Celeb Podcasts Target Traditional Radio Revenue

Norm Pattiz is using the formula he honed at Westwood One—bundling traditional radio shows to create a bigger target for advertisers—and updating it for the Webm  according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

Kathie Lee Gifford saw enough potential to start Kathie Lee and Company three months earlier than planned, kicking off her first interview in October with Regis Philbin.

While U.S. advertising on Internet radio outlets such as Pandora will reach $331 million this year, podcasts have been stuck at about $34 million since 2010, says researcher ZenithOptimedia.

Pattiz, 70, says he’s out to steal advertising from traditional radio, where national networks draw $1.15 billion in ads a year. His lure: one-hour shows from celebs including love guru Dr. Drew Pinsky, sports radio host Dan Patrick, and comedians Russell Brand, Dennis Miller, and Adam Carolla.

The audience for U.S. podcasts has surged 58 percent since 2010, says EMarketer. With 200 shows, PodcastOne averages 100 million downloads a month. Wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s podcast gets 1 million of those. Within a week, Gifford’s first show attracted 100,000 listeners on iTunes.

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