Podcasting Through The COVID-19 Crisis

At the risk of sounding alarmist, COVID-19 is likely something we’ll all have to deal with. And while discussing the virus’ impact on podcasting might seem trivial, it’s good risk mitigation to be prepared.

February 27, 2020

Article

I really struggled with bringing up this topic. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, and I'm not a fearmonger. I’m also not a doctor. But the Coronavirus, specifically COVID-19, shares a world with us and will cause repercussions everywhere. Since this is show intends to bring up topics of import in the podcasting space -- often topics that you don't hear on other podcasts about podcasting -- it’s worthy of our time.

So today I’m going to think through how COVID-19 could impact podcasting and the lives of podcasters. I will not be talking about how to prevent it or how to cure it. At the time of this recording, there is no cure. There's not even a treatment that directly works on the virus. And there's no vaccine, so we’re all at risk of a virus that has, at current estimates, a 2% mortality rate. If that number seems low to you, consider this: If 300 of your listeners contract the virus, six of them will die.

That's a big impact on you personally as a podcaster, and is the reason I want to have the conversation today.

As I record this, I'm days away from attending Podfest Expo 2020 in Orlando. I’ll soon get into a metal tube filled with 150 strangers from random places around the globe and share some recycled air with them for four hours. Granted, most modern planes have hospital-grade HEPA filters, but that does little to help me when those in my immediate vicinity sneeze or cough up particles that land on my armrest or tray table that isn’t in its upright and locked position so that it gets on my hands and then since I'm the kind of person who can't keep his own hands off his own face… AH! (Deep breaths, Evo…)

When I get to the venue, I'm going to see people I haven't seen in a long time, and they're all going to expect handshakes and hugs. And I’m a hugger! I’ll be sharing meals, drinks, having close-proximity conversations, speaking into hand-held microphones with proper mic technique, and a dozen other risky-but-perfectly-normal behaviors that are rather conducive to the spread of this disease.

So there’s impact number one: Will people like you and me opt out of attending podcasting events? Will we cancel already-booked travel plans? How will attendance of local events be impacted? Every month, the PHXPodcast.club holds a social event at the Clarendon Hotel in midtown Phoenix, swapping stories, ideas, thoughts, and new things we're trying. Regular attendees look forward to the in-real-life connections made each month. But will that stop? Will people be less likely to attend those events, in turn reducing the benefits of those personal connections? Will we have to switch to virtual meetings?

How will interview-based podcasts change? Some enjoy doing that in-person, where the host sits face-to-face with the guest. Some prefer to capture the ambient sounds of the venue as part of the show’s flavor. Will those shows have to switch to remote recording tools like Squadcast? That’s a great tool for getting high-quality audio of remote interviews. But how will that impact shows that have relied on the personal touch to set them apart?

Then there’s the economics. We've already seen the stock markets slump in response to the disruption of the global supply chain tied directly to the virus. Don't take financial advice from me, but what if a global slowdown becomes pockets of shutdown? And as I discussed several episodes ago, the recession is that will eventually come is made worse because of this. What happens to your show’s primary income stream if budgetary constraints cause advertisers to pull back? Or supporters? Or people who normally buy your products/services but are out of a job?

I worry a little bit about the global supply chain as well. I've got all of my equipment and you probably do as well. It's more disruption in the global services chain that we podcasters rely on to distribute our episodes everywhere that concerns me. Your podcast hosting company (and mine) relies on various nodes around the world -- a CDN -- to get your files to listeners fast. What happens if those entities fail because the workers that keep them running are placed under mandatory quarantine by their government? No, the internet won’t shut down. It’s designed to survive bigger calamities. But it might slow down or cause a localized impact that could spread and have unforeseen consequences across the chain.

Practically, there's no way to fully protect ourselves from COVID-19. No person is an island. Especially podcasters. Podcasting requires lots of people. Podcasters, the podcasters’ supporting team, the listeners on the other end, and all the people in the middle - designers, hosting companies, microphone makers, software providers… It's all possibly impacted.

