UPDATED: As luke burbank has been trying to tell us...

Since we wrote this Saturday, we got some new information on the astonishing number of podcast downloads for Too Beautiful to Live with Luke Burbank (KIRO FM m-f, 7-10p).

We'd reported that in the month of  November, 100,000 shows were downloaded.. but now we hear from KIRO net sources: by March that number had grown to 220,000. That's more than double in less than 4 months, in case your calculator is down. The show is popular especially in the West and the Northeast and the audience is intensely loyal. 

The risk taken is pretty huge: Burbank and Bonneville have intentionally discarded the typical talk radio audience (WMs over 50) and aimed at a demo that's never been interested in radio, period.

This has put Luke and Jen, et al in the direct line of fire of boomer audience accustomed to radio about or targeted at them. Get between a baby boomer and the spoils of his generational narcissism, you 'll hear about it!

So what can be done to make this into money? TBTL has, after all, triple the earballs enjoyed by such market leaders as Dori Monson (KIRO m-f, 12-3p), Dave Ross m-f, 9a-12) or even Rush. There have long been rumors of a single advertiser -- someone like a Coca Cola or a Google -- buying the whole podcast's worth of ads, but so far, that's not transpired.

There's no way that these numbers of listeners in this sought-after demo will not be monetized.

Here's what started this: Radio Info's Tom Taylor:

Online radio listening is expanding fast- and taking 12-24s away from broadcast radio.

That’s the most worrisome bullet point in the Arbitron-Edison Media Research “Infinite Dial” update –- “32% of teens and persons 18-24 say they are spending less time with over-the-air radio specifically due to time spent with iPods and other portable MP3 players.”

The trend has been there before. But check how quickly the gap is opening up – Edison’s Tom Webster says that 32% figure is about twice what it was in 2008. In the broader population, 14% of those 12+ say they’re spending less time with over-the-air radio due to iPod/MP3 usage. (Again, versus 32% of 12-24s.) Some of the characteristics of online radio listeners won’t surprise you –- they tend to be “upscale, well-educated and employed full time.” They’re increasing their intake of online video - that percentage is up 50% from last year (18% to 27%). In the general population, “iPod/MP3 player ownership continues to grow dramatically.”

While the broad stroke figure of online radio listening has jumped from 13% last year to 17% just one year later. That translates to 42 million Americans. The latest Infinite Dial update is on the Arbitron site here and the Edison site here.

BlatherWatch is always being accused of being in the tank for TBTL, and we are, despite we're not regular listeners... we're too damn old and disinterested in pop-culture to rack up much TSL on TBTL, but we get it..The implications of TBTL's success on platforms aother than terrestrial radio is really important and far-reaching in the future of of the explaining industry.

Comments

[joanie]

...“upscale, well-educated and employed full time.”

Oh, don't forget stunningly attractive and immensely desirable.

Thanks, Michael. :)

[sparky]

Not sure I would be thrilled to be a show that was attractive to 12 year olds, but whatever floats yer boat.

[Leeroyski]

TBTL still sucks.....

[just thinking]

and this pays the bills at KIRO, how?

I listen to Dori's podcast and there are NO advertisements on his podcasts, so I doubt there are any on the TBTL's podcast, so thus how does this generate income??

[Billy Bob]

In the Money Demo (25-54) on KIRO, TBTL is still dead-last.

Not sure how that makes TBTL a "younger skewing" show?!?

[Upton]

Podcasts are one thing but the content of TBTL appears to be geared to an audience of females and feminized men.

I've tried listening in the past, even still tune in from time to time for a short period, and the subject matter of TBTL is just not something that normal males of any age normally discuss among themselves.

[joanie]

I think I can see it...some people listen just to have something to listen to and they're not into politics or health or whatever other topics might be out there. They just want to hear a voice.

I can see kids being into that non-thinking palaver. Like the small talk you get with friends but you're alone. Why not?

I always thought that's what Jim French did for so many years on KIRO - which is why I listened to KING's frosty when I was young. I liked his palaver better.

[I Like Dennis ... (Kucinich)]

***reality cheque***

We'd reported that in the month of November, 100,000 shows were downloaded.. but now we hear from KIRO net sources: by March that number had grown to 220,000.

I hate to halt the march of fuzzy math, but I believe it was pointed out back in November that TBTL has more than 1 episode per month. There are 22 episodes of TBTL each month, that translates to 10,000 online listeners (not 220,000) in addition to whatever their terrestrial listenership is - they don't have more "earballs" than Dori, Dave or Ron & Don; not even close.

It's great they doubled their online listenership but let's face reality: they moved from Shit City to Crapville.

