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Television The Drug of the Nation

Television The Drug of the Nation

Audio podcasts need a hero...

Ian Truscott
June 02, 2025

Welcome to The Beat by Rockstar CMO. I’m Ian Truscott, a CMO, trusted advisor, strategy consultant, and Chief Bottle Washer at Rockstar CMO. In this newsletter, I’d like to share a mix of what’s caught my eye, topics from our podcast, and our street knowledge blog.

Hello!

This week, a combination of things that have come across my scrolling stream have brought me back to a topic I briefly ranted about in 'Video Killed the Radio Star’ a few months ago: the pressure to flip the channel to video for podcasters.

The track for the subject line is a little obscure, after all, I already used Video Killed the Radio Star the classically obvious track the last time I was on this topic, so, it’s Television the Drug of the Nation, by the Hip Hop artists that went by the wonderful name of “The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy”.

In a darker moment, dare I suggest that sounds like working in marketing - the disposable heroes of hypocrisy?

As you may know, if you’ve sampled it, Rockstar CMO FM is an audio-only podcast. However, the opinion and data are overwhelming that to grow your podcast, you need to be on YouTube and then cast clips of your videos across all social media platforms.

You can’t throw a social media stone without being hit with this advice.

The reason, of course, is that there is no big tech champion for audio, video is the cool kid for hooking the cool kids, and algorithm-driven video discovery platforms are hoovering up the attention of our intended audience.

A couple of weeks ago, in a chat with Robert Rose in our virtual bar, he shared that he wishes that his long-running podcast with Joe Pulizzi, “This Old Marketing,” had made the move to video sooner (they added video a year ago).

Harry Morton, a podcasting expert I’ve interviewed for the pod in the past, recently shared an interesting post on LinkedIn, talking about YouTube’s place in the podcasting market and that they’ve started publishing charts. Of course, YouTube is a video-first platform, so he concluded that “Visual presence matters (even more) - even for audio-first shows.”

And today I was catching up with the Professor Galloway podcast, he’d done a mini-series of Q&A shows specifically for marketers. When asked about podcast audience growth, he shared the importance of video for his podcasting empire and those of folks like Steven Bartlett, whose “podcasts” have TV standards of studio set-up and production. Video first, it just so happens you can listen to them.

This seems to fly in the face of anecdotal feedback I get on my podcast, that listeners seem to be doing stuff when they are listening. I listen to a lot of podcasts, most of which are now available on video, but I never watch; I always listen on a walk, gardening, driving, or doing something else.

You can also edit to a much higher quality, create a soundscape, and isn’t the success of podcasts inherent in the intimacy of audio, especially if you are almost literally plugged into someone via their headphones?

But, is there a hero for audio coming, also posted by Harry Morton, it seems Apple showed up at a podcasting event, with promises of “better discovery through search", so you never know, maybe audio has a champion after all?

And well, they did kinda invent it, according to Wikipedia":

"Podcast" is a portmanteau of "iPod" and "broadcast". The earliest use of "podcasting" was traced to The Guardian columnist and BBC journalist Ben Hammersley, who coined it in early February 2004 while writing an article.

This week, I didn't have any huge points or insights. It’s just that within a week, I heard three bits of advice from respectable folks in the podcasting game: if you're considering a podcast and want it to be discovered, consider television, the drug of the nation.

Cheers!

Ian

Ian Truscott | Chief Bottle Washer Rockstar CMO

Please say hello by replying to this email or stop by our website.

This week’s street knowledge

What caught my eye on the topic and a bit more from me…

YouTube’s new podcast charts and editorial homepage: a game changer for podcasters?

Thoughts from Harry Morton, previous guest on our podcast and founder of Lower Street podcast production.

www.linkedin.com/posts/harrymorton_youtube-just-launched-podcast-charts-and-activity-7329130306911858690-BRh7

Prof G on Marketing: Should Your Brand Take a Stand?

Aside from the question in the title about brands taking a stand, something we’ve also touched on in our pod; Prof G also digs into audio vs video for podcasts.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-prof-g-pod-with-scott-galloway/id1498802610?i=1000709239356

The Rose & Rockstar: Short Measures and Podcast Lessons

Sneaking in an extra podcast link, as this is the one where me and Robert discussed audio vs video podcasting.

www.rockstarcmo.fm/the-rose-rockstar-short-measures-and-podcast-lessons

Apple enters podcasting with new features and support for open RSS

Another post from Harry, talking about Apples attendance at a podcasting event - but is it too, too late?

www.linkedin.com/posts/harrymorton_apple-just-showed-up-at-a-podcast-event-for-activity-7333881391576719360-6dIh

Five Reasons to Consider Podcast Advertising

If you are thinking of podcasts as part of your marketing mix, but don’t fancy having to dive into this video/audio debate, why not sponsor or do ads? I dug into some of the data for the Marketing Podcast Network.

marketingpodcasts.net/2025/05/five-reasons-to-use-podcast-advertising