NBC News Making Podcasting Push

NBC News is making an ambitious push into the podcast market, with audio series on conspiracy theories, the British royalty and legacy of Title IX in scholastic athletics planned in the next few months, reports The Associated Press.

NBC News was tied for 11th in Edison Research’s list of top podcast networks by reach, the only company that is known primarily as a television news broadcaster in the company’s top 18. NBC News said the audience for its podcasts in 2021 grew by 19% over the year before.

“One of our biggest priorities continues to be generating original, distinctive reporting and pushing out across a variety of platforms,” said NBC News President Noah Oppenheim. “Podcasts are a new format for us to play in, but it’s rooted in the same fundamentals that drive all of our work.”

NBC’s podcast unit began with two people in 2018 and now has more than a dozen people devoted to the form. It was a key moment when one of the network’s most popular personalities, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, delivered the podcast “Bag Man” about former Vice President Spiro Agnew, which is now being made into a movie.

NBC News’ success in podcasting is driven primarily by “Dateline NBC,” which it has cleverly positioned into a brand of its own with true crime projects, said James Cridland, editor of the trade publication Podnews. In Edison Research’s list of the top 50 podcasts of last year, “Dateline NBC” and “The Rachel Maddow Show” are NBC’s two entries.

“Much of NBC’s podcast output is reheated TV shows,” Cridland said. But with research showing young audiences attracted to audio formats, it’s a strategic move to aggressively get into the podcast business, he said.