There have long been rumors of a single advertiser -- someone like a Coca Cola or a Google -- buying the whole podcast's worth of ads, but so far, that's not transpired.

Rumors spread by whom? Luke Burbank? You? Coca-Cola's ad agency is dealing with much larger scale projects and doesn't have time to even review a ratecard for a little 10,000 listener podcast. Advertising for strong, national brands is a numbers game that deals with millions or tens of millions of impressions, not 10,000.

But, suppose they did. The industry-standard CPM for podcasts is $25. That means "TBTL" could generate $5,500 per month ($66K/per year) in ad revenue from the podcast. Wowee.

[I Like Dennis ... (Kucinich)]

( clarification - when I say the CPM is $25 I'm referring to a full title sponsorship of a single podcast, since they don't traditionally market them with :30s and :60s etc. -- less x the number of spots if you calculated it that way )

[WILD BILL]

dinosaur alert:
"Advertising for strong, national brands is a numbers game that deals with millions or tens of millions of impressions, not 10,000."
Old Paradigm: new is a return to the even older, all politics is local.

[I Like Dennis ... (Kucinich)]

In any case, I think we're all more interested in perennial soap opera/train wreck Mike Siegel being back on-air in Seattle after returning from his exile on the peninsula.

[I Like Dennis ... (Kucinich)]

Wild Bill - in a reality-based scenario matrix it's not a question of local versus national impact.

Yes, we see a growing decentralization of brand identity where indie and no-brand coalescence have trumped traditional trans-cultural labels. Names like Designed By Humans and Ducti have hip drawing power, but have are eschewing formal advertising which would - by nature - compromise their black label identity.

Ergo, these are not advertiser options open to TBTL; only traditional large-volume buyers which - due to TBTLs fairly inconsequential numbers - are also not optiosn open to TBTL. Is it an unfair Catch-22? Yes. Is it reality? Again, yes.

We can pretend every hip brand in the world is lining up to advertise on TBTL. Then we can tune-in to TBTL and hear who actually is advertising: Milgard Windows, Clearly LASIK, etc. Same old, same old.

[I Like Dennis ... (Kucinich)]

Obviously the subject is starting to get overly nuanced. So, let's simplify it:

TBTL has 10,000 online listeners. Not 220,000. TBTL has fewer total (terrestrial + online) listeners than any other weekday KIRO program. KIRO is paying more to air TBTL than it paid to air Frank Shiers. Unless there's a sudden and serious improvement in numbers, the lifespan of TBTL will be directly tied to the length of Luke Burbank's no-cut contract, whatever that may be.

[dave (not dave ross)]

the line from 'shit city to crapville' made my day, (im easily entertained), thank you dennis (not kucinich). where has mike siegel surfaced?

[I Like Dennis ... (Kucinich)]

You're welcome - I heard KKOL mornings?

Sorry to beat a dead horse but a friend just mentioned this to me and it's pertinent to the conversation.

The current record for most profitable podcast was set by the relatively hilarious Ask-A-Ninja in 2008 and is $330,000 in annual ad/sponsorship revenue (among those whose numbers are known). That podcast gets 240,000 downloads per episode. TBTL, apparently, gets 10,000 downloads per episode.

Maybe one day, with a lot of hard work, patience and marketing ingenuity, TBTL will get up there, but as of now it's just not a factor - revenue or otherwise - in the world of podcasting. Quite honestly, there are kids podcasting in their basements who have larger followings. Again, not a diss, the show might one day grow its audience to a meaningful level, but that it once was an "iTunes feature" is fairly meaningless for those who understand the semi-esoteric formula iTunes uses to calculate those things.

[mommamia]

Oh, don't forget stunningly attractive and immensely desirable...

in addition to being the most angriest woman on here and the most arrogant...*kiss*

[joanie]

If you say so, mommamia. Hope that kiss felt good.

Mommamia? What does that mean anyway?

[momiamom]

It's interesting that you would assume that you were the subject of that post.

[joanie]

that's alright momma

[R.R.]

Yes, interesting that you quote Joanie directly and then feign surprise when she replies.

Joanie, perhaps he means "Mama Mia."
So I guess he likes show tunes.
My! My!
Me, I like rabbits.

[R.R.]

This is a direct quote from The Boner yesterday on This Week With George Steph. :

"George, the idea that carbon dioxide is a carcinogen, that it's harmful to our environment is almost comical. Every time we exhale, we exhale carbon dioxide. Every cow in the world, uh, well, you know when they do what they do, you've got more carbon dioxide."

So according to him, cow farts prove that we are in no danger of increased carbon dioxide because of climate change.

[momiamom]

'...interesting that you quote Joanie directly..."

Not true.

[R.R.]

