A few weeks ago I had lunch with some lads in the Missouri Senate information office and we talked about podcasting. They’d heard about it but didn’t think it was anything “the members” would be very interested in. They emailed me today to say that some of the members are eager start podcasting. Whoosh.
And all my MSM buds keep asking, “Are they making any money?” Uh, no. And they’re not paying us to distribute their programming either.
Charlene Li at Forrester writes that Whirlpool is podcasting. The podcasts are produced and moderated by Whirlpool’s director of customer insight, Audrey Reed-Granger, who has a background in broadcasting. And it shows. What’s interesting is the podcasts are focused on family issues and are not centered around Whirlpool products. Moreover, Whirlpool has done no overt promotion of the podcasts, preferring that they be found through word-of-mouth marketing. [via Blogspotting]
Walt Mossberg calls the iPod Nano “the best combination of beauty and functionality of any music player I’ve tested — including the iconic original white iPod. And it sounds great. I plan to buy one for myself this weekend.”
I’ve tried three or four cheap little MP3 players and they work, sorta okay… but I’ve had iPod lust since I saw the first one. And the new Nano is just too much temptation. And, yes, I know I can get more gigs for less money blah, blah blah. I’m paying extra for the cool.
Every day there’s more and more interesting new podcasts out there so it’s time to gear up. Review to follow.
“An executive at Disney will be in a meeting and ask the staff how many people knew this was going on, and three geeks in the back will raise their hands. Then slowly two-thirds of the room will raise their hands. None of these people will have known that everyone already knew. It’s about then that podcasting will suddenly become the rage. It’ll be a Time magazine cover. That will be by the middle of next year. Then the money will start flying around like crazy.”
— PC Magazine columnist John C. Dvorak thinks podcasting will be the Next Big Thing:
“What’s special about podcasting, though, is how it makes it simple for individuals or companies to express themselves and, if what they have to say is interesting, enlightening, or clever, to earn attention. You can point someone to a worthy podcast through a link on your blog, or an e-mail to a friend, in a way you could never point them to a snippet of radio. That’s powerful.”
“Podcasting isn’t about to kill radio or take it over, but as blogs are doing to publishing, it will make the radio industry reevaluate its relationship with the audience and leverage its strength as a mass medium.”
— Boston.com via Dave Winer
Kyle Lewis missed going to church one Sunday last month. But he did not miss the sermon. Mr. Lewis, who regularly attends services of the National Community Church in Alexandria, Va., listened to the sermon while he was at the gym, through a recording he had downloaded to his iPod. Instead of listening to the rock music his gym usually plays, he heard his pastor’s voice. [NYTimes.com]
This just makes so much sense to me. I can’t believe every church isn’t doing this. Back in my radio days, the local churches paid to get air time and had to fight for it at that. I look for lots of applications like this. Literally every meeting will be recorded and made available online. School board meetings, chamber of commerce meetings…whatever.
New South Carolina Head Football Coach Steve Spurrier has the highest SEC winning percentage in history. And he is –I am told by those that know– something of rock star among big-name football coaches. Our company produces the Gamecock football broadcasts and the weekly call-in show, featuring Spurrier and the the play-by-play guy. Tomorrow night is the first show and in addition to airing on a bunch of SC radio stations…and streaming at Yahoo! Broadcast… we’ve set up a podcast feed. There has been almost zero publicity on this but I’ve got a feeling fans will find this quickly. Thursday nights from 7:05 – 8:00 p.m. EDT
“One thing Steve Jobs said to me that didn’t make it into my [June 28] story was that he’s getting interest from corporations about creating podcasts to reach customers and others directly without going through [traditional media], offers Markoff. An example might include something like Adobe wanting a podcast for Photoshop users.
His point: All of this breaks down old traditions everybody is getting dis-aggregated by new technologies, Markoff says. The lesson for PR practitioners, according to Markoff, is to recognize that things are changing in the media. More people are trying to reach [audiences directly].”
— From a story by NY Times’ John Markoff who recently interviewed Steve Jobs when Apple added podcasts to iTunes
“Podcasting is hot. Podcasting is cheap and easy. Podcasting can be fun. Creating your own podcast and trying to make a business out of it is a mistake. Unless you are repurposing content from another medium, it will be rare to find anyone making money from originating podcasts.”
— Mark Cuban
In an article titled “Podcasting Is Not the Next Mass Medium,” David Coursey (Publish.com) poo-poo’s the idea of podcasting (and blogging, for that matter):
“Personal Podcasting, like personal blogs, is a fad and will fade. Just like personal sites were a fad in the early days of the Web. People experiment because content creation can be fun, sort of like finger-painting was back in preschool, but people also run out of creative energy, and the maintenance of a site, blog or Podcast becomes a chore. And the content gets boring, and the audience goes away.
I’ve been in the media all my professional life and have spent years trying to understand audience behavior. I can’t always tell what the masses will like, but I am pretty good at calling losers. And as a mass medium, Podcasting will be one of them. “
Three comments: First, that Mr. Coursey has “been in the media all my professional life,” might be more liability than asset in understanding what’s happening in the world of new media. Second, I’m not sure there will be such a thing as a “mass medium” in the future. We’ve been part of the masses. Now we want to be individuals. Third, the photo posted with his column makes me want to bitch-slap him real hard.