O impacto da audiência na sustentabilidade financeira de podcasts: o caso do 45 Minutos.

Abstract

The theme of this work is about the podcast. It is a case study on the production of 45 Minutes from Recife, with journalistic coverage and discussions on northeastern football. In a scenario of expansion of the podcast sound media in Brazil, in which the monetization of increasingly professional productions is sought, the research investigates how the audience of the aforementioned regional production impacts its self-sustainability. Two research hypotheses were adopted: 1) the audience determines the choices of the production regarding the way to raise funds by the producers; 2) the audience as an element of numerical expression used to attract sponsors. The investigation analyzes the relationship between producers and podcast listeners, to identify strategies that contribute to maintaining the audience and attracting commercial investments in regional production. Among the main theoretical and conceptual references used in the research are Jenkins (2009), Flores (2014), Izuzquiza (2019) and Bontempo (2020). This is a case study in which the 18 most listened to programs on Podcast 45 were analyzed between 2015 and 2020; interactions on the three main social networks and website, in-depth interviews, data from the media kit and the Club 45 subscriber subscription. After analyzing the data, by categorization and description, it was possible to conclude that the hypotheses were partially confirmed and that new elements emerged during the analysis. The audience guides, but does not determine, the choices of the production as to how to raise funds, and the audience numbers are essential in the presentation of the commercial project, however, what is implicit in them is the influence of podcasters on the audience. In this way, the study intends to guide sound productions regarding aspects of sustainability and audience construction, contributing to the strengthening of the podcast market, especially in the Northeast of Brazil.