True

...“upscale, well-educated and employed full time.”

Oh, don't forget stunningly attractive and immensely desirable.

Thanks, Michael. :)

Posted by: joanie | April 18, 2009 at 07:08 PM

and then you posted

Oh, don't forget stunningly attractive and immensely desirable...

in addition to being the most angriest woman on here and the most arrogant...*kiss*

Posted by: mommamia | April 20, 2009 at 05:33 AM

What constitutes a direct quote for you? Are you just stupid or a practiced liar?

[momiamom]

Again, false you are lying.

[Mack]

Easy RR, they're tender emotions are easily offended here. The visiting cons don't like being corrected.

[momiamom]

Now big Mack, was a contraction really needed in that first sentence. (Check with your pal)

[Mack]

No, there wasn't. And I didn't need to check with anybody. Actually, I didn't really care after I saw it. Not at all.

[momiamom]

I'll assume you meant "No, it wasn't".
You are welcome, hope I didn't offend your tender emotions.

[Mack]

Naw. I just have bigger and better things to do. Priorities. Like making sure the cons don't get a toehold while we try and restore democracy back to the U.S. I guess it's all about picking your battles. You correct grammar and spelling, and there is nothing wrong with that (hey, I went to a "charter" school; what can I say?). The country elected a President with the goal of restoring our global image, our domestic economy, etc., and I am one of millions that support those goals. We all have our priorities.

[momiamom]

Very ambitious of you big mack, I'm sure you'll get a lot done spending your time on this blog.
Love your apparent definition of "bigger and better things to do." But, hey whatever floats your boat. Peace out.

[Good Grief]

I wish the baby boomers would just go ahead and get on with starting to die off.

[Mack]

It must be totally depressing to some that the baby-boomers are living longer than past generations.

[Coiler]

momiamom why not stick with you KVI shtick? nee Duff-ass

[Mack]

MommaMia is actually kvi- blower??? And kvi-blower was once Duffman, before the operation??

[momiamom]

You guys are hilarious, running about like chickens with your heads cut-off. Do you realize how paranoid you sound obsessed with some fictious character with a blogging name. Exposure is not your forte, you are delusional.

[sparky]

I dunno, Duffman wasn't such a crappy speller. Unless "fictious" is another insult. :)

[sparky]

Of course, there is that link to KVI on his 11:33 am post...heh..

[Mack]

HAHAHA!!!

[momiamom]

Your right that post was not me and was probably your KVI/Duffman clone. You guys are just way too much. I've never seen posters so possessed with monikers.

[Mack]

again, HAHAHA!!!

[joanie]

Duh'f, why do you try so many different aliases? You always get caught.

Anyone hear Richard Perl trying to dance around torture on Hartmann? He sounded like duh'fman . . . and ass-backwards and sputsie.

[Coiler]

Yes, I'm surprised that Perle is showing up much these days. Even Rummy is missing.

[sparky]

Where is Rummy? In an undisclosed location?????

I heard that interview Joanie. Thom was disgusted with him.

[Mack]

Didn't Rumsfeld open a chain of trailer parks in newly renovated Iraq?

[joanie]

Probably trying to sell all those defective trailers left over from Katrina.

Yes, Thom was disgusted that he couldn't get a straight answer out of the man.

[nevets]

"Anyone hear Richard Perl trying to dance around torture on Hartmann?"

and...

"Yes, Thom was disgusted that he couldn't get a straight answer out of the man."

And you have a problem with this Joanie. LOL. Duck, Dodge and Dance. These three D's have long been your M.O. here on the BW when asked any tough question.

[nevets]

Ortega denounced the U.S.-backed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro's new Communist government in Cuba in 1961, a history of US racism and what he called suffocating U.S. economic policies in the region.

In his 17-minute address to the summit, Obama departed from his prepared remarks to mildly rebuke Ortega.

"To move forward, we cannot let ourselves be prisoners of past disagreements. I'm grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old..."

Why is is all about him.

[nevets]

Wait, is Ortega talking about the Bay of Pigs Invasion ? If so how could President Obama be "three months old". Clearly this President does not surround himself with smart people. But then again, without TOTUS President Obama has that err, uhh, uhg, err, look of a loss puppy.

[mrogi]

Has TBTL ever had a heterosexual man in their listening audience?

[I Like Dennis ... (Kucinich)]

The R&D show, apparently, had Luke Burbank sub the other day for them and he updated their blog with some gay photo asking people to coo over his new haircut and comfort him because he didn't think it was very good. In response, the post got half-a-dozen comments all calling him gay, wondering who he was and asking when R&D were going to be back.

Today that blog post has been mysteriously deleted from mynorthwest.com, possibly a first.