In the middle of the EL TIEMPO newsroom there is a kind of radio set. It is not a booth like the one you would find on Caracol Radio or La FM, but it does have sophisticated microphones and headphones of the highest quality.
The journalists of the more than ten sections that the capital newspaper has take turns in that space to make programs.
At that point, near the central table, very interesting ‘podcasts’ have been born: ‘W6’, ‘El Primer café’, ‘Degeneradas’, ‘Contraataque’ and ‘It’s not time to shut up’, among others, are some of the weekly productions with which EL TIEMPO is diversifying its information offer for its more than 30 million unique monthly users.
Although the numbers of listeners of these programs are not public, the fact of seeing so many ‘podcasts’, and that they have not closed any, accounts for the commitment that this Editorial House is making for a format that has been gaining an unusual force in in recent years, particularly in the United States and in Europe, where the percentage of penetration already exceeds 30 percent.
Although in Colombia we are still crawling in this segment, EL TIEMPO is one of several media outlets that have understood the enormous potential of this narrative format.
In 2015 alone, advertising revenue in this universe was $ 105 million globally. In 2018 they soared to $ 479 million and by 2021, according to Statistica, they are forecast to exceed $ 1 billion.
There are already players with aggressive bets. Spotify recently closed a $ 100 million exclusivity deal with the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Since it was released on December 24, 2009, comedian and host Joe Rogan has aired 1,570 episodes. Kanye West, Elon Musk and Mike Tyson have been some of his guests.
Like everything in the digital world, whoever hits first hits twice. Our country, which is very radial, has a golden opportunity to position itself as a reference. We not only have great voices, but great storytellers. The range of possibilities to develop differential podcasts is infinite, and the good thing is that it is not a matter of cost, but of the quality of the content.
The magazine ‘Bocas’, with its interviews, sits on a gold mine, for example. Johana Bahamón could develop some hopeful stories of women in prison. Mauricio Silva, with his captivating voice, transport you to the best cuisines and flavors of the country. Alejandro Riaño, combining his sense of humor with his facet of solidarity, could make some unrepeatable tours of Colombia. Stories is what we have left over.
Digital audio was one of the formats that grew the most in terms of advertising in Colombia from 2019 to 2020. The figures are still very small, almost so insignificant that advertising teams go out to find clients, but we will get there.
The good news is that podcasting is within the reach of most. You don’t need big teams to develop them. Even being recursive, a single cell phone would suffice, but the ideal is to have a computer, to be able to edit the audios.
On YouTube there are hundreds of tutorials on how to make one, where to host it, the devices you need, the ‘software’, free or paid, editing, among many others … Of course, not all of us will have the talent, but this is a new one door that opens for us to generators of content that we should not miss.
Sebastián Camelo is a Colombian who a couple of years ago, without ever doing radio and without being a journalist, jumped into the water with a ‘podcast’ about serial killers: ‘Serially’. With admirable discipline and perseverance, he became one of the most listened to figures in Latin America. His program is today one of the most listened to in Spanish on Spotify. Time for the podcast. Happy New Year!
DIEGO SANTOS
Digital analyst
[email protected]
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