If you've not been thinking about how COVID-19 will impact your podcast, you probably should start. Yes, on top of the worrying you’re already doing about how the virus might personally impact you, your family, and people that you care about, I need you to also think about the impact COVID-19 may have on your podcasting efforts. It's hard to prepare when we’re in the early stages and really don't know how big the possible impact might be. But thinking through the things mentioned today can only help you as you continue your podcasting efforts through this health crisis.

Pro tip: Reach out to your fellow podcasters and find out what they're thinking or worried about. Tell them you heard this episode of Podcast Pontifications and are bringing up the conversation so everyone in your podcasting circle is as prepared as they can be.

Enjoy your Friday tomorrow (I know it’s Thursday, but don't do episodes of this show on Friday) I'll be back on Monday for a short week because of Podfest Expo (no, I didn’t cancel). With that in mind, I shall see you on Monday for yet another Podcast Pontifications.

Cheers!

Transcript

At the risk of sounding alarmist, covert 19 is likely something we will all have to deal with. Yes. Even podcasters and while discussing the viruses impact on podcasting seems a lot trivial. It's good. It's good risk mitigation for us to be prepared.

Hello and welcome to another podcast. Pontifications with me, Evo. Tara. You know, I really struggled with this topic. I'm not a doctor, but I'm also not a conspiracy theorist, and I'm not a fearmonger. But here we are in this world where the Corona virus now, as we call it, coven 19 is clearly here, and we'll have some repercussions since this is a show that intends to be.

That, which brings you things to think about in the podcasting space. Things that you don't hear other podcasts about podcasting. Talk about having you think through things. I want to think through this coven 19 virus that we're all having to face where we soon will have to face specifically as it relates to podcasting.

Now, what do I mean by the impact it's going to have on podcasting? Well, it's going to come in a lot of different ways. We don't know a lot, but here's the thing about this vaccine, just to set up the, the latest information that we do know, uh, no cure. There's no cure for this. There's not even a treatment.

We can treat the secondary problems that come with this viral infection, but we don't have a treatment. Uh, and there's no vaccine. We can't prevent it. Not yet. Is that coming? I don't know. Maybe we'll see what's happening. So that's the reality we dealing with. We've got a virus that is coming and it's killing like a 2% mortality rate.

Oh. Which sounds like, eh, 2% that's a big of a deal. Well, here's what I want you to think about. Here's the kind of the shock, 2% mortality rate. If you have 300 listeners to your show, small number, right? I mean, six of them will die. If they get the buyers, obviously six wow. That's a big number. When you have 300 that's a big impact to you personally as a podcaster.

Hence, the reason I want to have the conversation today, one of the biggest things that the CDC is telling us to do right now is avoid. As much unnecessary contact as possible. As I say this, I'm getting ready to go attend pod Fest in Orlando, which means I'm going to get on a metal tube filled with 150 people that I don't know and I don't know where they're from.

We're going to be sharing some recycled air, by the way, airplanes have really good air filtration systems, but I've got people left and right of me who might sneeze or whatever else and might land on my. Arm rest or my tray table that I did not have any upright and locked position. And since I'm the kind of person who can't keep his own hands off, if his face going to be touching my face all the time, that's going to happen.

And then I'm going to go to Orlando. I'm going to see people I haven't seen in a long time, and they're all gonna want handshakes and hugs. New people are going to want handshakes and hugs. I'm a hugger. My eating with these people, communing, having drinks, having fun, having conversations, the perfect breeding ground for situations like this.

So that's one of the impacts that this might have to podcasting is will this cause people like you and me who are working podcast or who like to go attend these events? Will we stop or slow down the attendance of these events? Maybe you know, every week, not every week, every month, the Phoenix podcast club, P H X podcast.club if you'd like to join.

We do a monthly social event where we go to a rooftop bar at the Clarendon hotel in downtown Midtown Phoenix, and we just hang out for a few hours and we swap stories and ideas and thoughts and things we're doing these days, and there's a lot of handshaking and hugging and just close proximity stuff.

