Category Archives: Podcasting

formerly a tag

Radio’s “discarded audience”

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“First the standards vanished from radio, as stations that played lots of Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald went dark. Then over the past couple of years, the oldies format collapsed, and suddenly the sounds of Motown, Elvis and the Beach Boys were hard to find on the radio. Now, even classic rock stations are starting to feel the pressure, as commercial radio strains to find ways to connect with younger listeners who find most of their music online.”

AARP is happy to address the frustration that there’s “not enough choices on the radio.” The organization is finding that its 39 million members are eager for programming they can tap into through the latest technologies. AARP is podcasting, Web streaming and even offering a branded version of Pandora.com. AARP’s next wave of audio programming will be “user-created media a la YouTube.”

— WashingtonPost.com – Thanks, Kay

Podcast Audience Continues To Grow

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The Diffusion Group reports that, based on their latest research, 11% of adult broadband users (some 12 million US consumers) listen to podcasts at least once per month. They also predict that the podcast audience will more than double in the next five years, to 24% of broadband users (38.5 million Americans) by 2012. [Podcasting News]

Amazon launches podcast network

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Amazon.com today officially launched the Amazon Podcasts network, an original podcast offering that features four channels of free content: Amazon BookClips, Music You Should Hear, Significant Seven and
Amazon Wire.

  • Amazon BookClips – A weekly podcast offering customers a free sneak peek at some of the most popular soon-to-be-released audiobooks.
  • Music You Should Hear – A free, weekly MP3 podcast whereby customers receive an MP3 recording featuring complete songs from developing and indie artists, selected by Amazon’s music editors.
  • Significant Seven – A monthly podcast in which book editors from Amazon.com talk about seven of the most exciting upcoming books before they are released.
  • Amazon Wire – An exclusive, biweekly podcast featuring interviews with some of today’s hottest authors, actors, directors and musicians.

All of these sound like something I would listen to regularly. Will the typical podcaster get rich? No. Will companies like Amazon find creative and profitable ways to use podcasting? Wait, wait… I know this one… [via Podcasting News]

NASA intros offbeat video podcast

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Podcasting News: “NASA has launched a new video podcast, NASA EDGE, that provides an offbeat look at the nation’s aerospace program. The hosts of NASA EDGE offer an unscripted take on the latest events at NASA.”

How easy it would have been for a big old gov’ment agency like NASA to do a boring, lame-ass video podcast. Real easy. I don’t know if this will catch on but somebody gets it.

BusinessWeek: Don’t quit your day job, podcasters

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Good article in Business Week about how difficult it is to make a living as a podcaster. Seems I am one of about 35,000 daily listeners to Keith and the Girl:

“Keith Malley and Chemda Khalili, the couple behind Keith and the Girl, an engaging, sometimes raunchy Howard Stern-like podcast, have cultivated a devoted online audience. (Six fans have already had Keith and the Girl tattoos done.) The show, which has 35,000 daily listeners, is just one part of the brand. Just as important to fans are the online forums and MySpace.com (NWS ) pages where they gather to talk about the show and their lives. As a result of this devotion, the audience last year was willing to snap up about $80,000 worth of T-shirts, key chains, and other merchandise.”

Some would argue that $80K ain’t bad for just shooting the shit for an hour a day. But, as a regular listener, sounds to me like they’re working damned hard and earning every penny.