For the last several weeks, I have enjoyed several podcasts on the parenting. Err, well, that's not entirely true. They are podcasts on motherhood. For reasons unknown to me, there are far more podcasts related to motherhood than to fatherhood, and very few related to parenthood in general.
I see an opportunity here. Podcasts do take effort, but have great value. I'm thinking of starting one up that focuses on issues faced by young fathers. However, instead of taking a 'if you build it they will come' attitude, I'm contemplating why there aren't already more of these available.
Reflexively, people might claim that dads aren't as interested in this type of content, but that doesn't square with my anecdotal experience. In my corner of the universe, nearly every father is interested in being highly involved in parenting and so forth. Therefore, I conclude that they are likely to be interested in the topic generally, but perhaps not inclined to access that type of content as a podcast.
If men just don't tend to turn to podcasts for this sort of thing, then I don't want to bother creating one. On the other hand, if this is a market-making opportunity, I'm all over it.
I'm envisioning a group of 3 dads discussing a single issue per episode, with each episode lasting 10-15 minutes, published weekly.
What do you folks think?
Do you expect that a podcast on fatherhood issues is likely to be listened to?
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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I don't know if dads would or not...the Dads I know don't listen to podcasts.
ReplyDeleteI think that(In the case of some of the men I know)sometimes men don't realize the importance of networking with other men to feel supported or find comfort about a problem they are expeiencing. I think it would be really cool if you started a podcast for Dads. You would have to be patient with it; sometimes these sort of things take time to catch on.
ReplyDeleteMmmm...You are the first guy I've known who seeks out parenting podcasts. I've seen a few books geared toward men in the new baby parenting department, but I wonder how many of those are purchased by the father, and not just given as baby shower gifts.
ReplyDeleteStill, there is likely a small but untapped market for something like this. But what I would suggest is if you're serious about this, try to define your niche a bit more. Instead of a "fathering" podcast, gear it more as TechDads or ScienceDads, and focus on projects and stuff you can do with kids. I think men are more likely to sign up for something that's a little more techy and less self-helpy -- particularly the kinds of dads who are likely to listen to podcasts.
If that starts to do well, you can branch out. Good luck. :)
Have you listened to the Cast of Dads podcast?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think they are clearly the market leader at the moment. They are doing a vastly more professional job than I would ever do. As far as the market as a whole goes, it seems that most of their other competitors have either died of podfade, or never really got off the ground to begin with.
ReplyDeleteFor most other podcast subjects I am aware of, there is usually a spectrum of different programs to listen to, but not so with dad podcasts. As above, I'm trying to figure out why that is...
If I do this, I would see it being something shorter, rougher, and definitely less professional than those guys. If this genre follows the pattern of other podcast subjects, there should be room for that. If not, it's just a big waste of time.