Thanks, Tom (although spellcheck killed my last name 🤣). I wish I were as optimistic as you are. The podcast environment is very tough and even after 14 years of doing the show and having such a great community that does everything you said it does, it still shocks me at the relatively few listeners I have versus the readers of blogs and the "influencers". As an example, there is a large wine media company that started around the same time I did and does something similar, and although it has sold to a larger conglomerate and is now infused with marketing dollars and power, even before that acquisition, their written content was 10 times more popular than my show. While they have been catapulted to James Beard award winning status, I have never been considered for any formal awards in the wine industry for my work (I've actually won podcast awards from non-wine entities!). It could be because I am consumer oriented or because I'm outsider in the wine industry, but I think some of it has to do with the fact that podcasts that may actually reach consumers are still not respected.
My community is still small but mighty, as it has always been. I love what I do and who I get to do it for. That said, I don't think wine podcasting is going to see the kind of growth you are predicting, although that would be nice! I'm fortunate that *for podcasts* my listenership is a large number and that mine is a community that actually engages with my sponsor and with me. But when you look at the number of wine lovers in the world, I'm not even touching a tiny fraction of a percent of wine drinkers.
And lest people jump to the conclusion that it's because the show sucks or it's over people's heads, the reviews and the critical praise I've gotten don't bear that out. I think it's because the spoken word combined with wine appeal to relatively few people. Once a listener jumps on board, they are with me for years, but getting them there is a choice they need to make on their own, and while my flow of new listeners is steady, people in general aren't really making the choice to listen, en masse. Just my 2 cents...
Who is this? I don't know any Elizabeth "Schneider".
Listen, no wine media company or person reaches anything like a large majority of drinkers. Nobody. However, wine podcasts will continue to grow their listenership. The trajectory of people moving from AM/FM to digital audio is so clear and obvious. This trend will bring more folks into the wine podcasting arena just as it did with wine blogs. I don't expect any single podcast to become the "Wine Spectator of Podcasts". I expect a bunch of folks like you, and the Marys and a few others to be at the top because they 1) deliver on a promise, 2) Get the good guests, 3) Build communities and 4) deliver high production value.
What I like about the podcast environment is how it skews demographically young.
Tom, we, the Marys, are humbled and grateful for your thoughtful comments about our Sip Sip Hooray Podcast and for your insights on the state of wine podcasting. We’re so glad you get what we are trying to do and are sharing this with others. We do our research yet remain open to where the conversation takes us, as we did with you - and the result was a fantastic discussion. Thanks again for coming on the pod and for all the great work you do.
Well I do hope so Tom! We've launched Ana & Al's Big Portuguese Wine Adventure this year...on wines of the Alentejo region of Portugal...but trying to be more about the stories of history and people and places. If you get the chance have a listen and let me know what you think (we've six up there and six more to come in the next few months). We've been so busy building a venue for wine tasting in Alentejo that I haven't had the time to produce more, but they're mostly in tape ready for me to edit into shape!
Thanks, Tom (although spellcheck killed my last name 🤣). I wish I were as optimistic as you are. The podcast environment is very tough and even after 14 years of doing the show and having such a great community that does everything you said it does, it still shocks me at the relatively few listeners I have versus the readers of blogs and the "influencers". As an example, there is a large wine media company that started around the same time I did and does something similar, and although it has sold to a larger conglomerate and is now infused with marketing dollars and power, even before that acquisition, their written content was 10 times more popular than my show. While they have been catapulted to James Beard award winning status, I have never been considered for any formal awards in the wine industry for my work (I've actually won podcast awards from non-wine entities!). It could be because I am consumer oriented or because I'm outsider in the wine industry, but I think some of it has to do with the fact that podcasts that may actually reach consumers are still not respected.
My community is still small but mighty, as it has always been. I love what I do and who I get to do it for. That said, I don't think wine podcasting is going to see the kind of growth you are predicting, although that would be nice! I'm fortunate that *for podcasts* my listenership is a large number and that mine is a community that actually engages with my sponsor and with me. But when you look at the number of wine lovers in the world, I'm not even touching a tiny fraction of a percent of wine drinkers.
And lest people jump to the conclusion that it's because the show sucks or it's over people's heads, the reviews and the critical praise I've gotten don't bear that out. I think it's because the spoken word combined with wine appeal to relatively few people. Once a listener jumps on board, they are with me for years, but getting them there is a choice they need to make on their own, and while my flow of new listeners is steady, people in general aren't really making the choice to listen, en masse. Just my 2 cents...
Who is this? I don't know any Elizabeth "Schneider".
Listen, no wine media company or person reaches anything like a large majority of drinkers. Nobody. However, wine podcasts will continue to grow their listenership. The trajectory of people moving from AM/FM to digital audio is so clear and obvious. This trend will bring more folks into the wine podcasting arena just as it did with wine blogs. I don't expect any single podcast to become the "Wine Spectator of Podcasts". I expect a bunch of folks like you, and the Marys and a few others to be at the top because they 1) deliver on a promise, 2) Get the good guests, 3) Build communities and 4) deliver high production value.
What I like about the podcast environment is how it skews demographically young.
Tom, we, the Marys, are humbled and grateful for your thoughtful comments about our Sip Sip Hooray Podcast and for your insights on the state of wine podcasting. We’re so glad you get what we are trying to do and are sharing this with others. We do our research yet remain open to where the conversation takes us, as we did with you - and the result was a fantastic discussion. Thanks again for coming on the pod and for all the great work you do.
Well I do hope so Tom! We've launched Ana & Al's Big Portuguese Wine Adventure this year...on wines of the Alentejo region of Portugal...but trying to be more about the stories of history and people and places. If you get the chance have a listen and let me know what you think (we've six up there and six more to come in the next few months). We've been so busy building a venue for wine tasting in Alentejo that I haven't had the time to produce more, but they're mostly in tape ready for me to edit into shape!
Enjoy your updates - many thanks!
Al
(The podcast is in all the usual places but also here: https://wineportugal.substack.com)
Thanks for sharing the Biz of Drinks, Tom! Excited to give your other recommendations a listen.
"Drinking During Business Hours" with Sarah Halstead is pretty entertaining.