Podcast Pontifications logo
ABout
About the showPrivacy policyAccessibility statement
Episodes On...
Accessibility of Podcasts
Content Strategy
Continuing Education
Distribution Strategy
Embracing Change
Ethics In Podcasting
Future-Forward Thinking
Growing Your Podcast
Listener Experience
Metrics That Matter
Monetization Efforts
Perspective Shifts
Podcaster Stories
Quality Matters
SEO for Podcasters
Self-Care For Podcasters
EquipmentPFPs

Improving Your Podcast's Acquired Taste

Podcast investments are on the rise, and scouts are on the hunt. Not just for shows and talent to acquire. But for other assets you might own that give them leverage. Here are a few things to consider before they show up on your door with bags of money.

Listen to the episode
Read The article

“There is no such thing as selling out; only the chance of selling out top cheaply.” That's a quote I first heard from Dave Slusher, one of the original OG podcasters with the Evil Genius Chronicles. 

Acquisitions are coming to podcasting. It's one of the many stages in the consolidation efforts that continue to increase, both visibly and behind the scenes. Podcasting is coming into its own (finally or again, depending on which camp you live in) and enterprising companies and individuals are happy to buy their way into the game.

You and I know it's hard to build an audience for a podcast. Those with bags of money know that too, so they’re willing to let people like you and me do the hard work and then, once it’s viable, make that acquisition happen. 

Acquisitions Are A Part Of Podcasting’s History

Acquisitions and mergers have been a part of podcasting since nearly the beginning. In recent years, with an ever-increasing portion of ad spend allocated to podcasts and the continued increase in podcasting listenership, the pace has accelerated. It’s not out of the question that you might be approached with a money-bag-holder in the near future. 

Historically, podcast networks have been the entity responsible for most acquisitions. Networks are often built around a particular topic or genre. While the viability and benefit of being in a network vs running independently is a mixed bag, it’s generally considered a Good Thing to at least be approached by a network. And if they’re offering to pay; even better!

Acquisitions For Increased Podcast Ad Spend

I think we’ll see more ad rep firms start their own networks. They’re hearing from companies who have money to spend money on podcasting. They know precisely which desirable audiences those advertisers want to reach. Today, they’re all on the lookout for more shows they can add to their stable of rep’d shows. Tomorrow, they could start commissioning and acquiring shows that make their business model work better by appeasing the needs of their customers -- the advertisers with money to spend. 

Ad rep firms know that running ads on smaller podcasts is often a money-losing proposition. If it takes many hours of work to land, set up, deliver, and report on a single ad campaign. That effort just isn’t worth it for companies when the income is in the few tens or hundreds of dollars range. But there are economies of scale when the ad rep firm “owns” their stable of shows and the tech that power them. If they can build a network of 10 different podcasts that get 1000 downloads a month, that's 10,000 downloads. Run multiple ad placements and that’s starting to approach viability.

Acquisition In Lieu Of A Branded Podcast?

Brands might also be interested in acquiring existing podcasts, especially if there’s a hyper-focused podcast that’s a perfect match to the niche the brand occupies, right? Huge brands are already investing hundreds of thousands of dollars to create short-run branded podcast content. That price tag is out of budget for most small brands. But a smaller brand might find benefit owning a stake of an existing, popular podcast rather than trying to build something completely original on their own from scratch. 

Podcast Acquisition Beyond The Obvious

There are lots of ways in which a show might be impacted by possible acquisition. Even a show that’s been “dead” for years might be attractive. I once joined and rebooted a show that hadn’t released an episode in six years but was still seeing 2,000 - 3,000 downloads of old episodes each month. Clearly, there was an audience hungry for the content! Luckily the owner continued to pay his hosting bill each month, else we’d have missed the opportunity.

There are now well over 1 million podcasts. And while I don’t think it’s getting “crowded”, I do know that show names are becoming a perceived precious item. Even though podcasting titles aren’t like domain names (there can be more than one), having a unique title is key to discovery. And if a money-bag-holder may want to pay you to change the name of your podcast so they can take it. Would you consider a name-change to your show, knowing that your existing subscribers wouldn’t be impacted at all? 

Talent is another scarcity, and one that doesn’t scale. Whether it’s you, another voice on your show, or one of your talented folks working behind the scenes, the talent required to make your show is valuable. And if not to you, then to someone. What do you do if it happens to you? What do you do if the offer is extended to a valued member of your team? 

Domain names are still popular points of acquisition, and if you were early enough to nab a clear and concise domain without adding “.diamond” at the end, someone may be willing to pay for it. Switching domains is a lot more complicated than switching show names, but it’s doable.

