher Günsberg on the excitement of podcasting as Better Than Yesterday hits 400 episodes
With an episode released twice a week since 2013, Osher Günsberg’s podcast Better Than Yesterday is celebrating a massive milestone, having notched up 400 episodes.
Günsberg told Podcast Week’s Tess Connery that he and the team behind Better Than Yesterday are hoping to bring the show to the stage once restrictions are lifted.
“When Covid hit at the start of 2020, we were already looking at theatres. We were already looking at ways to do this live, we were looking at ways to spin this up into a live experience for my audience and our guests. That all went out the window, as most things did.”
While restrictions are still in place however, Better Than Yesterday continues to grow.
“Trying to build the podcast side of my work has been a fantastic experience, and the brilliant team at Acast have now made it a financially positive experience,” said Günsberg.
“It’s tricky, obviously, because there are that many bajillion podcasts out there, but I’m producing content that I hope is up there. I’m a scroll away from Freakonomics, or a scroll away from NPR, or a scroll away from any of those incredible BBC shows with kajillion dollar research budgets. I can only make the best show I can make, and try to make it as authentic as I possibly can. I love making the show, and my audience is growing all the time.”
For Günsberg, the rapid growth and evolution of the podcast space is one of the main things he loves about the medium.
“Building up the independent digital broadcasting side of what I do is something that I’m really excited by. I’m an ex-radio guy, and you can look at the huge plays that are being made – for example, SCA getting Sam Cavanagh back and putting him in charge of LiSTNR. You can hear the amount of resources that SCA is putting into LiSTNR, and that is where it’s going. We are heading to podcasting, that is what is happening.
“I’m really excited by being a part of this medium. If I started my career in the 60s or 70s and finished my career by the late 90s or early 2000s, I would have been in 4×3 analogue colour the whole time. There would have been AM radio – FM would have shown up halfway through, that would have been fun. That would have been it! In my career, we’ve gone from analogue to digital, from 4×3 to 16×9, free to air to BVOD to SVOD, we’ve gone from analogue radio to digital radios, and now to live digital streaming. In my career the advances in formats and mediums that have taken place have just been astonishing, and it’s such a privilege to be a part of the burgeoning format development that is streaming audio content and podcasting.
“All of us in the podcasting space, we’re Wallace and Gromit – we’re laying the tracks in front of us as we go. It’s a very, very, very exciting time.”
[Listen to Better Than Yesterday here]
Jennifer Goggin on what sets the LiSTNR platform apart
Jennifer Goggin, head of content at LiSTNR Original Podcasts, spoke with Podcast Week‘s Trent Thomas for a feature that will be released tomorrow. Below is an exclusive excerpt from that chat where Goggin discusses the value of the LiSTNR platform.
Goggin said that what sets the LiSTNR app apart from its competitors is that it’s a digital audio ecosystem.
“Whatever type of digital audio you want to listen to from streaming radio to music playlists, it is a house of brands for all your needs under SCA. The app is great for embracing the change in how people consume audio and want to consume audio. The fact that we are really speaking to an Australian audience specifically is pretty unique about what we do.
“Also because within our podcast stock, we co-create the vast majority of what we do, that quality assessment that we put into it because we’re not an aggregator is something that our audiences really enjoy. Being able to centralise all our products, and then use our team’s data and insights to refine and iterate the app has been brilliant because it means that we can own our own destiny and our own tech.”
Goggin said that it is important that the LiSTNR platform receives as much information as possible which is why things such as mandatory sign-ins are necessary.
“Creating a curated platform for the user that embraces their interests comes into the signup process and how we can refine our recommendation process. What we know about on-demand behaviour is people want what they want when they want it, but they don’t want to be served everything. We remember the early days of Netflix, where you’d spend more time browsing Netflix than watching something on it. You know, it’s the same with the more data and insights you can get, the more you can curate that experience in a way that people actually enjoy.”
Goggin’s full interview can be read tomorrow on mediaweek.com.au.
Chris Walker’s Brains Trust has second season coming
After the success of Chris Walker’s first season of Brains Trust, LiSTNR commissioned a second season which drops at the end of September.
“We have some great people for season two including Sam Armytage, Charlie Pickering, Tommy Little, Jamila Rizvi, Tony Armstrong and Abbie Chatfield,” Walker told Podcast Week. If anybody could get Charlie Pickering to talk candidly it would be Walker who is in business with the host of The Weekly in the TV production company Thinkative Television.
Walker made special mention of guest Rob Reid who is a tech entrepreneur from the US. “He is known for a famous Ted Talk that calls Covid-19 a fairly benign pandemic and how we should prepare ourselves for the next one. Reid launched the music streaming business Rhapsody in the very early days of digital music.” That business was later acquired by RealNetworks and then MTV. Reid was also a founding board member of IGN in the dotcom boom, a business later acquired by News Corp for over half a billion dollars.
The first season of Brains Trust featured contributions from Hamish Blake, Kitty Flanagan, Waleed Aly, Dr Chris Brown, Annabel Crabb, Adam Briggs and Ronny Chieng. The format is similar for both seasons, with guests speaking about topics on each of the themed episodes.
Listen to Brain Trust on LiSTNR from September 30.
iHeartPodcast Network launches SAS Australia Debrief podcast
ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network Australia is launching the SAS Australia Debrief podcast hosted by 2020 recruits Merrick Watts and Sabrina Frederick.
Two episodes will drop each week for the duration of the new season of SAS Australia, now screening on Channel Seven and 7plus. Each episode will feature Watts and Frederick recapping the biggest moments from the current SAS series, sharing insights from their own experience passing selection on the show last year, and tips to help listeners build mental resilience with weekly challenges that can be done at home.
[Listen to SAS Australia Debrief here]
The Inspired Unemployed launch Spotify podcast
The Inspired Unemployed are launching a Spotify Original podcast, giving Australians an insight into the larrikin’s unexpected fame and adventures.
Only available on Spotify, the podcast from the duo will bring a new dimension to the adventures of Matt and Jack, two best mates who still can’t quite believe their luck in becoming internet sensations.
New episodes will be released weekly as the two tradies from the south coast of NSW Matt and Jack give fans insights into the challenges of feeling like a fish out of water in the world of media. It will also include tongue-in-cheek skits, dares and challenges, calls into their best mates, and raves about what’s on their minds that week.
[Listen to the The Inspired Unemployed here]
