Prostate Cancer Podcast Builds Audience With ‘Real Talk’ Approach.

Podcasts have authenticity like few other media outlets, and so a show that is about a tough topic — prostate cancer — may not seem like an overnight success. But Elverage Allen, who created the Prostate Cancer: Real Talk series in 2021 after leaning his own diagnosis, says the show is connecting with people.

In one recent season, Prostate Cancer: Real Talk drew an average of 2 million YouTube impressions per week and total listenership of 4.4 million minutes of watch/listen time. And since July 1 this season, the series has generated 18 million YouTube and social media impressions and 3.4 million interactions and engagements. The podcast’s engagement rate is also exceptionally high at 18.54%, well above the 10% that is considered exceptional by marketers.

“We develop a personal relationship with our audience and stress the totally unique nature of the show,” said Allen. “Prostate cancer is not a subject you can bring up at work around the coffee machine.”

Allen, a Chicago-based television and advertising executive, hosts the show with his wife, Shay. The podcast delivers information about dealing with the stigma and often embarrassing realities of living with the disease for patients and their families. The podcast features real patients and couples talking about their real-life experiences. It also features doctors, and other clinical experts.

Allen says their podcast has had the advertising support of pharmaceutical companies, including many who want to reach Black men. They are more likely to have the disease and more likely to die from it.

According to a recent American Cancer Society Report, for the first time in 20 years, the incidence rate for prostate cancer increased, resulting in 313,780 new cases and 35,700 deaths annually. Black men are 70% more likely to develop the disease and more than twice as likely to die from it. September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.