When you look back at 2020, are you having a hard time pinning down what podcast content you should be pushing out in 2021?

You aren’t the only one. In fact, if anyone says they know for certain, you call them a liar to their face.

Not only was the industry changing on several economic and programming fronts in major ways, society was imploding. That’s tough to process.

What if there was a crystal ball that could grant some clarity about the future.of.our industry? What if a related (and massive) industry like TV’s topsy-turvy year could inform our future?

What lessons could we hope to internalize moving forward? Well, let’s plop down into that well-worn familiar groove on the couch, in front of the TV, put our thinking caps on, and find out.

Why Learning From TV Can Pay Big Podcast Dividends?

It’s already cliché, but 2020 was a ground changing year. Just about anything that could change, changed. What worked a few months prior now seemed trite. Institutions went out of business and disappeared from the cultural landscape.

ESPN’s The Ocho became a real thing people watched. I got into competitive Tetris. I knew strategies and rivalries. It was weird.

If it was a big ask to get out of your pajamas before Wednesday, then knowing where to invest energy developing content was all but impossible.

As 2020 ground to an end, and we were able to look back so that we could look forward, COVID-19 restrictions actually did us a favor. They handed podcasters an enormous industry experiment to mine for wisdom.

Lesson 1: Keep Showing Up.

When production on major shows shut down this year, it threw everyone’s viewing habits and expectations into a tizzy. I mean, we rely on those shows to keep us going. They’re cultural guideposts. What are we going to do without them?

We moved on.

Adweek’s list of the best shows of 2020 featured only one show that also graced 2019’s list. Not because those shows stopped being good… it’s because they weren’t being made.

In a world where there isn’t much you can control, you can keep showing up.

Turns out that an enormous amount of downtown due to lockdowns and unemployment meant American’s weren’t as loyal to their programs as studios thought.

But this opened a lot of space for good content to rise to the top of the download lists and reach that.

Well, others recommended them on Zoom calls and around virtual water coolers. There’s a word for that, but it’s too soon. Too soon.

The takeaway? Keep creating excellent podcast content. You don’t know when your voice, through no predictable action on your part, is going to find a wider audience. In a world where there isn’t much you can control, you can keep showing up.

In a world where uncertainty abounds, your show can be an anchor. But how are you supposed to do that? Well…

Lesson 2: Embrace Change… Roll With the Punches.

For an example of how to handle grace under fire 2020 we need to look no further than late night TV. Late night shows are an excellent analog for podcast creators as well. It’s hard to think of a tougher job to do in the creative sphere in 2020 than a late night comedy production.

They had to come up with a way to make the world and the news cycle funny. That’s not the easiest job in the world under ordinary circumstances. But then they had to do that with 2020… While under quarantine.

Shows went remote, often to the hosts home. Production procedures written on the fly made their way onto air. Video hacked together under less than ideal conditions (well… iPad conditions) became the norm. At least for while, until they grew.

And the technical deficits of the early shows is obvious, but the heart is there. It was undeniable.

How Late Night Pivoted

The problem solving attitude and embrace of technology was almost inspiring. It was cathartic.

These shows wore their adolescent-like growing pains on their sleeves. They let us, the viewer, through the looking glass. They let us experience the world with them and that made the experience enjoyable. More so if you happened to agree with their, admittedly, slanted politics.

Podcasting, as a medium, is built for the authentic audience building the late night shows demonstrated. They didn’t make wholesale changes in what makes their shows what they are. Somehow, they were able to capture the core experience of the show and broadcast out of an apartment. All by editing around the margins.

Successful podcasts should be prepared to pivot and make small tweaks to their shows to tap into what’s going on. But there are also opportunities. The entire planet is now acclimated to doing a video interview. You’re no longer restricted by geography for whom you can put on your show. This is a game-changer.

Total viewing consumption may be down for late night shows year-on-year (because this is not a funny year to be clear). But as an exercise in pivoting, and as a lesson in creating podcast content, the late night shows did a superb job.

Lesson 3: Take Chances for Better Podcast Content.

As the numbers began to pour in towards the end of 2020, it was apparent that the consumer ecosystem had shifted forward ten years. Ten years in like three months. That’s jarring.

For a creator of content that should resonate with an audience it means the slow, progressive, narrative or iteration, may no longer work. Or it might. We don’t know.

80% of our core show should be relatively unchanged. That’s our bread. How about our butter?

The uncertainty is the biggest takeaway. That means while you’re editing your show at the margin, those edits should focus on taking chances.

If we look at some of the best TV shows of 2020, again, most of them weren’t on these lists in 2019. Some are brand new.

Netflix’s studio took a risk on a mini-series about an orphan chess prodigy with a penchant for benzos and alcohol. And it was a hit. Does that show win in another year? Who knows, but kudos on the risk taking.

Joe Exotic was everywhere. Putting that guy on TV is a risk. People end up in prison. Accusations are made. Memorable TV but who knew that was going to work? 2020 was a year when things got weird and it somehow worked.

Here again, the Pareto Principle, should serve us well. 80% of our core show should be relatively unchanged. That’s our bread. How about our butter? We should devote 20% to experimenting around the margins.

Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert’s new monthly segment on conspiracy theories is a great example of a show doing that type of experimenting. And they are doing so thanks to being unbound by geography.

Conclusion

2020 will take a long time to process. The impact it had on the podcasting industry, and podcast consumers, will be hazy at best for a while. But that doesn’t mean we should be sitting on the sideline while that plays out. No. We’re still going to create.

TV studios and TV shows belong to a much more mature market. One that has been through similar industry trends before, and can give us a glimpse of how to soften 2020s blow. There was enough to worry about without reinventing the podcast content wheel.

Stay the course, edit and experiment around the edges, and ride it out. With any luck we’ll be back to normal in no time… and if we’re not, you can always upgrade your webcam.

How are you changing up your show to account for the 2020 aftertaste? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter @discover_pods. Note the underscore. I want to underscore that.

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