According to studies by Voxnest and Podtrac, podcast consumption does not seem to be decreasing. Hooray!

But don’t get too comfy. Combined with yesterday’s news, it means that listeners are shifting away from many shows, even though they continue to consume podcasted content at the same or an accelerated rate.

Which makes many podcasters wonder what the heck they are going to do on their programs. You too, perhaps.

It's time to renegotiate the social contract between you and your listening audience. Thanks, Coronavirus. This isn't something that will go away next week or the week after next. 

If you agree with my bleak-yet-rational position, then you need to make some changes to your podcasts. Specifically, you really have to choose between one of three options. 

1. Ignore it. I don’t recommend taking this approach. It makes you seem rather out of touch or that you just don’t care. While there are certain instances where not addressing the pandemic might make sense, it should not be your default choice.

2. Acknowledge and embrace it. Assuming doing so doesn’t completely wreck your show and your audience’s expectations, I highly recommend you acknowledge and embrace the world we live in. I promise you that a good number of your listeners want to know how you and your crew are being affected. 

3. Do not quit. Seriously. Don't quit. Your audience listened to you before this pandemic happened. Your audience still wants to hear from you during this pandemic. And they're going to want to hear from you after we all come out the other side. 

Yes, that’s heavy stuff. And to be honest I'm pretty sure I'll be dealing with heavy stuff for some time to come on this program. Because this where we live, and the charge of this show is to help us all understand the future of podcasting in order to make it better. That means raising the right questions that impact your shows rather than blindly focusing on other aspects of our business. 

I'll be back tomorrow for yet another Podcast Pontifications. 

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Podcast Pontifications is published by Evo Terra four times a week and is aimed at the working podcaster. The purpose of this show is to make podcasting better, not just easier.

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Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.