Premium Podcasts. Would you pay to listen to a podcast

[andrewzarian]

Hey guys,

Over the last few weeks I have been looking in the premium podcast model since many people have been asking me about it. I have noticed a lot of podcasters are starting to offer premium content for their listeners ... of course at a cost. Some people offer exclusive shows to their paying audience others offer HD video or bonus material.

What do you guys think of this? Is this a model that works?

[podcastcoach]

From my research you're lucky if you get 2 - 5% of your audience to sign up. It's passive income if you want to sell your back catalog (that already exists).

A really good percentage of people that will follow you into a premium model is 10%. That is a REALLY good number.

There is no “one size fits all.” Rob Walch from Wizzard Media / Libsyn said that if you give bonus content you will have more subscribers, and also the more niche you are seems to help. An average is around 1 to 3% (which is what the people I spoke with years ago about this subject were getting).

Hey guys,

Over the last few weeks I have been looking in the premium podcast model since many people have been asking me about it. I have noticed a lot of podcasters are starting to offer premium content for their listeners ... of course at a cost. Some people offer exclusive shows to their paying audience others offer HD video or bonus material.

What do you guys think of this? Is this a model that works?

[Sean Callahan]

I believe that all shows should be free, and downloadable being a GNU-head and all. I would pay for premium content if it really interested me, but I highly doubt that.

[RadarGaming]

I think this is a great idea Andrew. I think you still have to offer free content for people to consume along with the paided content. I believe that if you execute this properly than it can be a killer service.

[andrewzarian]

What do you think Listeners / Viewers are more inclined to pay for ?

VIP Exclusive content

Back Catalog

Bonus Material

[jamesdelfresco]

I am willing to pay for content if I am committed to the community. There are many shows that I enjoy but would not pay for content because I don't feel a connection to the show/ host. The most successful shows that follow a premium model are the ones that have a very active and committed community

[cseeman]

I wouldn't and more importantly I don't think this is a viable business model at this stage in the industry's growth.

While people might subscribe to services (Netflix, HuluPlus, etc) and they may be for series content such as "TV show" style content, I can't see many paying for podcasts as I know them. You'd really have to define this though.

Take RippleTraining for example. Their tutorials are all paid but their MacBreackStudio series and their occasional live streams with PixelCorp are all free. It is possible to use free podcasts to entice sales of their in depth tutorials as they do, but that isn't simply "premium" content as its tutorials not podcasts per se, that you buy.

[andrewzarian]

I personally have been paying for a Podcasting for the last 5 year. The content is only available for paying customers of the website. they offer a daily Podcast and 1 free podcast a week.

[mcphillips]

If you have what people want behind a pay wall, they will pay for it. Most people want something for free, though.

[TommySulivan]

Sadly Most podcasts are not good enough to be behind a pay wall. The ones that are successful in doing this are broadcasters that have come from terrestrial radio.