I might fake to be perky, however I’m not certain who that serves. Since you might be all media freaks, you could have possible seen the information that Vox Media, the father or mother firm of The Verge and Sizzling Pod, laid off 7 % of staffers at the moment. That could be paltry in comparison with the 12,000 individuals who have been laid off by Google at the moment. However for the media world, it’s sizable. I used to be not laid off, however quite a lot of my colleagues have been. That features individuals who labored on audio throughout Vox Media and lots of extra who didn’t.
Vox Media layoffs influence audio departments
This morning, Vox Media introduced it’s shedding about 130 folks, or 7 % of its workforce. The rationale given for the cuts can be acquainted to these of you who’ve been following layoffs throughout audio and media extra usually.
“Sadly, on this financial local weather, we’re not capable of maintain initiatives and areas of the enterprise that haven’t carried out as anticipated, are much less core to the place we see the largest alternatives within the coming years, or the place we don’t have sufficient rationale to assist ongoing funding in what could possibly be a protracted downturn,” CEO Jim Bankoff stated within the electronic mail.
It’s my understanding that a minimum of seven audio staff have been laid off, together with two from Vox, two from SB Nation, and the three staffers that produced Cowl Story at New York Journal. Vox Media spokesperson Lauren Starke declined to supply precise figures. Cowl Story, a well-reported true-crime podcast that’s a lot higher than your common true-crime podcast, was a high-profile entry for NYM when it launched in 2021.
As I’ve beforehand speculated, information organizations that invested in audio through the increase instances might reduce these endeavors when cash will get tight. Vox Media remains to be an enormous participant within the podcasting house, however it’s sadly not stunning that audio was one of many areas that skilled cuts.
“The layoffs at the moment included a small variety of audio workers, however don’t change Vox Media’s long-term podcast technique and dedication to audio,” Starke instructed Sizzling Pod.
Vox Media’s layoffs observe comparable cuts elsewhere within the audio world. With NPR reducing its internship program and up to date layoffs at Gimlet and Parcast, there are fewer alternatives for anybody within the enterprise of constructing reveals.
Gen Z thinks radio is cool, however they don’t really hearken to it
This week, Edison Analysis launched a brand new report on the media consumption habits of Gen Z, and there’s some excellent news in there for podcasting. Almost half of respondents ages 12 to 24 stated they’re month-to-month podcast listeners, in comparison with simply over one-third of respondents age 25 and up. They’re additionally much less more likely to take private podcast suggestions from both folks they know or hosts they hearken to and extra inclined to only seek for reveals on YouTube. That sounds bleak to me however may very well be extra conducive to discovery.
The examine additionally requested Gen Z respondents to qualify varied issues as cringe or cool. For instance, meditation, Dungeons & Dragons, and YouTube are cool. In the meantime, NFTs, Elon Musk, and TikTok dances are cringe (exhausting agree!). Proper close to the highest of the listing of cool is radio.
However regardless of its cache, radio listening amongst folks ages 12 to 24 is far, a lot decrease than these age 25 and above. When requested to interrupt down how a lot time they spent listening to numerous audio media, Gen Z respondents stated they solely spent 15 % of their time listening to AM/FM radio. That’s in comparison with 35 % going to music streaming and 24 % going to YouTube. Amongst respondents age 25 and up, AM/FM radio nonetheless held the biggest share at 43 %.
TikTok is testing out podcasting (kinda?)
That is no shock, contemplating TikTok was actively hiring for a podcast staff a couple of months in the past. Enterprise Insider reported this week that the social platform is testing a function the place customers can hearken to movies even when the app is within the background whereas they do different issues on their cellphone. At the moment, TikTok solely performs audio when movies are on-screen.
TikTok is reportedly calling this function “podcasts,” despite the fact that it doesn’t actually seem to be a format for conventional podcasts? Maybe that can be a part of it, nevertheless it seems to be a podcast in the identical manner which you could decrease a YouTube video and hearken to the audio and that’s form of a podcast. I wouldn’t see this as a large menace to conventional podcasting but, however that will depend on how far TikTok leans into audio.
It’s been every week. See you Tuesday.
