Kids’ Podcast Predictions for 2022
Kids’ podcasts have exploded over the past two years. But this year, they’ll hit their stride.
It began in March 2020. With schools shutting down due to COVID-19, parents were sent scrambling for screen-free alternatives to keep kids engaged. A growing awareness of podcasts for kids met head-on with this critical demand. At Tumble Media, we saw our listenership balloon — and things were never the same. Over the past 21 months, interest in the kids’ podcast space has grown, and so has investment.
I have been predicting for years that kids’ podcasts will follow the patterns set by the wider podcasting ecosystem. This has so far played out as true. Kids’ podcasting is in the middle of a transformation from a mainly indie creative community to a more mature ecosystem involving bigger players. It’s the “Wild West” stage. Both companies and creatives are trying to figure out how to enter and where they stand on a shifting landscape, and anything goes.
Here are my predictions of what we’ll see for kids podcasts in 2022 as this maturation plays out:
More research on kids’ listening
Industry standard research such as the Infinite Dial does not collect data on listeners under the age of 12, due to COPPA. This has caused kids to be an “invisible audience.” As a result, there are a lot of gaps in knowledge about listener behavior and number. I co-founded Kids Listen, a non-profit advocacy organization for kids podcasts, in part to fill these gaps and get data behind our listenership. Our surveys have proven that kids are deep and engaged listeners, and shed light on family listening habits. But there are many more questions to ask and answer.
New methods of monetization
One of the biggest questions is how to make money in kids’ podcasts. As larger players enter the space, we will see experimentation with monetization strategies. Some companies are betting that parents are keener to pay for a freemium model, but I’m excited to discover more creative thinking for both independent podcasts and distributors.
Refining approaches to advertising
Speaking of monetization, advertising is an obvious source of revenue. But there are particular concerns around advertising in the Kids & Family category — and anecdotal evidence that the category cannot simply be folded into existing models. As Ashley Carman reported in The Verge, a programmatic ad for a “mature” TV show was inserted into a children’s show, causing the network to pull all programmatic ads off its’ kids podcasts. This example shows that Kids & Family needs more serious consideration that ad networks simply have not given it yet. I believe that there are a lot of opportunities to solve this problem.
More IP entering podcasts
Kids’ media is unrivaled in spreading its IP across all platforms. From TV to books, movies, games, and merchandise, they know how to extend a brand. Now that it’s clear podcasts are here to stay, we’re sure to see more of kids’ favorite characters making the jump into audio. There will be a learning curve to adapt an established world of visual storytelling into an audio-only format.
More podcasts making use of their IP
On the opposite side of the coin, expect to see podcast-first IP crossing over to new mediums. We’ve already seen a bit of this: Multi-book deals, TV shows, and even musicals. But that’s only the beginning. We’ll see podcasts with strong audiences continue to make creative use of their IP, and we’ll also see kids’ podcasts used as a sandbox for new potential multi-platform projects.
More podcasts in education
Podcasts have been trickling into classrooms for the past five years, with the help of innovative teachers. The benefits of podcasts in classroom are many (and you can read about them in a post I co-wrote with Monica Brady-Myerov for Cult of Pedagogy!). I predict that one day, podcasts will be just as common as YouTube videos as a digital resources in and out of the classroom. But for that to happen, teachers need more material that suits their curriculum needs, and an easy way to access it. At Tumble Media, we’re beginning to pave that road.
All in all, we are gearing up for a very exciting year in kids’ podcasts — building on the explosive growth, excitement, and awareness of the past two years. I think I speak for all of us at Tumble Media when I say that we can’t wait to keep pioneering the future of children’s podcasts.
