Opinion
Media Choice: Bizarre podcast
04.07.2007Jonathan Barrowman, Head of Radio It’s an interesting alliance – the UK’s biggest circulating newspaper collaborating with the UK’s largest radio group to distribute online content. The Sun’s deal with GCap Media to produce a podcast of their Bizarre column demonstrates the need for ‘traditional’ media owners to be agile and adaptable to changing consumer habits, with Bizarre podcast powered by MusicControl available via thesun.co.uk as well as 43 of GCap’s local radio stations via its network show MusicControl.
And why not? Both The Sun and GCap Media are in the business of delivering contemporary entertainment to several million habit-forming consumers every week and this is a natural extension of that relationship. Bizarre’s strength is celebrity news and brand equity whilst MusicControl, or more accurately, GCap Media’s strength is music and audio content.
Both have online communities which they want to grow – and cross promote – and both have a vested interest to keep that audience locked into their brands when they aren’t reading a newspaper or listening to the radio.
As they say – Content is King – and what’s striking about Bizzare’s podcast is it draws you in and immediately entertains. An essential component of ‘pull’ media is traction with consumers because it isn’t necessarily a part of their daily routine – you need to have them eating out of your hand and wanting more!
Bizarre feels ‘live’ and has a good balance of music and speech content. Getting around music rights on podcasts is the key, as this lightens a sometimes over reliance on speech. It’s important to distinguish yourself, as the podcast market is becoming competitive, but as long as The Sun and GCap market Bizarre to their existing consumer base, it promises to build a significant fan base. GCap’s podcast division, Creation, is set to create more podcasts for The Sun, so I’m looking forward to their next offering.
