January 2023 Of Podcasts and Radio Shows

If you are seeking publicity for a book, business, or cause, you are likely hoping to garner some interviews.

Which is better: a radio interview or a podcast interview?

Are they possibly in fact sometimes the same thing?

Lately, it seems like authors talk to me about obtaining podcast interviews and when I mention radio interviews they are polite but seem a little underwhelmed. Or maybe just confused, and for good reason.

Let’s do a reality check. Not all interviews are created equal.

Radio may not seem that exciting. After all it’s been around forever, even before traditional TV, but guess what. It’s still the medium with the most reach. According to Nielsen, the company that tracks statistics about audiences, 92% of adults 18 and over listen to radio.

One statistic said that was 244.5 million adults each month.

Meanwhile the number of podcasts continues to expand rapidly, with one statistic noting in 2022 62% of adults now say they’ve listened to at least one podcast. And since many people know people who have podcasts, the easiest interview to obtain might just be on a podcast.

As long as someone hears it.

And that’s where radio still has its advantages.

Especially because radio can also act like a podcast, blurring lines more all the time, but capturing the best of both worlds.

The traditional radio interview aired one time, in one specific geographic market. If you happened to be in the car on the way home when your favorite athlete or musical star was interviewed, you could hear the interview. But then that was it. If you missed it you missed it. Once in a while they would replay an interview, but for the most part, it was one and done.

A podcast, on the other hand, is recorded and archived and can be found for years, maybe decades.  That is a huge advantage.

But so is already having a studio and recording equipment plus skill at interviewing. Thus it’s a natural progression that radio programs increasingly are turning their interviews into podcasts. [note: I’m quite sure ‘podcast’ will soon be recognized as a verb, but for now I’ll wait and resist the temptation.]

And this can also get kind of confusing to someone new to the world of interviews.

Several of the radio programs I am honored to work with repurpose their radio interviews or shows into podcasts that are then archived on the radio station website. That’s a great combination.

But the newest version of this we’ve just learned about is a podcast produced by YES-FM, a radio station in Ohio that recently interviewed an author we have been working with.

Their innovative approach is a great way to maximize resources, even if a bit confusing.

Here’s how they describe it: “Our podcast is recorded live on air every weekday at 9:35 am. It will be recorded and posted on our website for sharing afterwards.”

So it looks and acts like a live interview, but then lives on as a podcast that people can find for years to come.

And that benefit allows the interview guest to grab a link to the podcast interview to use in their own publicity on social media, as well as on their own website, with the added cache of having started as a radio interview.

As you seek interviews, we suggest you keep looking for radio interviews as well as podcast opportunities..