In recent years, podcasts have become an increasingly popular way to consume entertainment. Most Millennials and Zoomers get in their cars and make a choice between playing music or playing a podcast while they drive.
Most of my friends and I can’t even remember the last time we bothered turning on the radio. After living in Bloomington for four years, I have no idea what the local radio stations are here. There is a huge range of podcast topics covering everything from religion to true crime, so everyone is guaranteed to find something of interest.
Celebrities are beginning to branch into this digital industry. Meghan Markle recently started a podcast, “Archetypes,” where she and a guest deep dive into “different labels that try to hold women back.”
Kim Kardashian also jumped into podcasting with “Kim Kardashian’s The System: The Case of Kevin Keith.” Kardashian’s podcast discusses the true crime 1994 case in which Kevin Keith was arrested and charged with triple homicide.
Rewatch podcasts have also gained a lot of traction recently. Stars of shows go back and rewatch their old episodes and then spill secrets and recap the episode for listeners. Some of the more popular TV shows that have started making these podcasts include “The Office,” “The O.C.” and “One Tree Hill.”
Established celebrities are not the only people jumping into podcasts. Many people who start off with no following create podcasts that can turn into incredibly successful businesses. There are also some podcasts that are created completely for fun and don’t try to monetize their platform.
According to Demand Sage, as of 2022 there 2.4 million podcasts globally and 383.7 million podcast listeners. With podcasts having so much success, it is shocking to me that they’re still so underappreciated.
There are only a few podcast award shows. Before researching this topic I had never even heard of any awards for podcasts. In 2005, The People’s Choice Podcast Awards was created to help honor podcasts and the talent in the industry. Another award show dedicated to podcasts exclusively is the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards.
While most award shows are on live television, both of the award shows are also only available to be viewed through various live streams. With how popular podcasts are I think making their recognitions more mainstream would be beneficial.
Podcasts have quietly risen into the spotlight of mainstream media and they deserve more recognition for their ability to give so many people platforms.