Letter from the Managing Editor & Q4 2023 Update

Thanks for visiting Health Podcast Network. As we accelerate to the end of 2023, I’m writing to update you on the progress and changes we’ve made this year, and share some insights as we plan for an exciting and impactful 2024.

But before I do that, I’d like to first acknowledge the hardships that many people around the world face, in particular the people affected by the wars in Ukraine and Israel. While our mission is to share insights and information that can help improve health, equity and access, these two violent and terrible wars are creating exactly the opposite impact for the people in those lands. Our hearts and thoughts extend to the millions of people who are suffering turmoil, pain and loss, and we hope that relief, peace and healing will begin immediately.

From an economic perspective, the year started with concerns about economic headwinds, however 2023 has continued to gain strength and momentum month-on-month.

While some high-profile podcast organizations had very public layoffs and cutbacks, ‘podcasts’ as a whole continued to grow in popularity as evidenced by a number of statistics.

For example, Edison Research reported that an estimated 183 million people, or 64% of the total US population aged 12 or over, has ever listened to a podcast.

The number of monthly listeners in the US (12+) also increased to 42% (about 120 million), up from 38% in March 2022.

And nearly a third of people in the US (12+) have listened to a podcast weekly, up from about a quarter in the year prior.

Those figures demonstrate the continued interest in podcasts, and, as we assess our performance through September 2023, it’s clear that this has been a year of growth and progress for Health Podcast Network and the members of the community.

Some highlights in 2023 include:

1. We are on track to exceed 100 shows on the network which are hosted by doctors, nurses, pharmacists, other health professionals, patient advocates and industry leaders.
2. The number of episodes published exceeded 15,000, and we expect to see more than 16,000 episodes by the end of the year.
3. In Q2, we launched our private membership community for our members, and have shared tips, advice, updates and industry news for our podcast creators
4. We started monthly office hours – now rebranded as ‘Podcaster Power Hour’. If you’re a member of Health Podcast Network, I hope you’ll sign in and join us for our next one on Wednesday October 25!
5. We’ve partnered with leading events across the US and Europe including HLTH, CNS Summit, DTx East, DTx West, ATTD, ViVE, NEXT MED, Radical Health, DTRA, LSI, APhA and many others. The focus has been to reach new and existing audiences with the powerful content available through podcasts.
6. We’ve made numerous improvements to our website including a new blog page (which is open to submissions from our members!) and an events calendar.
7. We also redesigned our logo and brand and redesigned many of our webpages like our Homepage and ‘Shows‘ page.
8. We also added a search function to our site so that each podcast can be searched for keywords, and the entire site can be searched as well. Give it a try here or visit the page for a specific show.

All these activities are part of our mission to support podcasters in their goal of reaching, serving and growing their audiences.

In addition to providing support to our members, a key part of our role at Health Podcast Network is to enhance the access to and discovery of podcasts to veteran and rookie podcast listeners. We work to make it easier for listeners to find information that matters to them, and we work with leading brands, academic institutions, commercial organizations and not-for-profits to make this possible.

As we continue to work to make 2023 a success, we also have our eyes set on our goals for 2024. We will continue to enhance the support to our existing podcasters, while also expanding the number of podcasters who join our network. We will maintain our focus on providing the best-in-class resources, technology and information to the professionals working at the intersection of healthcare and podcasts.  We are also bringing in new members to join our team and enhance our content, connections and capabilities.

While our brand and website may change, our primary mission for Health Podcast Network is still the same:

“Connect people everywhere with high-quality, human-centered, evidence-based information that can help improve health, equity and access.”

As we approach January 2024, the 4th anniversary of our launch, I’m pleased to say we are succeeding, and there’s still a lot left to do.

Thanks for being part of the journey.

Happy podcasting,

Dan

Dan Kendall

Managing Editor of Health Podcast Network

CEO and Founder of Mission Based Media

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