By Sadaf Sundas Riaz
NAB SHOW NY EXPLOES USING RADIO AND PODCASTS TO GROW EACH OTHER
For podcasters, the million-dollar question is how to move large audiences to their shows. While promoting a pod on a website sounds good on paper, years of testing have shown consumers aren’t always in the right mindset to consume audio in that very moment, according to Jason Hoch, CEO and Chief Creative Officer for Audiochuck’s Wavland podcast network. And while trailer drops and other cross-promotions are a good idea, “you have to understand who your audience is,” Hoch added. “How do we understand who they are and how do we move those groups of audiences who are already apt to want to love audio?” That involves mining data and tracking experiences to understand what's working and what isn’t.
Most importantly, Hoch said, is that audiences still don’t know what they want to listen to and are looking for audio content to be curated for them. “It's about finding and moving mass audiences from one show to the next, to the next. Because people are always looking for the next thing that they want to listen to.” Audience recycling used to mean shuttling audiences from daypart to daypart. It still does but in today’s multiplatform audio world, it also means driving audiences from radio to podcasts and vice versa. Beyond such obvious cross-promotion efforts as promoting a sports podcast on a sports station, NAB Show New York panelists explored new ways to leverage audiences across platforms.
Alex Roman, the former Chief Technology Officer at MediaCo New York City, emphasized the importance of recycling audiences to radio’s social platforms. “We want our listeners following and interacting with us on all of our platforms throughout the day,” he said. “We try and pull content out of the morning show as quickly as we possibly can and turn it around the same day.”
Roman, who earlier held positions at Emmis Communications and Citadel Broadcasting and is a technology and engineering consultant, is a proponent of air talent engaging with Facebook Live during their shows. The goal is to use “the value of what we do in radio as effectively as possible to ensure that people are regarding us as a source for news and culture throughout the day.”
The show, positioned in the final quarter of the year, provided a key opportunity for attendees to make end-of-year purchasing decisions and prepare strategic moves for 2025.
A significant portion of the audience -- 79% of attendees -- was actively involved in purchasing decisions, marking a 6% increase from the previous year. Additionally, 34% of participants were final decision-makers. The show also drew a fresh crowd, with preliminary data showing that 64% of attendees were first-timers. Interestingly, three-quarters of attendees do not attend the NAB Show in Las Vegas, providing exhibitors access to a new regional audience.
NAB Global Connections and Events Executive Vice President and Managing Director Karen Chupka said, "With Q4 being such a critical buying season, this event allows attendees to finalize their budgets and set the stage for 2025. Our exhibitors provided the tools and solutions that will shape content creation, distribution, and monetization in the coming year."
The event included more than 75 educational sessions covering a wide range of industry topics, including artificial intelligence, the creator economy, live production, sports media, and streaming. As NAB Show New York wrapped up, the industry's focus shifted toward trends expected to shape the future, particularly generative AI, live production, and developments in radio, television, and sports broadcasting.
NAB is already planning the next NAB Show, scheduled for April 2025 in Las Vegas, with the 2025 NAB Show New York set for October 22-23.