Will that stop? Will people be less likely to attend those events? I wonder about that. Do you do guests do? Do you interview guests on your show and you know, some of the higher end podcasts like to do in person meetings where they sit face to face with the guest. The good news is we have really great tools like squad cast, for example.

Great tool. I highly recommend it. Squad cast that will let us do remote interviews, but if you like those live face to face interviews, that might be a challenge going down. What happens if the economic downturn, which we've already seen, the stock markets slumping, that was largely attributed to the, uh, the rising concerns of the virus, by the way.

And, and also the disruption of global supply chain. It's not just the concerns. I'm also not a financier, so don't take financial advice from me. But what if that continues? And as I discussed several episodes ago, the recession is that will eventually come is. Made worse because of this. If that happens, what happens when advertisers and all of the companies that are happening to pull back because they don't have the same level of funds they did previously.

I worry a little bit about the global supply chain, but you know, I've got all of my equipment that's all great and fine, but it's more disruption in the services that we use, you know, to make your podcast episodes go everywhere. You're a podcast hosting company, likely has various nodes around the world.

The CV and the content distribution or content delivery network thing is what CDN stands for. Those are all over the world. Um, largely automated, but still they got to have people to support those. What happens if people can't go fix servers in various places? Now the internet is not going to collapse.

It's designed to handle that rerouting, but that slows things down. Could cause localized impacts in lots of places.

The Kovac 19 virus is, it's an, it's an a crisis for all of us, right? They did packs everybody across the world. Right? There's no way to hide, to protect herself from it because we're not individuals. We are individuals, but no man is an Island is really what I wanted to say. No person is an Island. You can't do this on your own.

Especially podcasting. It requires lots of people. It requires the podcasters, the podcasters team of people, requires the listeners on the other end requires all the people in the middle that make the whole thing happened from designers to website hosting companies to delivery units to people that make microphones and video cameras and all.

It's all possibly impacted. All I want you to do. Is, think about it. If you've not been thinking about how coven 19 will impact your podcast, I need you to start thinking about it. No, that's what I would like for you to do. Not how do you prevent it? Not how do you stop the virus from hitting you and your family and people that you care about.

That's all important stuff that you, again, I'm not the person to bring that message, but the reality is that this, I hesitate to call it a pandemic because it's not a pandemic, but this crisis. Is likely to continue. Hopefully I'm wrong. Hopefully everybody's wrong. Hopefully the alarmist in this is is unwarranted and it goes away.

But if it's not, are you prepared? It's hard to prepare when you don't know what's actually happening or you don't know what the possible impact is. But thinking through the things I talked about today, can you sustain your show. Your podcasting efforts through this sort of health crisis. Something to think about cause I want you to be thinking about it because we need to think about really good things.

That's what we do here at podcast. Pontifications reach out to your fellow podcasters, find out what they're doing or thinking about this. Tell them you heard this episode of podcast pontifications and you say, Evo said, we need to think about coven 19 find out. Do it virtually. Please do it in real life.

It doesn't really matter. Maybe it doesn't matter who knows what's happening. Anyhow, thanks for watching. Enjoy your Fridays is Thursday. I don't do shows on Friday, but I'll be back on Monday. And then Monday is kind of a short week because again, I have pod Fest in Orlando that's happening and I'll be going to that, but I have shows coming out next week as well.

So with that in mind, I shall see you on Monday for yet another podcast. Pontifications cheers.

‍

Comments

More Episodes About

Embracing Change

Playing Up (Or Down) Your Podcasting Personality

Sometimes, we just need a change in our podcast, either subtle or fundamental. But one thing remains the same. Us. What do we do when some aspects of our personality just aren’t perfect for podcasting?

The Process of Changing Your Podcast Is...Well, A Process

How are podcasters supposed to embrace “Consistency is key!” when everything about podcasting keeps changing? It’s no easy task. But if you approach change systematically, you can make it work for you.

Unlocking Podcast Listener Data Without Being Creepy

Podcast apps have all the data podcasters want. Way more than our hosting companies provide. But there’s so much more they could tell us that would be good for us, for them, and for the listeners.

View All