NEWSHow Pocket FM is Ruling the Game of Entertainment with Audio Series
Sept. 4 2024, Published 1:00 a.m. ET
Rohan Nayak, a corporate worker in his 20s, did not mind commuting for three hours every day to and from work. Rather, he always looked forward to going to work every morning during the formative years of his career.
In reality, Nayak’s daily commute in the congested Delhi metro rail system was anything but pleasurable. Naturally, he needed something to make the long commute bearable, but watching something on his phone screen was not an option due to interruptions such as having to get on and off the trains. He explored all available audio options, such as podcasts and audiobooks.
“What I really craved during those times was pure entertainment in audio format, and that seemed to be lacking,” says Nayak.
At the time, the Indian market was witnessing a boom in the popularity of streaming apps, such as TikTok, YouTube, and Netflix. Interestingly, all of them were primarily focused on video, and the audio entertainment market, especially non-music, was lacking in options.
This frustration eventually led Nayak and co-founders Nishant KS and Prateek Dixit to launch Pocket FM in September 2018, aiming to create a new niche in non-music audio entertainment.
The Sound of Success
Pocket FM was started with the initial idea of creating a non-music audio entertainment platform based on user-generated content (UGC). However, this approach didn't yield the results they had hoped for.
“What followed was a series of things that we weren’t fully prepared for. Our two initial ideas didn’t kick off as desired, our runway was getting shorter with the passing of time, and we knew that raising fresh funds would be tough until we find the right market fit,” Nayak says.
At a point when the future seemed uncertain, the core team of Pocket FM decided to put all its bets on Audio Series – something that was considered unproven in the recent history of non-music audio entertainment. In reality, it was a forgotten mode of entertainment that was very popular during the golden era of radio, long before cable television took over the majority of entertainment.
An audio series is a dramatic adaptation of a long-form story, often fictional, presented in an episodic format. In other words, it is a modernized and tweaked version of an audio drama that was popular back in the 1940s but presented in a serialized manner.
According to Nayak, audio is an intimate medium, and Pocket FM democratized audio entertainment with Audio Series.
Crafting Compelling Narratives
Each episode of Pocket FM’s Audio Series features gripping storytelling, intriguing plot, immersive audio, dynamic characters, compelling content, and cliffhanger endings that leave listeners excited for what happens next. Combined, these characteristics encourage people to binge-listen, spending hours on end on the platform.
According to Pocket FM’s listenership data, Audio Series’ engagement is higher than most other entertainment platforms, especially in the US. Its 10 million registered users in the United States spend an average of 135 minutes listening to content on the platform daily – 20 minutes higher than the global average of 115 minutes.
A different study shows Americans, in general, are engaging with audio content like never before. In 2023, about 70% of the US population listened to online audio every week, mainly for entertainment, Edison Research’s 2023 Infinite Dial report revealed. This is a huge increase from just 6% in 1998.
Nayak’s Pocket FM is redefining audio entertainment with high-quality, on-demand audio content as ubiquitous as video streaming is today. His vision unboundedly aligns with the growing trend of consumers seeking screen-free entertainment options, allowing them to combat screen fatigue or multitask more effectively.
