The Sound Off Podcast

James Cridland is Editor of  Podnews , the daily podcast newsletter. He is also radio futurologist - a writer, consultant and public speaker on radio’s future. In this episode you will hear him highlight the complexity of measuring podcast success with metrics like downloads and streams, noting inconsistencies across platforms. James also emphasizes the importance of community and human conne...

Sarah Spain was a three-sport athlete in high school and heptathlete at Cornell before going on to her epic broadcasting career, highlighting her experiences in sports and media. She explains the challenges and myths surrounding women's sports, citing Title IX and the different forms of perceived equality and opportunities that come with it. Spain shares her work at ESPN, including her time on "Ar...

This week Jay Stone, station manager and program director of 102.3 NOW! Radio and 99.3 Up in Edmonton, shares his journey from the Air Force to radio. Jay highlighted the NOW!'s various successes, including winning Major Market Station of the Year and Best Community Service Initiative for the Alberta Day of Caring for Jasper, which raised over $3 million. Jay himself also took home the award for M...

Dani Stover is back on the show for a 3rd time and she discussed her experience with AM 640's "Let's Talk with Dani Stover," a non-live, pre-recorded radio show that curated content from across The Corus Radio Network. The show, which involved creating six to seven new segments daily, was well-received but faced challenges, including a shift in station direction and a negative climate during the p...

Our fearless leader, Matt Cundill discusses the challenges and outlook for radio and podcasting in 2025. He criticizes the current state of radio, noting its lack of innovation and the disinterest of station owners. He advocates for a CRTC-led consultation to enhance radio for listeners, not record companies. Matt warns podcasters against adopting every new trend, particularly the shift to video,...

Matt Cundill and Terry Dimonte get together for their annual Christmas podcast tradition, which began in 2016. Terry explains the difficulty in scheduling a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau due to his busy schedule and Terry's travel plans to England. They reminisce about their radio days, including Terry's time at CITI FM, CHOM-FM and his experiences with new wave music. Both of them wa...

Podcast Pioneer Rob Greenlee is a podcast Hall of Famer (Class 2017), host of the New Media Show (along with Todd Cochrane), Podcast Tips, Trust Factor, Spoken Life Show and Behind the EV Wheel. That's a lot of shows. Over the course of his career Rob has worked on the Zune Marketplace, where he helped develop and grow podcasting on the Zune platform. The first time I met him, he was at Spreaker a...

Annalise Nielsen is the head of podcast strategy and development at Lower Street. We talked about the college years at Queen's University and how her professor was an early podfader in an attempt to create lecture podcasts. We also spent some time discussing her work at a Television station and later, Rogers and Pacific Content. She emphasized the importance of newsletters and targeted social medi...

Thanks to our group sponsors: Rogers, Pattison Media, Corus Entertainment, iHeartRadio, Stingray, Vista Broadcasting, Harvard Media. The Following summary of winners is from Broadcast Dialogue. Pattison Media’s 102.3 NOW! Radio  (CKNO-FM) Edmonton is among the multiple winners at the  2024 Canadian Radio Awards . NOW! won  Major Market Station of the Year,  and  Best On-Ai...

We love having Fred Jacobs from Jacobs Media on the show to discuss things like Tech Survey and the AQ Study. What do listeners come to radio for? Well since 2018 it has been for personalities first, then music. I'm not sure what you are being told from your program director, but depending on the market or format, they could be working off some old thinking. We also spoke about the lack of women i...

Ian March, Program Director of Indy 88 in Toronto, discussed his 25-year radio career. He started at Sports Radio 1200 in Ottawa, then moved to Kingston for K Rock 1057. Ian became APD for Magic 100 and Bob FM in Ottawa, and later PD for New Country 94. He highlighted the impact of Gord Downie's death on K Rock, leading to a week of Tragically Hip music. Ian joined Indy 88, focusing on digital int...

Lisa Brandt's career in radio and voiceover is a testament to the power of versatility, resilience, and a willingness to embrace change. From her early days in small-town radio to her time at some of Toronto's most iconic stations, Brandt's story is one of navigating the evolving landscape of the industry with determination. One of the most striking aspects of Lisa's journey is her ability to keep...

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...