And Lifestyles 55 Digital Radio is leading the way
Is It Just Me…
When you were young, and if you were lucky enough to have a transistor radio, you listened to one of two radio stations. They were KY58 or CKRC. They are not around anymore and haven’t been for a long time. Things change as the times change. And folks, the times they are a changing. And they are changing fast. Especially in media. For well over a year, I have been telling people podcasts are the new radio and I believe there is some truth in that.
Just six months ago there were 2,000,000 podcasts and more than 48 million episodes available to anyone looking for an interesting alternative to mainstream radio. Canada is among the leading countries in podcast listenership. Here are a few statistics, some of which might surprise you.
Canadian Podcast demographics: 63% of the Canadian population is familiar with the term “podcasting”, 36% listened to a podcast in the last month, 23% listened to a podcast in the last week. Our listening habits are thus: 91% of podcast listening is done at home, 35% listen while driving and 24% listen at work. Podcast listeners listen to an average of five different shows per week, 81% listen to all or most of each episode. Mobile podcast listening went from 59% in 2018 to 75% to 2019 (now, it’s higher).
The appeal has broadened as the audience has grown. There’s something for everyone with more than 1.7 million titles to choose from. Not only are more people listening to podcasts, more people are becoming podcasters! COVID-19 quarantines have been a factor in that more people have been working from home with easy access to podcasts.
It’s no surprise advertisers are moving in that direction big time. And, not just in ad sales which will surpass $1 billion this year, but in sponsorship opportunities.
So here we go, Winnipeg digital radio
Lifestyles 55 Digital Radio is Winnipeg’s first digital radio station. Dorothy Dobbie kicked things off with her podcast The Gardener. John Einarson, author & musicologist offers up My Generation and Off the Record. Greg Gardner adds his special touch to Summer Sounds as he helps you hang ten with a side of surf. Alex Regiec and John Panting take you into the Retro Rec Room for memory-making music. Chris Golden is the host of Golden’s Oldies and will share his five decades of experience with music just for you.
As for me, I have created only two podcasts thus far. The first was an interview with Colin Blunstone, lead singer from the Zombies. They recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of their seminal album Odyssey and Oracle. Naturally I played many of their great tunes within the podcast. I was instrumental, so to speak, in bringing the Zombies to Winnipeg a number of times as I did with The Yardbirds 10 to 15 years ago. Jim McCarty was my second conversation. The 78-year-old original drummer of the band is still active with The Yardbirds and his solo career as well.
Great people and great music as well as informative conversation and well, just plain fun. Turn on and tune in to www.whatsupwinnipeg.ca