The Sound Off Podcast

Legendary radio broadcaster John Leslie, shared his journey from building a three-watt transmitter in his bedroom to becoming a program director at WEIR in Weirton, West Virginia. He discussed his service in the Marine Corps, his early radio roles, and his transition to television. Leslie highlighted his significant achievements, including a 38 share in Binghamton, a 27 share in Des Moines, and a...

We dive deep into the importance of audio promos for podcasts. Steve Goldstein, returns to make a compelling case for why every podcast needs a well-crafted audio promo. Steve told us that as the podcast landscape becomes increasingly crowded, using owned media to promote your show is essential. However, he notes that promos are often overlooked, sitting low on the priority list for many podcaster...

Our Quarterly Feed Drop. This is where we play an episode from another awesome podcast. You might remember a few week's back we had Jeff Umbro on the show. His show is called Podcast Perspectives and you should give it follow. The podcast world is growing rapidly, and podcasters can fall behind without a glimpse of the future. Predictive analytics have become vital for podcasts to survive and thri...

Mary Anne Ivison was laid off in 2021. Ivison discusses the difficult transition and mental health challenges she faced after losing her job, but how she eventually found success in voiceover work and launching her own podcast "Let's Take This Outside". We covered the ups and downs of building a voiceover business, including the challenges of working with agents and the impact of AI on the industr...

Donna Reed, a former radio host, podcast creator, and voiceover talent discusses her dcareer in radio, including her times at WQDR and WRDU in Raleigh, NC; then to KLOL and KODA in Houston, Texas and WCXR in Washington, DC. where she enjoyed the freedom of night shifts. She transitioned to voice acting after a car commercial opportunity and has since worked on audiobooks, commercials, an...

Tony Garcia's journey through the radio industry over the past four decades provides a fascinating glimpse into the evolution of syndicated content and the changing landscape of the medium. From his early days as an intern at the iconic WNBC in New York during the 1980s, Tony's enthusiasm for radio was palpable, as he recounted the excitement of being part of the station's shift from album rock to...

You likely know Steve Pratt's name from his days as founder of Pacific Content. The company that created stories about brands set the bar for branded podcasts in the late 2010's. The company was later sold to Rogers in 2019 and just recently sold to Lower Street in the UK. Unlike our interview with (former Pacific Content Director of Audience developement) Dan Misener, we are going to ask Steve ab...

Back in 2016, Leslie was the PD for 107.7 The End in Seattle, driving the station to huge success in the millennial market. Since then, she's taken on a few more stations, been elevated to overseeing programming of Audacy's exclusive streaming-only channels... And like so many people in radio, been restructured out of a job. Their loss. We discuss where Leslie's currently at both life and career w...

Jordan Heath Rawlings, host of the Big Story Podcast, returns to discuss the evolution of daily news podcasts over the past five years. We first had Jordan on the show in 2019 after year one on the show. Since then, he noted the increased competition and the shift to virtual interviews post-pandemic. There's simply more choice with outlets having rushed into the space after the success of the The...

Over a year after Matt recorded a Summer of Discontent - he looks back on a second summer of discontent which feature more radio stations closures on AM, small FM size stations and one FM station in Canada's #4 market. Also layoffs in Kingston and London, and across iHeart in the USA. Matt also wonders why no one in radio seems to talk much about the audience... Matt reaffirms that the Sound Off P...

Jeff Umbro, is the founder of The Podglomerate , an award-winning podcast services firm specialized in production, marketing, and monetization of outstanding content. In this episode, we discussed his transition from book publicist to podcasting, highlighting the company's evolution since 2017. He emphasized the importance of podcast promotion, noting that cross-promos are effective but should not...

Sharon Taylor, Senior Vice President of Podcast Strategy and Product Operations at Triton, discusses her career journey from hospitality management to podcasting. She joined Omny Studio in 2016, initially on a contract basis, and later becoming CEO. Sharon highlights the evolution of Omny Studio from a radio tool to a comprehensive podcast platform, and its acquisition by Triton. She emphasizes th...

