![ringer podcasts ringer podcasts](https://is5-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music115/v4/7a/2b/69/7a2b69bb-5177-894b-5bd8-8921a0fed47e/source/1200x630bb.jpg)
It’s worth noting that The Ringer isn’t the only digital media company that looks the way it does. (Having a seasoned chief operating officer also helps.) Credit should also be given to the meat-and-potatoes of assembling a staff of writers who can also function well on the mic, some amount of taste, and the fact that, as previously mentioned, the company experiments and iterates very, very quickly. Not that you can chalk up The Ringer’s podcast success purely to its publishing structure. (After all, the best way to promote podcasts is still through other podcasts.) The show anchors the network and presumably functions as a crucial stabilizing force, brand leader, and podcast marketing platform. That said, a high-volume approach doesn’t really matter if it doesn’t actually string together a listenership, and so it’s worth recognizing the importance of The Bill Simmons Podcast, which (if you count its predecessor The BS Report) has been cultivating an audience for almost a decade now. It’s almost entirely conversational programming, which generally allows for higher publishing volumes - and therefore, more ad slots - and at a lower cost compared to resource-intensive, seasonally structured, often limited-run narrative shows.
#Ringer podcasts full#
I don’t think you can really tell the full story of The Ringer’s podcast business without talking about the nature of its output. (It should be noted, though, that HBO bought a 10 percent stake in The Ringer at the start of the business.) And for the curious: Midroll Media is responsible for ad sales, and The Ringer is thought to pocket more than two-thirds of podcast revenues once Midroll takes its cut. Headcount is apparently expected to grow up to 100 this year, and company leadership appears to be eschewing outside funding - particularly venture capital - to power further growth. Not to strip-mine the report (written by Ben Mullin and Joe Flint), but here are the key details as I see it: The Ringer’s podcast ad sales topped $15 million in 2018 (and accounted for most of its revenue) its podcast network brings in around 35 million downloads across 28 shows Simmons says the company is profitable. In 2017, I called them one of the most interesting companies in podcasting due to their embrace of the fact that it “isn’t for everybody, but when it’s yours, it’s really, really yours.”įrom the sounds of the Journal report, headlined “For Bill Simmons’ The Ringer, Podcasting is the Main Event,” things are looking pretty good. Its podcasting health is something I’ve been wondering about for a while now - partly because their output makes up a disproportionate amount of my own personal listening, but mostly because I just find their rapid, iterative, enthusiasm-driven approach to podcast production compelling. Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal published a story that offers some insight into the podcast business over at The Ringer, the digital media operation Bill Simmons founded three years ago. But thank God I didn’t miss that one.SeptemThe main event. “I’ve never missed a game even with this stupid paralyzed vocal cord, and I thought that this was gonna be it.
![ringer podcasts ringer podcasts](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1jcP41wudphKM6Bd62MQy6ZM83I=/0x38:1920x1043/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19437673/koppelman_thumb_site.jpg)
“I remember walking out of that stadium with my ears ringing with that place going nuts,” he said. He said afterwards, once the adrenaline from the game wore off, he felt different. Buck added that miraculously, he didn’t show any symptoms for the game broadcast.
![ringer podcasts ringer podcasts](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DqX-sDAX4AIKFTG.jpg)
“I was like, ‘There’s no way I can fly up there and do this game,'” he said. While Buck battled through the illness, the thought of staying home and not going to Minnesota did cross his mind. I couldn’t walk from my bed to the toilet without feeling like I was going to fall on my head.” Maybe it’s out there more than I’m aware of, but it is the worst. “I don’t know anybody else in my life, I’m 53, that has ever had salmonella. “That I’ve never told anybody,” Buck said. Talking to Steve Bennett on The Sports-Casters podcast, Buck revealed a case of salmonellosis, an infection from salmonella, in the days leading up to the game left him suffering from vertigo. Joe Buck could have called out and not been in the broadcast booth for the 2018 NFC divisional playoff game between the Saints and the Vikings, but then the world would never have gotten the famed call of the “Minneapolis Miracle.” It’s not a wise choice, but sometimes people just don’t have the option to call out, people like Joe Buck. Going to work when you’re sick is a practice many know well.