How are public media podcasts different from public radio stories & shows?

The clock, niche audiences and cultural voices

Having produced our show, Deemable Tech, specifically for the radio and now only for the podcast, I think the biggest differences between public radio shows and public radio podcasts are that hosts and producers can breath a sign of relief, knowing that they don't have to take a break exactly at 12:29 on the A Segment and 18:59 into the B Segment, etc. We can let our shows naturally flow. We still have to run the show and not let it run us, but we can let conversations happen naturally without arbitrarily ending them because "we have to take a short break." We can also run a show that is only a few minutes or one that is a couple hours long. There is so much more flexibility in the format than the radio clock allows.

The second thing that I have found is that because we are on the internet, we can find our audience instead of having to refine our show for the radio audience. When we started Deemable Tech, we tried to appeal to a general radio audience. Instead of appealing to more people, we found that it was just a watered down version of what our core audience wanted and less people enjoyed it as much. When we decided to give up the "radio show dream" and go all in with the podcast our core audience loved it! We have better download and subscription numbers than ever before. We are making the show that our niche audience loves. As much as I would love for it to happen, I never expect any public radio station to air an hour-long tech news show, but our audience loves it and shares it.

I'm not saying that podcasts can't have general appeal, but the freedom to do a show that the general audience wouldn't like is a lot of fun.

I also feel like you can be more "natural" with your voicing in podcasts. I hear more black, hispanic, asian and regional accents on podcasts. I feel like podcast listeners are more accepting of a culturally spiced voice. You don't have to put on your "public radio voice." I know that I personally allow my southern accent to sneak out on the podcast, whereas I would never do that on the radio.

/r/NPR Thread