Blubrry's CEO Todd Cochrane is back once again this week, and this time he's got a new toy he's eager to share: The Thrive bundle , Blubrry's first major foray into AI integration for podcasters. We begin by going over what exactly the Thrive bundle offers its users, including various AI-powered tools to help podcasters with tasks like episode planning, production, social media clips, and email. F...

You likely know Dan Misener for his work in Podcasting - but I managed to trace his roots back to radio. Specifically, to CBC and shows like DNTO (Definitely Not the Opera) and Spark with Nora Young. His radio days actually stretch back a little further than that to campus radio at Dalhousie's CKDU in Halifax. But it was his time at Pacific Content where Dan began to explore audience development i...

Carlota G is the midday host at 107.5 XTreme Radio in Vegas. We discussed her early career path in radio, starting as a vinyl collector in high school and later transitioning from a medical billing job and then into broadcasting. She was inspired by DJs like Dusty Street and Doug "Sluggo" Roberts of KROQ fame. Carlota shared stories of her early days in radio, including moving from Southern Califo...

At least once a year I get the urge to do an episode about career management and what to do when there are mass layoffs from the impactful culprits like Bell, Audacy, iHeart, Corus, Rogers, or Cumulus. Yes these aren't the only companies that lay off staff but it feels worse when public companies do it. Over the last few months, Corus and Audacy have faced restructuring and rumours abound of being...

This week, I speak with Rob Grant from 101.5 Today Radio in Calgary. Back in 2022 I went to Spain and landed in Seville for the Copa Del Rey final between Real Betis and Valencia. On my Instagram I wondered why there were so many firecrackers going off. It was Rob who explained that it is the Valencian way of saying hello - it football terms. Over the years we have had football chats, and some rad...

Jeff Woods returns to the show. He was a guest way way back in 2016 in Episode 2. Back then we spoke about his (then) new book, Radio, Records and Rockstars. Shortly after came the creation of a successful radio show and podcast. In this episode you will hear his process of creating an episode, the non-use of AI in research, and the influence of the late Bob Mackowycz on his career, and Woods' aff...

Back in August of 2020, I had Alan Cross on the show to talk about the issues facing the music industry in the wake of the pandemic. In 2022, we could have declared that music was back but we still didn't have any real numbers with so many people trying to make up for lost time, missed shows, and those forgotten tickets stored somewhere on the internet. In this episode, music geek Alan Cross sits...

It appears that Jeremy Baker has come full circle. After starting the commercial part of his career at the Zone in Victoria, Jeremy has returned. We discuss his early years buying 90's CD's, listening to 99.3 the Fox, X, and other alternative formated radio. We talked about his time working university radio before heading to the Zone in Victoria then to CFOX in Vancouver, and later the Peak and mo...

In this episode, Jeremy recounts his career journey from his first internet and computer experiences in the 1990s to his current role in digital innovation for radio. Beginning with a vivid recollection of early personal computing and internet usage, Jeremy shares how his tech-savvy background led him to a pivotal role at Clear Channel and later at Hubbard Radio. Through engaging anecdotes, he dis...

Another episode years in the making. Scot Turner recently retired from Evanov Radio in Brantford, Ontario. Scot discussed his experiences in radio programming, sharing insights on how to navigate challenges and create successful radio stations, including CFNY, 94.5 The Beat, Dave-FM in Kitchener, and many more. Scot emphasized the importance of blending genres, catering to a specific audience, and...

Heather Furr is the Director of Digital for the Bob & Sheri Show. They have 70 radio affiliates that they work with. Inside the walls of one radio station, digital strategy is an ongoing discussion and debate over best practices, staying on brand and what makes content go viral. Heather's work day is about deciding what is important in the moment and making sure the show is represented online...

Last time Sue Haas was on the show, she had just moved over from Blue Ant Media to start as the President and COO of NLogic. Well, almost a year has gone by since then, and Sue's back to let us know how it's going. If you're listening in Canada, you're probably aware that NLogic has been a steady supporter of this show for a long time now. We use their services all the time to source ratings data,...

I reached out to Roz Weston when he was releasing his book, A Little Bit Broken in September of 2022. So that is not completely true - I sent an email to the publisher requesting an interview and you know how that can go. Publisher prefers TV over a podcast so on and so forth. It was another show in our company The Women of Ill Repute that had a really great interview about the Roz and the book......