Live podcast events have got everyone talking

The intimacy of popular personality-driven podcasts has led to a 2,000% increase in live podcast events in the last 6 years.

In the past 6 years, the number of paid podcast events has increased by more than 2,000%, according to independent ticket vendor data reviewed by Axios.

Live podcast events have got everyone talking

The explosion of live events represents a reliable secondary source of revenue for popular podcasts.

But not all podcasts are created equal

Personality-driven podcasts like Peter Sagal’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! on NPR are some of the most successful.

Podcasting critics explain the success of these people-powered podcast events with an “intimacy thesis,” arguing that podcasting’s fundamental value lies in its ability to cultivate a feeling of intimacy between a speaker and a listener.

And people will pay big bucks for an intimate experience

My Favorite Murder and Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! — 2 personality-driven podcasts — charge the most per average ticket, at $117 and $113, respectively.

It’s likely that other shows will follow suit: The number of paid, live podcast performances increased from just 21 in 2012 to 460 last year.

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