What do you do when a piece of content for entertainment bores you? You seek for an alternative. But what do you do when you run out of alternatives? You build a company to redefine entertainment—at least that’s what Rohan Nayak did. Nayak had to travel for at least three hours every day to-and-fro work thanks to traffic congestion. For entertainment, he switched from one FM station to another, from one music streaming app to another, followed by podcasts and audiobooks. Everything, after a point, turned out to be monotonous and boring. “What I really craved during those times was pure entertainment in audio format, and that seemed to be lacking,” said Nayak. Pocketful of entertainment There was a clear gap, and it did not take much time for Nayak to identify that. He started toying with ideas. After a couple of years, Nayak founded Pocket FM along with Nishant KS and Prateek Dixit, in September 2018 aiming to create a niche in non-music audio entertainment. Initially, Pocket FM was started as a non-music audio entertainment platform based on user-generated content (UGC). But, it did not work out in favour. Even the first pivot of the startup failed. “We weren’t fully prepared for those. Our runway was getting shorter with passing time. And, we knew, raising fresh funds will be tough until we find the right market fit,” Nayak said. The birth of Audio Series At a point when the future seemed to be uncertain, Nayak and his friends decided to put all their bets on Audio Series. It was nothing but a dramatic adaptation of a long-form story—primarily fiction—presented in episodic form that can only be listened to. In other words, it is a tweaked version of an audio drama that was popular back in the 1940s. It worked like a charm, and Pocket FM got its product market fit. What Exactly is an Audio Series? Audio Series is in the same lines of the  good old television serials or modern-day web series. Just that it’s audio only. In other words, it is like a popular Netflix show without the visuals. Instead of watching, the consumer just listens to it. An audio series is usually packed with intriguing narrative delivered through sound, often immersive and disseminated in a serialised manner. Interestingly, an audio series is not similar to a podcast that features discussion on a particular topic, interviews or monologues; or an audiobook which essentially is nothing but a popular book being read out. An audio series is fully produced audio drama, with professional voice over artists, background music and other necessary sound effects that together create captivating experience for listeners. For Pocket FM, every audio series comes with gripping storytelling, intriguing plot, immersive audio, well etched out characters, compelling content and well-thought out strategy of ending every episode at a stage that leaves the listener wondering ‘what happens next’. And this cliffhanger-closure of episodes brings back listeners again to the platform enhancing user engagement, sometimes alluring people to ‘binge listen’. Pocket FM’s secret sauce To add to the above, what sets Pocket FM apart from other audio entertainment platforms is use of technology. Pocket FM leverages a whole host of artificial intelligence (AI) tools from creation and production of content, advanced algorithms for recommendations and personalisation, among others. At the same time, the Indian startup works closely with writers, voice artists, and sound engineers to ensure high-quality production, and to ensure its content is customised to resonate with regional flavours and nuances in every geography. Numbers do not lie Pocket FM’s listenership data revealed that the quantum of engagement in the United States is at anaverage of 135 minutes listening to content on the platform daily—20 minutes higher than the global average of 115 minutes. Interestingly, that’s higher than any other entertainment platform, especially in the US. According to Edison Research’s 2023 Infinite Dial report, about 70% of the US population listened to online audio every week, mainly for entertainment in 2023, up from just 6% back in 1998. Truth is, Nayak’s Pocket FM is not only redefining audio entertainment but also aligns with the growing trend of consumers seeking screen-free entertainment options—whether to combat screen fatigue or to multitask more effectively. “We identified an unexplored space in the entertainment industry and crafted a playbook that works across every market,” added Nayak. Hidden gem or a forbidden fruit? Pocket FM might have taken time to find its product market fit. But, its flagship Audio Series became consumers’ darling within a short period of time with an estimated 1.3 billion addressable users worldwide. According to a study by consulting firm Redseer, the audio series market was estimated to be worth $21-25 billion globally in 2023. “The value is projected to grow 2X in the next 5 years,” noted the consulting firm in its February 2024 report. “Audio Series, with its 24×7 entertainment has a greater engagement potential compared to other Audio Streaming services. With its ability to address untapped use-cases, the market is expected to continue expanding. Over the last 2 years, Audio Series was projected to grow at a CAGR of 640% translating to over 40X growth from 2021 to 2023,” the study noted. The American dream Pocket FM might have originally been started in India, for India. Today, it is an undisputed leader even in the United States in the niche space that it has crafted for itself on the back of Audio Series. The resurrected form of good-old radio drama has helped the company step onto the American soil, and boost top line, backed by the company’s micro-transactions model. Entering the US market only in October 2022, Pocket FM has already crossed $100 million in ARR in the US. Over the next couple of years, the Indian startup plans to enter a bunch of new markets, including Canada, Australia, the EU and Latin America. So, who is Pocket FM? They are the company that’s quietly changing the way we listen, one episode at a time. The post Who is Pocket FM? And what the Hell is an Audio Series? appeared first on LA Weekly.