Jon Buda and Justin Jackson make predictions for the tech industry, the podcasting space, and the startup ecosystem.

Predictions for 2019

• There will be a global economic downturn. Companies will be looking for more affordable marketing spend. Brands that don't have a strong relationship with their audience will lose.
  • This could be increase the number of companies who invest in podcasting. Audio is still a "good deal" compared to other communication channels.
  • Related: will we see the big “5” (Squarespace, etc) advertising less?
• 2019 will be the year of non-gaming livestreaming. More programmers, business people, podcasters will be livestreaming. Plus: more audio-livestreaming.
• Related: Podcasting without editing will become more popular. No intro music. Just recorded live with an outline, and published immediately.
• Podcasting will grow to 800,000 shows. (Currently ~619,000 in Apple Podcasts)
• In 2018 Spotify went from 10-25% marketshare of the podcast player market. I think it will grow again to 35%. (Justin admits he was wrong about this tweet).
• Continued focus on "mindful technology." Very possible that iPhone will have a "dumb phone" mode: only texting, phone calls, and GPS. All other apps will disappear from your homescreen when enabled. 
• Smart speakers will not have a big effect on podcast consumption. I think they will become more popular, but I don’t see people using them to listen to podcasts. (These folks think it will be big, I disagree. Currently 1% of listenership) 
• Apple is going to make a big media move to challenge Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. It will finally break iTunes apart on desktop. Maybe we'll see a standalone desktop Apple Podcasts app?
• More branded podcasts and production companies. (example)
• Dynamic content (outside of advertising) will be bigger.
• More traditional media brands will buy podcast related IP. Podcasts turning into → TV shows. For example: Homecoming on Amazon Video.

★ Thanks to our sponsors:

• Alitu.com: Alitu removes all the tech headaches associated with producing your podcast. They take care of processing, editing & publishing your podcast. Go to Alitu.com and check out their video demo.
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• Want to podcast in 2019? Transistor is cooking up something special for the new year.

Show notes:

• CleanIn2019.com
• Atomic Habits - Identity
• Ben Orenstein interview on Product People
• Fast Company: Dumb phone
• SSL for all Transistor users!
• We used Caddy Server for our SSL implementation

What do you think?

• Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: [email protected]
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Thanks to our Patreon supporters:

• Alitu.com
• Darby Frey
• Samori Augusto
• Dave Young (new)
• Brad from Canada
• Kevin Markham
• Sammy Schuckert
• Brand Shouter
• Mike Walker
• Adam DuVander
• Dave Giunta (JOOnta)
• Podcastinsights.com

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