Starting Your Podcast With A Sponsor

Does your podcast begin with a commercial? How you handle ads in the opening moments of your show may determine if your listeners stay to the end.

Podcasting is new, but it is amazingly similar to old-time radio. This 1939 episode of The Jello Program with Jack Benny starts with an advertisement. A minute and twenty-two seconds later, the show begins.

Most successful podcasts today also open with sponsorships but the best are designed for today’s impatient podcast audiences. Coleman Research revealed a study at Podcast Movement indicating that listeners tire of ads after :30-:60 seconds.

You may notice that many podcast players come with a 30-second skip-ahead function, which allows listeners to avoid commercials and other parts that do not interest them. Jack Benny never had to worry about that, but you do.

How you start your podcast is a crucial decision. Let’s study how some of the world’s biggest podcasters balance making both sponsors and listeners happy.

Oprah Winfrey’s Master Class podcast with guest Jay Z: opens with commercials. At fifty-eight seconds into the show, Oprah grabs attention with a hook headline. “All the odds would say that Jay Z should not be the man he is today…”

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History Show #62 “Supernova In The East” starts with a :22-second commercial followed immediately by a dramatic audio of FDR declaring World War II and the “one small step for man” clip from Neil Armstrong.

Starting quickly is a good guideline, but rules are made to be broken. An episode of The Joe Rogan Experience with guest Dr. Debra Soh starts with commercials and plugs for his comedy shows. Joe introduces his guest at the six-minute mark.

Not everyone can open a show that way because not everyone is as charismatic and hilarious as Joe Rogan. It is a great show with dedicated listeners, and it is a longer show than most. Even so, some fans vent about the number of ads.

The model for the opening a podcast that I recommend is similar to how NPR’s Hidden Brain does it in this clip. Only :04 seconds to hit the hook headline, and the sponsorship comes in later in at 1:27.  Most of NPR’s podcasts are similar.

You can learn from great television too. Study the first seconds of CBS’s 60 Minutes, which opens with a :45-second summary of the drama about to unfold, followed by a voice over saying, “the story will continue in a moment.” Once the audience is hooked, then come the ads.

As the saying goes, entertain first, educate second. Whether I am coaching radio hosts, podcast hosts or on-stage speakers, we emphasize planning a good start.

 Listen to the samples in these links and notice what works for you as a listener. Opening immediately with a powerful hook headline has a dramatic effect on capturing and keeping your audience’s attention.

Read more about starting a podcast.