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Sara Jerde at Ad Age takes on that question, and it’s clear the answer is a big, fat, giant yes.
Jerde points out that there’s a long list of TV shows that started out as podcasts, including Homecoming (on Amazon Prime), Dirty John (Bravo), Limetown (Facebook) and Alex, Inc. (which was on ABC, and based on Gimlet Media’s StartUp). And The New York Times’ The Daily is supposedly being made into a series on FX.
If it’s good content, it’s good content, and podcasts have become a breeding ground for great content. Rutgers University director of undergraduate studies in journalism Steve Miller says in the Ad Age story that, “In order for a corporation to make its money, it better get a hit. If you already have a podcast that has a dedicated audience, why not turn it into a show?”
NBCUniversal president for scripted content Bill McGoldrick told Jerde, “Podcasts are a new and exciting place to search for material. Listening to a great podcast is a similar experience to reading a great novel. It activates the imagination in similar ways. But there are also things a TV adaptation can do to expand on a podcast or novel that hopefully enhances the experience for a broader audience.”
Wavemaker managing partner Noah Mallin is quoted saying, “What we’re seeing is this interesting stratification of content that people are willing to pay for and, in many cases, takes them out of an ad-supported environment.”
You never know podcasters, you could be the next big TV star. But you have to be out there perfecting your podcasting skills. So, as Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting always says, “just launch.”
Read the entire Ad Age piece by writer Sara Jerde HERE