Radio station 104.5 CHUM FM in Toronto is launching a daily podcast next month, the first of many such podvertunities unfolding within the CHUM empire. The debut pod property is its popular morning show with Roger, Rick & Marilyn, downloadable in a handy mp3 version weekdays from 5:00 a.m. at www.chumfm.com, beginning May 2. ‘We plan to launch a series of services,’ says CHUM FM program director, Rob Farina, ‘from daily entertainment news, exclusive artist interviews and CD previews [to] new music showcases. One of our main initiatives will be to make available the immense archival material [such as] interviews and performances that span CHUM FM’s 40-year history. From Jimi Hendrix to Elton John to Madonna, for the first time fans can download classic interviews with their favourite artists – unedited and uncensored.’
Says Roma Khanna, VP, CHUM Interactive: ‘The mobile lifestyle and use of digital music players is an exciting new way to consume entertainment.’ Farina adds that podcasting will allow CHUM to ‘extend our reach to listeners at times of the day when they are not near a radio.’ And advertisers are invited along for the ride. Says Marc Charlebois, general sales manager of 1050 CHUM and CHUM FM: ‘This creates an engaging marketing opportunity for our clients. It’s online; it’s offline. We can integrate client content into the podcast. Whereas on the morning show hosts may not expand on ad messages since they have to get right back to the music, in the podcast they can.
‘A sponsorship is one-dimensional. But if [an advertiser] can engage the audience with the message and give them an incentive to go back to our site or their site – the value of that one-to-one marketing is where a lot of our business is going.’
At time of writing, Charlebois says no advertisers had been signed for the podcasts. While CHUM FM has over one million weekly listeners and a target audience of adults 25-54, with a narrow target of females 25-44, Farina says that the target of the podcast will depend on which particular offering is being downloaded. ‘For Roger, Rick & Marilyn, who already appeal to a wide audience, we don’t see that changing. [But] statistically, early adopters of new technology are younger, so we anticipate the audience who will make the most use of the CHUM FM podcasts will be 18-34.’
However, adds Charlebois: ‘We’re learning that now another layer is embracing the technology, probably parents picking it up from their kids. [People are] being bombarded constantly with new media choices. We’re recognizing this and [enabling] our audience to experience our brand when it’s convenient for them to do so.’
So how much is all this going to cost advertisers? Charlebois says the station will be using ‘à la carte pricing because someone might want to change content every day, might want to do a promo leveraged on chumfm.com….’ He says cost will be based on individual clients’ needs – ”What’s your goal? What do you want to achieve?’ Instead of pricing stuff and trying to go out and sell it.’
