Friday 29th April: Introducing the winners of 2022's Publisher Podcast Awards

April 29, 2022

Happy Friday! Today's newsletter is brought to you by Esther.

It's been our privilege this week to be able to put on the Publisher Podcast Awards for the third year, with both a room full of people and a live stream; our first proper hybrid event. More to come on that later (and a big thanks to the team at Fourth Estate Creative for making the tech run so seamlessly).

Firstly, a huge congratulations to all the winners and shortlisted publishers. The standard this year was incredibly high, and a number of our categories were very near deadlock. If you're looking to discover a great podcast or two, we can recommend this list as a starting point.

Now, we're beginning planning for our October Publisher Podcast Summit. If you have any podcasts, or would like to learn more about launching them, we've got a short form on the Publisher Podcast Awards website where you can tell us more. Let us know who you'd like to hear from, what topics we should be covering, and anything else we can do to make it a really useful event.

Quartz - in the headlines just a fortnight ago for dropping its paywall - has just sold to private equity firm-owned digital media company G/O Media (formerly known as Gizmodo Media Group). If that name sounds familiar, it's because they were the corporation responsible for the Deadspin debacle which started with editorial staff being unhappy with the invasive ad experience. Will G/O learn lessons and proceed differently with Quartz, or will the site end up plastered with autoplay ads?

Many of the ways publishers used to show they were 'premium' - like paper quality and good design - are going away. Access to good design and photography tools is now widely available, and high production values in areas like video are now a great deal less important to audiences. "Much of the media business is still stuck in low-engagement mode," Brian Morrissey argues. "Publications will be judged by how valuable their communities are - and the connection they have to them."

I asked Simon Owens what his thoughts were on the cost-of-living subscriber crunch that we're seeing start to play out, and if it's something publishers should be concerned about. He responds in this newsletter: "Subscription economics are pretty brutal, and it’s only a matter of time before churn eats into all of your growth. When it does, you have to be ready with Plan B."

This week's episode:

Catch up with our mini podcast series talking to the winners of 2020 and 2021's Publisher Podcast Awards. Whether you're thinking of launching your own podcast or want tips to level up your strategy, there's a wealth of knowledge and podcast mastery in these 15 minute episodes.

We may be on Easter break from the podcast, but you may have noticed it's not much of a break! I've needed a LOT of coffee this week. If you're able to contribute anything either as a one-off or a subscription to keep us going, we really appreciate it.