And then there’s the nuclear option, where someone wants to buy your show… and not you. What they actually want is your audience. Companies buy other companies all the time and swap out everyone, from the leadership team to front-line workers. That same thing can happen in podcasting. What sort of price tag would it take for you to hand over everything about your podcast to someone else and never look back?

Getting Ready For Podcast Acquisition

While some may actively seek out acquisition, others will be hit with a request out of the blue. Regardless, both of these paths start from the same place: Getting your ducks in a row. 

Ownership is the big question, especially if you podcast as part of a team. I’m not an attorney, so I can’t tell you what kinds of documents you need to prepare. But I can tell you that you need to prepare for those documents by having an honest conversation with all of the stakeholders of your show so everyone understands who owns what.

But the bigger question is this: What’s it worth? Whatever “it” is. Yesterday someone asked to buy a domain of mine. I was (and still am) prepared to keep paying the registrar fees on that domain for... forever. That’s a great position of leverage to be in, and it means I probably won’t be tempted by an offer of hundreds. Maybe not even thousands. Tens of thousands? Maybe!

And I think that’s the key. If you get a request to acquire some aspect of your podcast, don’t rush to make a decision. When somebody comes knocking on your proverbial podcast door holding bags of money, don't jump at the offer. If you don't need it (or want it), then you don't need it (or want it). 

Because like Dave says, there's no such thing as selling out; only the possibility of selling too cheaply. 


And because it needs to be said, I’m always willing to field all talks of acquisitions of this show or other content I own. Evo@podcastlaunch.pro reaches me. Just bring really big bags of money.

Much more likely -- perhaps you know a fellow podcaster who’s brought up the prospect acquisition with you previously. Send them and email, a text, or a DM with a link to this episode, would you? My show is 100% reliant on person-to-person transmission. And it’s a great way to position both of you for the larger conversation.

I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications. 

Cheers!


Published On:
July 14, 2020
Download The Audio FilE
Download icon
Display/Hide Transcript

Improving Your Podcast's Acquired Taste - Transcript

Evo Terra: [00:00:00] Podcast investment is on the rise and Scouts are on the hunt, not just for shows and talent to acquire, but for other assets you might own that. Give them leverage. Here are a few things to consider before they show up on your door with bags of money.

[00:00:21] hello, and welcome to another podcast. Pontifications with me, Evo, Tara. There is no such thing as selling out only the chance of selling out to cheaply. That's a quote. I first heard from a friend of mine, mr. Dave Slusher, one of the original, Oh, gee podcasters with evil genius Chronicles. I say that because acquisitions are coming, it's just part of this consolidation effort that we are seeing, and also seeing evidence of behind the scenes.

[00:00:56] Podcasting is coming to its own finally, or again, depending on which camp you live in and people are starting to realize, companies are starting to realize people with business ideas, wanting to make money are realizing there's a thing happening in the podcasting space and they need to be a part of it.

[00:01:16] And what better way to become a part of things then use mergers and acquisitions. To establish a stronghold, a foothold, if you will, in podcasting because you and I know it's hard to build audience. Well, these guys with big tire piles, money out there, just wait for someone to build that big audience then swoop in because that's how they want to deal with it.

[00:01:39] Now. When you hear talk of acquisitions and podcasting, you're wondering how this has really happened. And yeah, it does happen, not a lot in the ha in the, in the history of things, but we're going to start seeing more of that. Especially as we start moving more people to listen to podcasts and also more advertising revenues coming into podcasting, it's getting, it's getting much more attractive prior to now really the acquisition that happened was your podcast would be approached by a network.

[00:02:10] And network, that's usually a content based network. When you reach a certain size and you're doing a certain value of production, you might be approached by someone saying, Hey, we would like to have your show. A part of our network. Doesn't have to be a huge show. It can be a small show. I mean, networks come and go for a variety of reasons, but they're typically built around a variety of things.

[00:02:34] One of the things that they want to do with the network is have enough shows in that network. So that the network is viable networks. One supporter do thing. What I also see is coming in the future is these ad rep firms building their own network. Because the real reason most podcast networks exist.

[00:02:57] Again, most of the ones that are business focused is because they can run ads against those why not. And ad rep firms. These are companies that are trying to find podcasts that will run ads for the sponsors, bringing money in. It might be as simple thing. Straight forward thing is a better way to say that for an ad rep firm to go acquire podcasts that.

[00:03:22] A fit a certain demographic. Look, if you've got a show that maybe gets a thousand downloads a month, that's, that's not really terribly attractive to advertisers. Because as I've said before in this program, it takes a lot of work to run an ad. However, if you're an ad from rep and you have somebody coming in wanting to spend tens of thousands of dollars with you, if you have 10 different podcasts that get a thousand downloads a month, that's 10,000 downloads.

