“The podcast will soon have its own Game of Thrones,” said Gonzalo Madrid, founder of SONORA, a podcast platform set up in collaboration with SER journalist Toni Garrido. They were at APPLE TREE explaining this project and how they imagine the future of podcasting in Spain at a meeting organized by the BCMA’s Commission on Trends and Platforms, “Entertainment and Audio, a Perfect Match.”
For Toni Garrido, one of the most recognized voices in radio in Spain, podcasting has excellent potential for growth, but this does not mean that it will replace radio. Just as has happened with television, podcasting will take over the entertainment territory, while traditional radio will have a function more geared towards broadcasting major live events. Although both formats – radio and podcasting – have their particularities, for the communicator, the role of professionals is the same: “We are dedicated to telling stories.”
The data confirms that the podcast has a clear space in entertainment. According to the second report published by the iVoox Observatory on the state of podcasting in Spain, history podcasts lead the top five most listened-to topics, followed by mystery, politics and economics, humour, and football. Listeners’ favourite podcast formats are talks (59.76%), interviews (46.08%), and narrative or documentaries (43.67%).
For Gonzalo Madrid, the podcast allows content creators to tell stories in a way they could never have imagined. The only thing this format needs is a big hit, as happened with content platforms such as Netflix or HBO. “Once you start listening to a podcast story, it’s very hard to stop. You go on a journey listening to a story, and there’s no going back. It’s possible that for podcasting to become a mass phenomenon, there will have to be a new Game of Thrones, and when that happens, it’s going to be huge,” said the SONORA founder.
Regarding the market and consumption of podcasts, the General Media Study (EGM) published its latest report on radio and podcast consumption in Spain a few weeks ago. It reflects the data on podcast consumption, which continues to grow at a dizzying pace. For the 3rd wave of 2022, 1,918,000 people listened to podcasts daily, from Monday to Sunday. This represents a net increase of 555,000 individuals over the previous wave, a growth of almost 30%.
At APPLE TREE, we are committed to entertainment as a way to connect brands and consumers through innovative formats like podcasts and web series. That’s why we launched the Culture & Entertainment department, led by Harris Castillo, designed to become a cross-sectional department through disruptive PR, combining innovative communication strategies and a laboratory for creating new branded content and influencer marketing formats. The department works with clients such as Electronics Arts, Goiko, Rastreator, and Mahou.
