PODCASTING

by Whitney Fromholtz

The broadband Internet has fostered an influx of audio/visual content available on the World Wide Web by quickening consumer downloads. The ability to download rich media content rapidly has led to a revolution in media consumption. One area that has been changed by the availability of broadband telecommunications is the consumer use of broadcast radio. With the advent of podcasting, consumers can download and listen to their favorite audio programming at times that are more convenient for them.

How Podcasting Works

Podcasting is a means of distributing audio (and some video) programs via the Internet that lets users instantly download a file or subscribe to a number of “feeds.” [1] The user then can listen to the MP3 file any time they choose and as many times as they desire. Also, any Internet user can become an independent producer of self-published and syndicated “radio shows” using podcasting. [2]

To fully understand podcasting it is necessary to consider four facets of the new technology: programming, publication, subscription and playback. [3] (See Figure 1)

There are numerous websites that publish podcasts. They create an index of podcasts, labeled by subject matter, source and/or creator.[5] Internet users can browse the index much like library.
Podcasts can be downloaded individually, or a user can subscribe to “feeds” for subsequent downloading of new programs within a series. The subscription model of distribution makes podcasting user friendly. Users are able to choose the general content they desire, but they do not have to seek out new content when they feel like listening to similar programming. Once a new file is released, the user’s computer will automatically download the file making it easy for a user to continually get new content.

Once the file is downloaded, the user has the luxury of deciding when to playback the file. Many users transfer podcasts to an iPod or other music player for playback at, literally, anytime.

The name podcasting may be misleading because it blends iPod and broadcasting.[6] An iPod is not required for podcasting and no form of broadcasting is involved. However, podcasting has become a trendy form of expression much like the continually hip iPod.

The Background and Promotion of Podcasting

Podcasting originated as an underground tool for expression but it quickly became a mainstream phenomenon, now sometimes used for profit. The first official recognition of podcasting came from a British newspaper, The Guardian. Reporter Ben Hammersley wrote an article in February 2004 that provided a how-to guide for podcasting. [7] The mainstream uses of podcasting still resemble ham radio, where people are listening to each other.[8]

Macintosh brought podcasting to the mainstream in June 2005 when Apple released version 4.9 of iTunes software, which directly supported podcasts.[9] In association with its successful portable media player, the iPod, Apple followers credited the company with the invention of a whole new way of communicating. Even though Apple’s support of podcasting made it a mainstream medium, the creation of podcasting is credited to an old MTV Video Jockey.

The combination of blogging software and the automatic feed mechanism RSS came together in 2001 when former MTV VJ Adam Curry, Tristan Louis and Dave Winer added the ability to enclose elements to Winer’s Radio Userland weblog aggregator.[10] This collaboration resulted in RSS 2.0, which is the foundational code for publishing podcasts. In August 2004, Curry began distributing a daily MP3 blog, “The Daily Source Code,” which had similarities to a radio program. Soon after, Curry created iPodder, the first podcasting index.[11]

Apple’s iTunes index helped legitimize the medium with the support and marketing campaign associated with its iPod. Other media giants have followed Apple’s lead by publishing podcasts. Ebert & Roeper now have podcast movie critiques, and NPR radio broadcasts can be downloaded at anytime. As popular media integrate podcasts, the independent podcasts made by everyday people are becoming lost in the sea and critics agree it will be hard for independent podcasters to find an audience.[12] The growth of podcasting is evident; by 2006 more than 10,000 businesses and individuals can be expected to be publishing podcasts.[13]

Problems Podcasting Solves

Podcasting has rejuvenated audio-only-media, making it popular once again to sit and listen to a program instead of viewing a moving picture.

One reason why podcasting has increased the public’s desire to listen to programs is the ability to listen whenever a user desires. Just as VCRs, and later DVRs, liberated television viewers from having to adhere to broadcasters’ schedules, podcasting has “extended such capability to mobile players for audio and radio programming.”[14]
Since the mainstream acceptance of digital music players, listening to over-the-air radio appears to be less popular. In one way, podcasting can be seen as a repackaging of the radio program format. Since radio programming is turned into podcasts, the association is clear. Yet, podcasting has become the two-way ham radio of the digital era by allowing anyone to initiate a “feed.” Publishing a podcast is entirely free and large numbers of people can get access to the necessary equipment.

The affordability and accessibility of podcasting allows it serve as a new outlet for personal expression. Podcasting is an affordable way of “narrow-casting” allowing a program to be created for an audience of 10 or 1,000 people.[15] So whether you use it for just your distant family members to hear, or for the entire world, podcasts can be a useful communication tool.

How Podcasting Interconnects with Other Media

Podcasting is a form of media that incorporates the use of Internet, portable music players, and radio.

In order to access podcasts, a user must be able to navigate the World Wide Web. Podcasting has resulted in the creation of new web pages that index podcasts. Also, the use of podcasting utilizes free software available online. Unlike other content transmission systems, this new medium takes place solely on the Internet.

Although podcasting exists entirely in the virtual world, its content is transferable to the tangible world. Portable music players are able to play podcasts and users may take those programs on the go, wherever and whenever. Users are not restricted to computer speakers and bulky radios.

