The way we watch our content is getting more and more diverse. Last night I was watching a show in my bedroom and decided to get a late night snack. I remembered as I was pouring the milk in my cereal that my loud crunching can bother my wife as she sleeps. I opened up my laptop and continued the show where I left off. I often listen to a podcast on my phone and throw it to my Amazon Echo when I get home. I jump from Apple TV, casting from a browser, laptop, iPhone, iPad, Echo, and back-and-forth.

It's no longer about having a killer website only. You need multiple consuming options. Our church members and prospective attenders are technically diverse and we should learn to speak their language.

The Late Late Show host Jame Corden was on The Bill Simmons Podcast and talked about how he approached building his show and I thought it was super insightful. I don’t watch his show, but I have seen his Adele Carpool Karaoke, which currently has 160,763,132 views. The fact that he was able to reach me without me ever turning on this show got my attention to the interview.

He talked about not being able to compete with Stephen Colbert. Nobody stays up late to watch his show. The whole reason CBS had a Late Late Show was back in the day if people feel asleep to it they were more likely to boost the morning show ratings, which of course isn't the case anymore.

Jame's team ask why build a show for a late night live audience? Why not just make a show for the internet? So that is what they did.

I love this approach. There were many things that stood out from the interview, but my favorite quote for church online pastors came around the 30 minute mark.

What does this all mean?

Church online hasn't changed. They way people consume the service has changed.

Don't just pay attention to your church online platform number. You need to be thinking about the audiences on YouTube, Facebook Live, Podcast downloads, and even considering Instagram live. Our goal is to reach people who are unreached. We don't care how they consume the message. The platforms are always changing, but our mission stays the same.

The church online platform is still important. We just have to learn to embrace more platforms.

Make sure all new platforms have a clear call to action. Drive them to deeper community. 

Listen to the full interview below.