Presented By

Schedule

• 10 AM
  Opening Remarks by Scott Newman, Director & Founder of On Air Fest, TC Sottek, Executive Editor of The Verge, Nilay Patel, Editor In Chief of the Verge and Ashley Carman, Editor of Hot Pod

• 10:15 AM
  YouTube formally enters the podcasting arena: now what?:
  Lots of podcasters already use YouTube to distribute their shows, but late last year, the company made its first official podcast hire seemingly in an effort to take on a larger role in the space. In this chat, we’ll talk to popular tech YouTuber and Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast host Marques Brownlee and Rooster Teeth’s head of The Roost Podcast Network AJ Feliciano about what podcasters even need or want from YouTube and what the platform could do.

• 11 AM
  Automated ads: The move to programmatic and how it might change podcasting forever:
  The podcasting industry has often relied on host-read ads, brokered by personal relationships between podcasters and brands. But the industry is looking to scale and part of that journey hinges on automating and targeting ads. There will inevitably be bumps along the way and bigger questions around how this might change podcasting forever. Oxford Road CEO and founder Dan Granger and Acast Head of Automation for the Americas Elli Dimitroulakos discuss.

• 11:45 AM
  New money in audio: subscriptions, audiobooks, and IP: In just the past year, the two biggest podcast platforms — Apple and Spotify — introduced subscriptions widely to their users. Is this the start of a new era? Plus, can selling IP build a business, and what can the industry learn from audiobooks? Pushkin Industries CMO Heather Fain, QCODE CEO Rob Herting, and Tenderfoot TV co-founder Donald Albright join to discuss.

• 12:30
  Lunch

• 2:00 PM
  Competing with Big Tech: how to recruit and retain talent when you’re up against the giants:
  More tech companies are entering the podcast space and with that comes not just competition for shows and listeners’ attention, but also for talented employees. What can public media and independent shops offer new recruits? LWC Studios founder and CEO Juleyka Lantigua, Multitude CEO Amanda McLoughlin, and PRX CEO Kerri Hoffman discuss mission statements, unions, and sharing ad revenue, among other ideas.

• 2:45 PM
  Should podcast platforms be doing more to moderate?: As the podcast industry grows and more people listen, concerns around what’s being shared and promoted on podcast apps are intensifying. What obligation do podcast platforms have to moderate the shows they distribute? How does that change when platforms sign exclusive deals? Platformer’s Casey Newton joins senior research fellow at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University Evelyn Douek and TrueFire CEO Owen Grover for a panel discussion.

• 3:45 PM
  Independent creators making it work: Although corporations increasingly see money-making opportunities in podcasting, various podcasters have set out on their own, appealing directly to their fans. We’ll chat with podcasters including Celebrity Book Club co-host Lily Marotta and Who? Weekly’s Lindsey Weber about maintaining Discords, running Patreons, recording bonus content, and more.

• 4:15
  Interactive Town Hall