In many Asian podcast markets, listenership is Influencer based #RadiodaysAsia

In a session, Podcasting in Asia, Norman Chella, Chief of Business Development, Renegade Radio & Podlovers Asia, Malaysia, explored what is different about podcasting in Asia, where is it growing and popular and where is it yet to take off, and what is the future of podcasting in Asia.

According to him, what’s different is that Asian podcasting space is not monolithic whether by region, country or from a cultural perspective.

Unlike stable podcast markets like the US, UK and Australia, where numbers describing them are pretty much uniform, we can’t summarise Asia into one space.  Asia is more like a podcasting ecosystem consisting of different countries with specific attributes that influence podcasting in those countries.

These can range from level of free speech to level of interactivity between broadcasting entities and podcasters, networks and others in this space. Podcast infrastructure also differs across many Asian countries: from a long-standing podcast market in South Korea to the Philippines with a very strong English language podcast market. What works in some contexts does not always work in others.

Another difference is that in many south east Asian markets, listenership is influencer based, or dependent on star power. As Asia’s podcast listener market is personality based, loyal fans can be found beyond the listener element of the podcast audience. Because of these differences, the average listener metrics for Asian podcast market are lower than in other stable podcast markets. We are seeing examples of successful podcasts here where they have only 200 listeners per episode.

It is growing and popular in the Philippines, South Korea (which has the highest listenership rate in the world) and India. Yet to take off are countries like Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam.

“I foresee a number of independent podcast networks to rise and become one formidable entity. The next is the rise of the omni podcast content creator. As long as we have an infrastructure to support a creator’s economy, a number of Asian podcasters will be able to create a lot of powerful, successful business models that can sustain their shows. And lastly, multiple factors will result in a greater podcast infrastructure within Asian markets. For example, with Podmetrics, an omni channel analytics podcast company getting seed funding, it is a great showcase of Asian podcast ecosystem,” Norman said. Asia Radio Today