(Photo: Jefferson Graham)
By Jefferson Graham
Sunday February 15th, 2015
VENICE BEACH, Calif. – Tom Leykis blows up the Internet Monday through Friday, in his new guise as a profitable podcaster.
While the former Los Angeles radio host boasts that he made a bigger profit in 2014 than the two largest traditional radio concerns, iHeartRadio and Cumulus, the fact is both radio giants lost money, while Leykis eeked out a tiny profit–$2500 on revenues of $527,000.
“But it’s a start,” he contends. “The business is self sufficient. I have four employees. Last year we went up 65% in audience. It’s possible that this year I will get a nice paycheck.”
Leykis and I discussed his move from traditional radio, where he served for over 25 years, including stints on KFI in Los Angeles and syndication, to the self-financed world of podcasting, where he differs from most of the breed by broadcasting live. We also tackled the future of radio (he thinks it’s as good as doomed) and how he keeps calls coming in during his talk show during an extended #TalkingTech chat.
Read More of the Article HERE
https://soundcloud.com/pages/cookies
Leykis is definitely a trail-blazer. However, I’ve had difficulty listening for any stretch of time since he blew out his voice. Not sure what made him go permanently hoarse several years back.