Podcast listening continues to develop, with 42% of Individuals ages 12 and older reporting final 12 months that that they had listened to 1 within the earlier month, in keeping with a report from Edison Analysis. Getting cash is not easy, partly as a result of the market is so saturated that there is not sufficient promoting income to go round, mentioned Ethan Cramer-Flood, chief forecast author at Insider Intelligence, a market analysis agency.
PodCo, based final 12 months, expects to show a revenue by the second quarter of 2024, Romano mentioned. The corporate plans to launch a number of new podcasts this 12 months, together with “Fairly Little Pod,” that includes Shaw and Tammin Sursok, who appeared collectively on the ABC Household collection “Fairly Little Liars.”
Romano mentioned it was by no means his plan to capitalize on nostalgia. As an alternative, she mentioned, she ended up greenlighting exhibits that includes former stars of Disney and Nickelodeon teen exhibits as a result of they have been individuals she knew and will belief.
She hopes podcasts are locations the place these stars can really feel heard, she mentioned.
“We’ve got been a silent, area of interest inhabitants of people that have been conditioned to be complacent and have by no means really understood our autonomy,” Romano mentioned. “I need to present them that they’ll change into empowered with these podcasts.”
The hosts weren’t afraid to get private.
Jennifer Stone, who performed Harper Finkle on “Wizards of Waverly Place,” remembers feeling not noted on set at occasions in an emotional trade on “Waverly Pod” along with her co-host and former co-star David DeLuise. Alyson Stoner, who hosted the Disney Channel collection “Mike’s Tremendous Brief Present” and appeared within the movie “Cheaper by the Dozen,” mentioned being stalked and different pressures of kid stardom on her podcast, “Expensive Hollywood,” which isn’t a PodCo franchise.
As they adapt to the brand new platform, hosts often run into issues. The “Ned’s Declassified” stars appeared in a reside TikTok video on March 18 during which they appeared to mock Drake Bell, a former star of the Nickelodeon collection “Drake & Josh” who shared his account of being sexually assaulted by her dialogue coach on “Quiet on Set: The Darkish Facet of Children TV,” a brand new Investigation Discovery documentary collection.
