Not every episode of the Pure Digital Passion Podcast is recorded in a studio. This one was recorded a few weeks ago on a phone, audio only, at a restaurant table in Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya with Klaas Glenewinkel, Managing Director of MiCT (Media in Cooperation and Transition) in Berlin and Director of the East Africa Radio Service (EARS) in Kampala, Uganda.

Seven years ago Klaas decided that aid money was not the answer to keeping Africa's local radio stations alive, revenue was. EARS now bundles small and rural stations across Uganda into audience packages that advertisers can buy on one package instead of 150, and Klaas says it shared almost USD 2 million in advertising revenue with those stations last year. His argument is simple: in the ratings, the stations filed under "others" would be the market leader if they were one station.

Now EARS is going digital with a lightweight audio app that aggregates radio stations, podcasts and audiobooks, streams at as little as 8 kilobits per second, lets listeners download overnight when data is cheaper, and is funded by targeted pre-stream advertising rather than subscriptions. The app is in closed Android testing, the server has never been pushed past 100 concurrent listeners, and it does not yet have a name. So we spent the last ten minutes attempting to name it!

We also get into why radio refuses to die (in Uganda and in Germany), the gateway problem of big tech preloaded on cheap phones, my Gen Z Uber driver who still buys the newspaper to save data, what the platform means for podcasters like me, and how I actually make money from a podcast in Kenya.

If you run a radio station, publish podcasts or audiobooks, or buy audio advertising in East Africa, this one is for you.

CHAPTERS

(00:12) Welcome: an impromptu, audio-only episode from Westlands

(00:41) Why aid money was failing local media, and the birth of EARS

(01:13) One contract instead of 150: how EARS bundles small stations

(02:36) "Others" is the market leader: the long tail of local radio

(04:44) Almost USD 2 million shared with stations last year

(05:48) The threat from religious radios and why independence matters

(06:53) Analogue ad spend, cheaper smartphones and the FM chip

(07:57) Why radio endures, in Uganda and in Germany

(09:36) Big tech on the phone: Facebook Zero and net neutrality

(11:09) The Gen Z Uber driver who still buys the newspaper

(12:23) An app built for 8 kilobits: overnight downloads and offline listening

(13:27) Where the app stands: Android testing, West Africa and the diaspora

(15:04) Advertising, not subscriptions: targeted pre-stream audio ads

(16:35) The 100-listener question: a bootstrapped build

(17:43) The flywheel: stations promote the app on air

(18:52) The end game: survival of local radio, then West Africa

(20:14) Calling all publishers, stations and podcasters: RSS syndication

(21:27) How I actually make money from a podcast in Kenya

(24:40) Kenya's podcast scene, and what the youth want on demand

(26:40) Name the app: six candidates on the table

(28:17) My verdict: Ongea, Oyodo, and why I fight with "cast"

(31:42) The Ongair idea: speak, over the air

(32:40) Jambo Cast and the French-speaker test

(35:20) How EARS sells: brands, governments, aid agencies and ad agencies

(36:39) Twenty people on the ground, one deal at a time

(37:04) Close

Guest links:

EARS - https://www.ears.ug/

MiCT - https://mict-international.org/

Klaas Glenewinkel on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/klaas-glenewinkel-a7a69b6/