Los Angeles-based KFI radio station and This Week In Tech podcast host Leo Laporte has already taken advantage of the free services from Podtrac. During the opening keynotes on Friday at the podcasting conference, Laporte admitting to tapping Podtrac's services to provide insight into who downloads TWIT. The analysis revealed 36 percent of the TWIT downloading audience is between the ages of 25 and 34 years old, and 29 percent between 35 and 44. The majority are male.
Laporte said that his technology podcast decided early on not to take advertising and maintain complete independence to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest. There are other podcast projects in the works, such as theatrical dramas, that might lend to advertisers. A handful of companies have advertised in podcasts. PodSafe Music, created by PodShow Inc., earlier this year sold ad placements in its podcasts to Absolut Spirits Co.
To assist advertisers looking for that perfect podcast, Prodtrac has also created a content rating system for podcasters to self-rate their content based on five ratings: All, Parental Control, Explicit, Graphic Violence of Pornographic.
Along with connecting advertisers with podcasters, McCrery believes the new services will help to set pricing base on analysis. "The numbers I've seen in the marketplace has been as low as $15 for a New York radio station podcast up to $400 for a six month sponsorship that yielded 150,000 downloads," he said.
Listen to the podcast with Leo Laporte.