Laura Escanes with Jorge Lorenzo, one of the guests of her “video podcast” “Between the Sky and the Clouds”.PODIMO
YouTube Music, the subsidiary of the powerful video platform, has been integrating podcasts into its US service for free since April. These changes have not yet reached Europe, but they are already heralding a new format trend. The new star of audio entertainment is increasingly being heard with the eyes.
Eduardo Alonso, head of Spotify’s podcast division for Southern and Eastern Europe, told this newspaper in May during the celebrations of the Estación podcast festival in Madrid that the video and podcast formula is ideal for “attracting the older generations “. young, more used to consuming image content, and it particularly suits the conversational format. But it’s the makers who set this trend and we just follow it,” he says. Spotify believes “that the video should always be a companion to the podcast content and not the protagonist.” Those who choose to consume it with audio only should not lose any information,” he emphasizes.
Podium Podcast (part of the Prisa Group, publisher of this newspaper) announces that next season many of the titles in its catalog will also include videos, following on from one of his biggest hits, Stretching the Gum. One of those already doing is “There Are No Blacks in Tibet” and beauty and health specialist Cristina Miter started experimenting with the format last summer.
Precisely because the young audience is the main user of another platform like Podimo, they bet on their offer for the picture, comments Isabel Salazar, her new manager in Spain, over the phone. “For the new generations, video is their first language and it fits the conversational genre very well. In addition, they use it as a new source of information, as can be seen from the internal analyzes we have prepared,” he comments. And it’s not just subscribers who are asking for videos. It is often the creators themselves who want to generate their identity through the decorations and the environment. It’s a way to bond more closely with his followers, he says.
Life and Co., with Ana Milán and Sebastián Gallego, was one of the first to come up with an image that launched the platform to better capture the chemistry of their two presenters. Between the sky and the clouds, that of the Instagram influencer Laura Escanes, with almost two million followers on the social network, also had to be shown on video as it was a natural consequence of her success on the social networks. “Her followers want to hear what she’s saying but also see what she’s wearing.” And Maemía, the Reguinchi podcast recently released with the production of El Terrat, is a humor format with a live audience, close to standing up comedy. “The image gives the user a stronger sense of being part of this live show,” says Salazar.
Federica Tremolada, Director General for Southern and Eastern Europe at Spotify, also highlights how the platform is changing to adapt to this new trend. Platforms are also changing in form, not just in content, redesigning their applications and user experience. Since last year, Spotify has strengthened the Swedish company’s image commitment by switching from the tool called Anchor to Spotify for Podcasters, which aims to make it easier for creators to create their own content. “Video also helps users engage with our platform for longer. It helps to create community,” comments the Italian. The user interface of many applications and websites on these platforms is increasingly designed for the use of video content. At Podimo Spain, “out of the 250 employees we have in Spain, around 70 or 80 are workers dedicated to design,” says the manager.
On the other hand, there is one platform that is currently not focused on video. It’s Sonoran. “For us, the way the content is presented is a decision that is made after selecting the content itself. First, we look for stories that might be relevant to our audience and then determine how best to tell them,” says Jesús González, Marketing Manager, over the phone. Not banking on the conversational genre and instead turning to others like audio documentaries and fiction, the video podcast isn’t currently part of their plans, “although they are aware of its success and its strong connection with the generation,” they continue.
Like the other platforms, Sonora uses the image to promote its content. In other words: Secondarily, the way people discover content, including journalistic content, has evolved in recent years. Instead of accessing the original source, this is done through content aggregators such as Google Discover or through social networks. In this context, image is crucial to promote the content of podcast platforms through excerpts.
“The video is indeed a good promotional element to post news and clips on social networks. It needs a visual support to be able to communicate in them, creating content parallel to the main content, such as offs or excerpts from the interventions with the protagonists of the podcasts. “It’s an opportunity to expand the transmedia strategy,” he concludes.
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