Money Seeking Pro's vs Amateur Hobbiests - The Podcast War is On!
Although it is easy to forget from the inside sometimes, Podcasting is still far from breaking into the mainstream eye... Don't lose sight of that if you run your own podcast show!
When the articles that are being written stop explaining
'What is a Podcast?' then you will know that the medium has broken through finally!
This article is a well written look at the state of Podcasting moving into 2006!
By Jack M. Germain January 27, 2006
Ah, the podcast. We all remember those early days when average Joes and Janes would talk about every obscure topic under the sun, rhapsodizing about Star Trek: Voyager or the '67 Mustang or where they were going for dinner that night.
We remember those days because it seems like five minutes ago. In barely more than a year, the popularity of podcasting has exploded to the point where big business is rushing to get on the playing field. Media outlets are repackaging TV and radio programs to fit the format, and many other companies that have something to sell are trying to figure out how to script the next great infomercial as a podcast.
To gauge the rising popularity of the podcast phenomenon, just do a Web search for "podcasts." That's what blogger Doc Searls did on September 28, 2004, and he found 24 hits. A month later, that number exceeded 100,000. Today, a Google search on "podcasts" brings up 115 million hits.
No less an authority than the Oxford English Dictionary bestowed legitimacy on the medium when it announced that its word of the year for 2005 was "podcast." Even the White House has jumped on board, making the president's weekly radio address available as a podcast since last summer.
The rise of the podcast has stoked debate over whether the do-it-yourself spirit that drove the medium is in danger of being co-opted by the almighty dollar. Some see the fledgling activity at a crossroads.
"There are over 20,000 podcasters today. That could be cut by half or double by next year," said former radio DJ and audio editor Bruce Chandley, founder of podcastbunker.com, a site that provides access to podcasts.
Show Me the MoneyPodcasting began two years ago and quickly became a sort of amateur hour for broadcasting wannabes.
Instead of tinkering with radio frequencies and bouncing voice messages off the ionosphere, podcasters squeeze their content into audio-compressed files, the links to which are then uploaded into a feed -- called Really Simple Syndication (RSS) -- that automatically delivers these files to subscribers. People then can listen to podcasts on their computers or download them onto portable-media players, making podcasts as portable and as convenient as personal music stored on an iPod.
From raw amateur enthusiasm to rank commercialization, the podcasting community today is a mixed bag of entertainment, education, and marketing. "There's every flavor in between, of course, but that's pretty much how life is going to be," said Ted Schadler, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research.
It is precisely this brash, wide-open menu of choices, combined with accessibility, that makes podcasts so attractive. The audio delivery enabled by the RSS technology makes a podcast a sort of blog on steroids, giving people the content they want without making them work to find it.
To the listener, podcasts are essentially free, like many things on the Internet. But is the free nature of the podcast in jeopardy as businesses start to gain interest in its marketing potential?
Zippy Aima, an analyst at Frost & Sullivan, is betting that the dollar signs might eventually win out over the get-it-for-free marketplace that currently exists.
"Having been in the market for about one year, podcasting is in its initial phase of acceptance. But it is becoming a fast-growing medium," Aima said. "Hence, enterprises need to tap the potential of this technology, which will be generating revenues in the future."
At Apple's iTunes store, which offers roughly 3,000 podcasts, a check of the 25 most popular podcasts revealed names such as The New York Times, ABC, Fox, CNN, and NPR sitting among lesser-known outlets like Ask a Ninja, Happy Tree Friends, and French Maid TV.
Even the podcasters themselves are not immune from wanting to see revenues kick in. According to Chandley, some podcasters are now forming networks geared to accruing advertising dollars.
"As an infant industry, podcasting doesn't have enough listeners per popular podcaster. But combining the audience base makes the podcasting network more attractive as a source of advertising revenue," Chandley said. His own site, which he established in October 2004 to point people to the best podcasts available, has a link for advertisers who wish to pay for banner ads.
Two Roads DivergeAccording to Schadler, podcasting is moving along two paths. One is the path laid down by the medium's first adopters, he said, one on which anyone can create content and share it with whomever wants to listen. "In some cases, this is the farm league for professionals," he said, "but it's mostly just for fun, and there's no money being made."
But it is along podcasting's second pathway that some enthusiasts see the potential for commercials to take hold, just as they did on the Internet. This path leads to an area where advertising, donations, and, ultimately, subscriptions will fund Rush Limbaugh on your iPod or Terry Gross the next morning on the tread mill, said Schadler. "This is podcasting as media outlet, and it makes all the sense in the world for commercial providers," he said.
Analysts see much similarity in the development of podcasting and the digital revolution that is changing radio. As satellite broadcasting and other technological innovations continue, said Aima, people will become more and more aware about different ways to find digital content.
"Podcasting has definitely given a choice to the consumers who were bound by traditional radio," he said. "Radio shows are being delivered to listeners in different ways as the bits and bytes of technology have brought a transformation in this medium of entertainment, too."
Chandley said he does not think that podcasters eventually will replace radio stations, but that they will have an influence on programming decisions radio executives make. "With the introduction of podcasting, the radio industry definitely has to redesign its business model," Chandley said.
One advantage podcasting soon will have over traditional audio programming is pictures. Technology is tweaking the podcasting format to make room for a video message to complement the audio, and, according to Frost & Sullivan's Aima, video podcasting is catching on. Apple's podcast page on iTunes now features a section just for video podcasts, which can be played on the latest iPod models, naturally.
"It is definitely changing the way people thought of entertainment. Until now, podcasting was limited to listening to music, but the video version has redefined the border line of where technology is taking us," Aima said.
The Cost of Podcasting FameDespite the current interest of media conglomerates in podcasting and the possibility of future encroachments by big business, the podcast still offers a significant attraction for would-be DJs and trend setters.
It is easy and inexpensive to make.
"People think it's more complicated than it is," said Chandley. The cost of engineering a podcast varies with the audio skill of the originator, he said. Typically, a newcomer can get started for under $500. The price tag climbs to $1,000 to $2,000 for broadcast-quality audio equipment.
It takes only moderate computing skill to convert a podcast program to a form that is downloadable and playable on iPods, Chandley said. "iPods are one of the easiest aggregates. It is very simple to do."
The conversion process involves nothing more than embedding an MP3 file into an RSS file format, then submitting a link to iTunes or some other podcast repository. The process will become much more mainstream when software developers release integrated production and editing packages, Chandley said. Apple, for example, recently added a podcast component to its GarageBand application, which aims to get your voice on the Internet in "just a few minutes."
As Chandley sees it, the growing podcasting community likely will remain the preserve of hobbyists as well as professionals, resulting in an eclectic variety of show formats -- for now.
"There are lots of guys in their basements not going anywhere," he said.
Brought to you by The Podcast News Crew at http://www.PodcastEmpire.com
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