[00:03:50] Now we're in the realm of a possible thing. So ad rep firms are looking at, and I've heard rumors of this and don't have anything to point you to right now, rumors that they are trying to actually build their own networks for the sole purpose of selling ads. And then I think the next progression of that is having a brand.

[00:04:11] Decide to just swoop in and buy out a podcast, especially if it's really hyper focused in a niche, right? Nike's not going to do this, but some very small apparel company might do this. I mean, we're already seeing it. That's what branded podcasts are. And they're really expensive. Maybe brands who can't afford to do a full on branded podcasts, like trader Joe's.

[00:04:40] Can just have editors relationship with a podcast or where they actually buy it, help bundle things that needs to happen for a much cheaper price tag. That's a possibility. But when I start thinking about acquisition, I think beyond that stuff, I think there are other things that are quite attractive of your show, especially for those of you who have a faded and or ended podcast that still gets downloads.

[00:05:06] I mean, that happens. I want to join the show after had been on hiatus for six years, because it was still getting two or 3000 downloads a month that's worth coming in and somebody purchasing just to simply keep the show active and viable again. So maybe don't kill off your podcasts. The space is getting larger over a million shows now.

[00:05:32] Somebody might want the name of your podcast. Maybe it's not very big that your, your show isn't maybe they want to do something bigger. They want your name. Somebody might want to buy your podcast name. Would you sell it? I guess it depends on how much money they would give you. Maybe somebody wants to buy the talent, you behind the microphone or your guest or somebody else.

[00:05:52] That's, that's going to happen eventually to someone. Someone who likes the way someone's voice sounds or something that they do is going to be picked up. It's already happened. It'll happen more in the future. Are you ready for that? Or if they just want your domain? Maybe you've got a clever domain that has nothing to do.

[00:06:12] Well, it's not the same as your podcast name. What if somebody wants to come in and buy your domain? Somebody reached out to me recently to buy an old domain of mine. Are you ready to sell that? And I guess the other thing to think about is what if they want to buy your audience? I mean, that's the whole idea advertisers exist is they want to rent your audience.

[00:06:31] Well, what if somebody wants to just buy it? You're getting these many thousand downloads of your show. I just want to take over your show. I want, I want to move that over a, to here. Are you ready for something? Because these are the things that are coming. Even for small podcasts, they get hundreds of downloads.

[00:06:50] These are things that are out and coming. Some things you need to be prepared to deal with. Obviously is who owns all of this stuff. This big question of ownership is out there in the world. Right now. We're seeing stories of people who thought they owned shows that got acquired, and then they can't do make other shows after that.

[00:07:09] Oh, it's a big mess. I'm not here to give legal advice. It's not my job, but I am here to make you think about, ask you to think about that. The legalities of things who owns, what, what would it take? Also, you should be thinking about how much what's the right kind of price tag. I'll tell you this, or to sell that domain.

[00:07:31] Somebody wants to buy it from me. I am very well prepared to continue to pay the registration fee on that domain forever, whatever forever means. So for me, giving you a few hundred dollar offer, isn't really. It's going to be all attractive to me. I'm already prepared to pay that in fees going on. So it's not a, not a big deal.

[00:07:53] Your number might be different. It might be thousands, maybe tens of thousands. I don't know what your number is, but I think you need to, before you react. And I guess that's the key. When you get this request, somebody comes knocking on the proverbial door with the bags of money. Don't jump at the offer.

[00:08:14] If you don't need it, you don't need it. Make sure you got a price tag in mind that matters. So I'll end where we began. There's no such thing as selling out only the possibility of selling to cheaply. So don't do that. Now. I will, of course field all talks of acquisitions. If you'd like to buy an aspect of this show shirt evo@podcastlaunched.pro reaches me.

[00:08:41] And if you happen to know a fellow podcaster who you'd like to have a talk about acquisition with, maybe this has come up, maybe the news from Spotify and Pandora now, and others are getting people interested and they want to talk about what happens if somebody wants to buy our show, how do we make our show attractive someone to buy, send them this episode?

[00:09:00] Would you, it's a great way to increase the share of mouth for my show and also to keep a conversation going. I would certainly appreciate that and I shall be back tomorrow. We did another podcast. Pontifications cheers.

‍

Watch The video
More Episodes about: 
Monetization Efforts
Comments
Subscribe for free
Listen on SpotifyListen on all Apple DevicesListen on Google PodcastsListen on Amazon MusicListen on PandoraListen on iHeartRadio
Listen In Your Inbox
Podcast Pontifications logo
Podcast Pontifications is produced by Evo Terra. Follow him on Twitter for more podcasting insight as it happens.
© 2020 and beyond. All rights reserved.