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Pod-Crashing Episode 39: The Beginning

Between 2012 and 2016 I approached the decision makers of Broadcasting Schools and Universities to open their hearts and imaginations to accepting the platform dubbed Podcasting. I was losing the battle on the terrestrial radio side of the performance. Sales people loved it but didn\u2019t know how to sell it and programmers wanted nothing to do with something that looked more like a hobby than a profession.
Outside of my daily journals only one person knew of my true drive to bring this medium forward. Nathan Richie. We\u2019d talk for hours about laying out the foundation of a tangible object that very few people wanted to participate with.
I thought the adult educational system would leap all over it. They listened but wouldn\u2019t act upon the request. It was always based on money, \u201cOur students come here for career opportunities and at this time it doesn\u2019t seem to be a great place to change our plans to invest in something that honestly has no success story.\u201d
One of the nation\u2019s top radio consultants, we\u2019ll call him the D man, he believed so much in my visions as a radio talent and producer that in 1985 he brought me down from Montana to Carolina. Somehow I lost my luster in 2012 when I spoke of this new age of On Demand listening. I tried so hard to convince him of its potential. Interviewing huge musical acts and actors during an annual event with students from across the nation.
He wouldn\u2019t bite. Which Nathan Richie and I talked about all the time. Nathan was a visionary that leaped onto the internet approach to growing radio years before the industry hopped on. Every word he spoke was a foreign language and yet I was able to trust the impression he was putting on my path.
He knew I was a rule breaker and willing to look at top dog decision makers and call them out for being disconnected. They made sure I knew that they always knew best. They endlessly screamed at me about how radio listeners didn\u2019t mind ten minute commercial stop sets and if you play Maroon 5 six times in a three hour break it\u2019ll grab you more.
The building of my podcast presentation between 2012 and 2018 was heavily influenced by Nathan\u2019s attachment to where listeners were growing. We listened to each other. We built on a project based on how a martial artist positions themselves in a process of always reaching toward the community. He was a Master in Tae Kwon Do. I am a 3rd Dan or 3rd degree black belt. Together we had the guts to face an industry that was about to take a huge hit because the world was quickly becoming addicted to getting what they want right now.
The night I learned of Nathan\u2019s death was a passing of the torch. To this day I scan every memory bank in my soul seeking every bit of information he gave me about internet airplay. What he planted was a huge seed based on one thing: Don\u2019t just do a podcast. Get your ass on the real streets of where people are and put them inside the performance.
I was finally allowed to talk about podcasting in broadcasting schools in mid-2016. The D man has never invited me back to his gatherings. I\u2019m sure I posted something on social media that ended that connection but that\u2019s what you do when you want to make a difference.
It kills me that iHeart Media didn\u2019t invest in where I stood in 2012 and yet they brag about being the biggest and best in podcasting today. I won\u2019t complain. Without any type of monetary exchange I\u2019ve busted serious ass to have ten podcasts on their platform. I believed in Bob Pittman\u2019s nationwide address to terrestrial radio people. He asked us to step up and participate. The Production Director who just lost his position on the air due to an all music format leaped at the opportunity.
There were no rules. No program directors and no D man. Even if it meant leaving the corporate world of radio I had to believe in Nathan Richie\u2019s empowerment. I can still hear his voice, \u201cYou have a product. How are you going to find people? More importantly how are you going to keep what you\u2019re creating alive? It\u2019s too easy to quit.\u201d
Yesterday I sat with 13 future Broadcasters in a control room introducing them to podcasting. Asking someone what they want to talk about is far worse than screaming out something the devil said inside a church. People know about it or have heard about it but haven\u2019t a clue as to how they can participate with it.
If Eric Nuzum of NPR was told he was too late for the game in 2005 why they hell would someone want to jump into the sport in 2020? Because in 2005 there were no true pioneers to learn from. There truly wasn\u2019t a history or learning tool.
I read books and magazines about it today calmly saying, \u201cBull. Won\u2019t work.\u201d Everybody seems to have the answer in an age where we need to be putting focus on the listener and tomorrows talkers. I get it! Broadcasting student\u2019s don\u2019t get it. I put them in the room and broke the junk down. Starting first with huge groups talking for 15 minutes. They hated it. Nobody really got any air time.
Then we shot it down to three then two then one. I get it that they don\u2019t get it. But if you don\u2019t lay out the map of possibility on their worldly connections then the schools are ripping students off. This is podcasting 101. It comes with a kick in the pants. Enjoy the ride!
Eric Nuzum said podcasting shouldn\u2019t be controlled by anyone. It\u2019s what you\u2019re bringing to the moment. As much as I want to agree with him is how much I want to stop him in his tracks. There are a ton of horrid podcasts on the platform screaming for some love. The moment I praise an episode for its bad quality is the day I\u2019m picking up a full time job at Circle K.
Look\u2026 I\u2019m not good at podcasting. I just happen to be incorporating a few messages that Nathan Richie made sure I heard.
What\u2019s the moral of the story? Without a doubt I feel sorry for terrestrial radio talent being told how to bring a podcast to life by the likes of people like the D man. Unless you podcast you can\u2019t teach podcasting. No matter how much you trust research we aren\u2019t playing by the same listener rules and expectations.
The most recent move by iHeart Media to dismiss a huge collection of their performers from the party will bring thousands to this next level of play. They won\u2019t go to a university or broadcast school to learn how to properly podcast. They\u2019ll use their radio knowledge to reach what could be, might be, should be, hmmm maybe not next level of play.
Podcaster\u2019s of past generations aren\u2019t interested in radio people playing the stage. I disagree with that. Probably because I grew up through the ranks of those two speakers. We need radio people to push this platform to the advertisers. They understand quality and performance. They\u2019ve been trained to promote and push the door wide open.
Welcome them by teaching them. Unite because Nathan Richie would agree.