American Idol podcast

I realized how much I have been missing out on in the media world this past weekend when I listened to my first podcast. It never crossed my mind to search through available podcasts and listen to what's going on in the industry. I selected a podcast from the AdAge website titled: "'American Idol': A Marketing Mammoth Expands Further". American Idol is one of my favorite shows because of some of the ridiculous contestants and judges' reactions. Although American Idol is a show I laughed at and enjoyed, I failed to notice how big of an impact it has on the marketing world.

According to the podcast, in 2001, 'Pop Idol' was launch in the UK. Simon, my favorite judge, came to America and tried to pitch his idea to NBC, ABC, and CBS. He was determined to get ABC to take the show, but they turned him down twice. Soon after that, FOX agreed happily to air the show. I think NBC, ABC, and CBS are all kicking themselves right now, having turned down a marketing opportunity of a lifetime.

In the podcast, Claire Atkinson, reported that the revenue American Idol pulls in is above 2.5 billion dollars. She admitted that the estimated 2.5 billion dollars was a very conservative number, and they expected the actual revenue to be much higher. She referred to American Idol as "the biggest integrated advertising platform on the planet." Atkinson compared Idol to the Superbowl and mentioned how Idol's audience is the size of the Superbowl audience every week for 19 weeks.

There are two co-owners of the franchise: 19 Entertainment and FremantleMedia. 19 Entertainment handles the music side of the business. This includes the music sales and exploitation of the albums. FremantleMedia takes care of all the off-air licenses. There are over 40 licenses using the Idol name right now. American Idol has become a brand name in many different product lines. There is Idol-branded chocolate, candy bars, Ice-cream flavors, and more. They are even looking into making a fashion line that's based on what the contestants wear on the show.

There is alot of talk going on about how people think that American Idol has reached its peak going into their 6th season. Atkinson confirmed that Idol is only 'scratching the surface' and that there are many more possibilities for the show. They have just started to get into streaming Idol footage on their website, something that other television shows have started. There is also talk of how a virtual game will be made where consumers can become virtual contestants and go through the whole process in a virtual world.

The three main sponsors of American Idol are Coke, Cingular, and Ford. All three of these companies bought huge packages with FOX, which sold between 30 million and 50 million dollars. Being a sponsor of this popular show is an extremely powerful position to have in the marketing world. Atkinson mentioned how while it's easy to watch product awareness increase, it's hard to measure exactly how the sponsorship is affecting the companies' sales.

This podcast was interesting, informative, and entertaining. I learned more than I expected about the marketing aspect of Idol. It also got me thinking about product placement. During the show, viewers might see the judges drinking Coke or Coke products, which is a good example of product placement. Although podcasts themselves aren't the best media channels to use product placement, they raised my awareness on where to spot product placement. I would definitely recommend listening to the various podcasts available on AdAge; you can learn so much about products and services that you love.