Publishers Launch Podcasts, Products Amid Lockdown

Though most of the nation is on pause, due to the spreading COVID-19 pandemic, publishers are continuing to launch new products to reach audiences with content.

For example, The New York Times  today unveiled a new podcast series called “Rabbit Hole” which addresses the impact of the internet on society. The audio series, anchored by technology columnist Kevin Roose, is created by the same team behind the “Caliphate” podcast.

The first episode of "Rabbit Hole," out now, follows a young man and his experience with YouTube.

New episodes will be released every Thursday. 

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“Rabbit Hole” joins a slate of audio programming born from the COVID-19 crisis, such as “The Sunday Read” and “A Bit of Relief” on "The Daily" feed, and two new series: “Sugar Calling” and “Together Apart."

Time’s school-based publication Time for Kids launched a weekly interactive video series today called “Draw with Drew (and Rosie!)” It provides free art tutorials for kids whose schools are closed due to the pandemic.

“Draw with Drew (and Rosie!)” is hosted by Time for Kids creative director Drew Willis and 10-year-old Rosie, the daughter of Time for Kids editor-in-chief Andrea Delbanco. The two chat and practice drawing on a video call together.

New episodes of the eight-part series will release weekly on Thursdays, on Time and Time for Kids’ digital and social platforms and on the Adobe Distance Learning Hub. 

Each episode will feature a new drawing assignment and viewers will be able to vote on the new assignment.

Earlier this week, BuzzFeed Media announced it had created a second co-produced podcast with iHeartMedia: a daily news and pop-culture show called “News O’Clock.” The first episode will be available on April 20.

Publishers are clocking record traffic on their sites, as well as boosts in subscribers. Unfortunately, for a number of publishers, these successes are not enough to mitigate losses in ad revenue.

An IAB survey released this week revealed that nearly all of the respondents — 200 ad-supported publishers, programmatic companies and media platforms in the U.S. — said they expect a decrease in revenue in 2020.
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