Instead, the radio programs of yesterday can be downloaded as podcasts. Traditional broadcasters quickly joined the trend by publishing podcasts online. The American syndicated radio show Web Talk Radio became the first to adopt the format, in September 2004, followed within weeks by Seattle news radio station KOMO and by individual programs from KFI Los Angeles and Boston's WGBH.[16] Podcasting has also served as an alternative to traditional radio where competition is tough and jobs are scarce. In the summer of 2005, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation locked out over 5,000 of its on-air and technical staff and the former employees responded by creating their own podcast of original programming.[17]

Regulatory, Economic, and Social Factors

Podcasting has become a socially accepted form of new media, which has regulatory, economic and social effects.

Based on the Internet, podcasting is a free speech tool that has not been regulated by the United States government. Congress does not have free reign to regulate any and all media, so, for now, podcasting remains free from restraints on words or topics.[18] The only area where regulation can step in is when podcasts include copyrighted music. Since podcasts are distributed electronically, any use of copyrighted music would count as a public performance and therefore subject to fees.

Podcasting moves radio into the narrowcasting age where it is acceptable to make content that only appeals to a small group.[19] Economically, this means there will be numerous small productions instead of an oligarchy of media content. Perhaps media corporations will not invest their money into podcasting since it appears they will not be able to make a profit. Yet, some producers are finding a way to make money from podcasting. Some podcasts now contain paid advertisements. No standard model has emerged for podcasting ads, but the Yankee Group predicts that ad insertion will be based on a cost-per-impression model, an ad-industry measurement for every 1,000 people who see or hear an ad. This means podcasters may charge advertisers $15 per 1,000 podcast downloads.[20]

From a social perspective, podcasting is changing the way people communicate with each other. This new medium combines aspects of TiVo (DVRs) and blogging with audio as its base. Services like Blogger.com make it easy for average Internet users to webcast to the world using blogs. Free programs like Odeo exist to make podcasting more readily accessible.[21] Just as digital camcorders trespassed into traditional filmmaking territory, the medium of digital radio will explode with new content as podcasting provides a cheap distribution channel for amateur producers. For example, teachers are using podcasting as a tool in and out of the classroom. College professors are recording lectures and publishing them as podcasts online.[22] Directories such as www.teachlearning.com index educational podcasts.

Podcasting Applications

Originally used as an underground personal communication tool, podcasting has become a worldwide communication medium. As podcasting has caught on, politicians have begun using podcasts to connect with their constituents.

In March 2005, John Edwards became the first national-level US politican to hold his own podcast. Over the course of a few episodes, the podcast expanded into a full-fledged program using guest appearances, questions from the audience and musical interludes. A few months later, U.S. President George W. Bush became a podcast publisher when the weekly radio addresses posted on the White House website were linked with an RSS code.[23] Similarly, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has used podcasts to package and distribute his speeches. Clearly, podcasts are no longer an underground form of personal expression but a worldwide communication tool that is expanding in popularity.

Notes

[1] Podcasting. Wikipedia.org. (2005). [online] Retrieved November 1, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

[2] Podcasting. Wikipedia.org. (2005). [online] Retrieved November 1, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

[3] R. Kay. (2005). Podcasting. Computerworld, 39, 34-35.

[4] J.R. Quain. (2005). DIY: Create Your Own Podcasts. PC Magazine, 24, 66-68.

[5] R. Kay. (2005). Podcasting. Computerworld, 39, 34-35.

[6] Podcasting. Wikipedia.org. (2005). [online] Retrieved November 1, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

[7] R. Kay. (2005). Podcasting. Computerworld, 39, 34-35.

[8] H. Green. (2005). Podcast: David vs. Goliath. Business Week, 3947, 47-48.

[9] J.R. Quain. (2005). DIY: Create Your Own Podcasts. PC Magazine, 24, 66-68.

[10] R. Kay. (2005). Podcasting. Computerworld, 39, 34-35.

[11] R. Kay. (2005). Podcasting. Computerworld, 39, 34-35.

[12] H. Green. (2005). Podcast: David vs. Goliath. Business Week, 3947, 47-48.

[13] L. Sullivan. (2005). Finding Profits in Podcasting. InformationWeek, 1053, 47

[14] R. Kay. (2005). Podcasting. Computerworld, 39, 34-35.

[15] J.M. Pethokoukis. (2005). Podcasting: Grab Your Mike and Go. U.S. News & World Report, 139, 58-59.

[16] Podcasting. Wikipedia.org. (2005). [online] Retrieved November 1, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

[17] Podcasting. Wikipedia.org. (2005). [online] Retrieved November 1, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

[18] P. Lewis. (2005). Invasion of the podcast people. Fortune, 152, 204-206.

[19] A. Fernando. (2005). Podcasting, anyone? Communication World, 22, 140-142.

[20] L. Sullivan. (2005). Finding Profits in Podcasting. InformationWeek, 1053, 47

[21] W. Roush. (2005). Podcasting Made Painless. Technology Review, 108, 70-71.

[22] D. Warlick. (2005). Podcasting. Technology & Learning, 26, 70-71.

[23] Podcasting. Wikipedia.org. (2005). [online] Retrieved November 1, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting.

Bibliography

Burrows, P., Edwards, C., & Grover, R. (2005). Hollywood Holds Its Breath. BusinessWeek, 3956, 42-43.

Fernando, A. (2005). Podcasting, anyone? Communication World, 22, 140-142.

Green, H. (2005). Podcast: David vs. Goliath. Business Week, 3947, 47-48.

Kay, R. (2005). