An Important Award You May Have Missed this Week: “Serial” Earns a Peabody

The big awards talk-abouts early this week at country stations have been centered (and rightly so) on the ACMs: big stars, big production, and a Guinness World Record for a live awards show audience.

But another awards presentation this week should also catch our attention: the Peabody Awards which recognize “stories that matter.” This is attention-worthy because one of the awards was given to the “Serial” podcast from NPR.

As reported Tuesday in Tom Taylor’s NOW , the Peabody judges declared Serial “the first unquestionably mainstream podcast.”

“Serial” was referenced multiple times at last week’s pre-NAB RAIN Summit West and was credited with, among other things, raising awareness of podcasting and bringing new users to the genre.

I found the podcast last fall amidst its considerable media attention and WOM and was hooked before the halfway point of the first episode.

It’s easy to understand the popularity of “Serial:” a suspense story with Romeo and Juliette undertones. There's crisp writing, great story pacing, excellent narration, and characters brought to life: people you trust or don’t –or change your mind back and forth - as you learn about them, often via their own words. It’s put together as well as any mystery in any medium.

For this reason alone, “Serial” is important to radio. It's an excellent example of superior story-telling – an skill many of our talent are working on daily.

It also serves as an important reminder that the entertainment bar is continually being raised around us.

But “Serial” is also important from a numbers standpoint.

About 1 in 5 Americans listen to podcasts according to Pew.  Similarly, Edison Research’s Infinite Dial study found 17% of the 12+ US population listens to podcasts monthly including slightly more than 20% of 18-54s who are regular listeners.

A&O&B’s Online Perceptual “Roadmap 2015” found comparable data among US country P1s, roughly 1 in 6 18-34s and 1 in 7 35-44s listen to podcasts at least “a few times a month.”

Of course these numbers don’t mean that 20% of Americans have heard all or even any episodes of “Serial.” Edison puts that number at 3% with awareness at 10%.

Still, in February 2015, the NY Times estimated Serial's downloads at 68-million. 

The point is, going forward, there will be more shows like “Serial” (listen here) that capture the attention of the growing podcast audience.

The biggest and best ones could become as relevant to talk about on your radio show as what’s hot on TV or YouTube. 

The "Best" Or "Most" Wasn't Enough

Sometimes it's not about the “best” or “most” or any superlative. Sometimes it’s not about anything tangible at all. Sometimes it’s just about how you “feel.”

Like Cliff Lee’s decision to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies instead of going for the (presumably) best location (closest to home) or the most (no presumption here - 7 years’ worth of it) money.

Along this road to Citizen's Bank Park there was plenty of spectacle - although these didn’t stem from the physical either. Instead, it was silence-driven, suspense fueled talk and theories that drove attention to the sport, the teams involved, and Lee.

Listeners love stories, spectacle, and content that makes them feel something. This story had all that plus a surprise ending.

Baseball may not be your listeners’ passion, but the Cliff Lee saga contained the tenets of what makes a great radio story: a journey that unfolded a chapter at a time, engaging listeners, stirring passion, creating mystery, and causing talk.

Oh, and one more thing – it temporarily took the spotlight off the New York Jets.

To Tell A Story, Peel An Onion

I like stories. I like to hear them and I like to tell them. Because I know they're a powerful way to communicate, I've presented storytelling workshops to stations and at conventions to help people become better storytellers. 

Stories make you memorable and make what you say sticky. Stories are personal, interactive and engaging. Storytelling enables the quick, holistic understanding of a message without the listener having to absorb a mountain of facts or stream of data points.

Jeffrey Hedquist of Hedquist Productions, Inc.likes storytelling too - especially when the stories morph into effective radio ads.

Jeffrey who counts Clio, ADDY and EFFIE among the many awards he has won was a guest earlier this month on one of Albright & O'Malley's regular Client Wide Conference Calls. On the call Jeffrey shared his techniques for finding stories (look to your own past) and crafting them into effective ads (emotion is the key to a powerful story).

Jeffrey's story-to-ad process often involves what he calls "peeling the onion" - uncovering the emotional problem the product/business solves, noting "the more you peel the onion, the more powerful your commercial will be."

There's a wonderful scene (one of so many) in Mad Men where Don Draper (Jon Hamm) has been challenged to create an ad for a new piece of slide projector technology - the "wheel." The clients are expecting something quite different than what the get as Don peels the onion and delivers a powerful, emotional story about the real problem the Kodak Carousel solves.

Watch it here and be inspired to become a great storyteller for your clients.