Slate
Joel Anderson, host of "Slow Burn" season three
- Slate was one of the first publishers to embrace podcasting, and it now accounts for half of Slate's revenue, up from 20% just a couple years ago.
- Season three of its popular "Slow Burn" podcast broke download records and sold through ads before the first episode even launched, CRO Charlie Kammerer told Business Insider.
- But as more podcasts become available, even established networks like Slate's have to find new ways to make their shows stand out and generate revenue.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Slate started as a digital magazine, but podcasting now accounts for about half of its revenue, up from 20% just a couple of years ago.
One of its most successful podcasts is "Slow Burn," a scripted, narrative show that explores the lesser-known nuances of historical stories and scandals. The first two seasons focused on political scandals (Watergate and Bill Clinton's impeachment), while season three is exploring the murders of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.
Season three launched Oct. 30 and had the most single-day downloads in Slate podcast history, with 300,000 downloads in its first 24 hours, according to Slate.
Season three also sold through ads before it launched, and the show as a whole is worth seven figures, said Slate president and CRO Charlie Kammerer.
With 14 years of history in podcasting, Slate has built a strong infrastructure to promote them.
Slate uses its site and podcast network to promote new shows
Podcasts get exposure on a dedicated landing page and on the homepage of the site.
Slate also relies on its podcast network to promote new shows and seasons, especially in the case of "Slow Burn" season three, since it was a departure from the first two seasons, said Gabriel Roth, Slate's editorial director for audio.
Season three host Joel Anderson appeared on other Slate podcasts like "The Gist," an afternoon news and culture show, whose audience Slate thought would be interested in the content.
Slate also has its writers and audio team collaborate. The audio team trains reporters to write for the ear and conduct interviews in a more conversational tone, for example.
Brand advertising now drives Slate's podcast business
Overall, Slate used to make 70% of its audio revenue from direct-response advertising, but now most of the revenue comes from brand advertising, Kammerer said.
Slate has almost 30 podcasts in its network and has Megaphone, a podcast tech company that connects advertisers and publishers. Slate's podcast downloads grew 78% from 2017 t0 2018, and another 39% from 2018 to 2019, according to Slate. Slate podcasts are expected to rack up more than 250 million downloads this year.
Podcasts are the top driver of Slate's subscription product, Slate Plus, whose customers get ad-free podcasts and articles, podcast bonus segments, an exclusive newsletter, and access to Slate events.
"We attribute 65% of that revenue stream to podcasts," Kammerer said.
Having an established infrastructure helps Slate's podcasts, but they're not immune to the perils of market saturation.
"It's harder with much more content out there," Kammerer said. "It's good in some ways because it's legitimizing the space, but there's also a lot more choices and a lot more competition."