Are Podcasts the New Soap Operas?

If under age 40, you might be surprised to know that soap operas are named such because in their early days – first on radio then on television – they were sponsored by soap companies. Yes, they were made initially to simply serve as a creative means to endear you to a brand of soap.

While I still watch one soap opera (Young and the Restless, and yes, Victor and Jack are still at each other’s throats) I tend to spend more time these days listening to podcasts. During my favorites, the host always talks about how important it is to support their marketing partners. The request is often in addition to a quick ad, and it is almost always accompanied by social media posts asking for listeners to support them by supporting specific brands over others.

And it totally works on me. I choose to support specific brands because they “support” my podcast hosts. I am thinking this is much in the same way my grandma supported a certain soap brand because they supported “her stories.”

See, the more things change…the more they stay the same. Just like Victor and Jack.