EXPLORING CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SAUDI PODCASTERS: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

Podcasting as a platform that can transmit media content via audio files, exemplifies its creative character. Within the context of Saudi Arabia, it has become a new pathway for business opportunities for Saudi content creators and podcasters. Thus, the study aims to explore the challenges and opportunities for Saudi podcasters. The study used the qualitative method and recruited six podcasters. The results showed that content production, consistency, production quality, and marketing were the most pressing challenges for podcasters. However, podcasting has prospects of job creation and social relationships for the Saudi population, pivotal for developing business opportunities. The study found that the Saudi podcasters used two effective techniques of digital marketing to promote their podcasting such as capitalizing on YouTube as a global platform for wider access to their content and generating audience interaction through Electronic Word of Mouth on their social media accounts such as Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, LinkedIn.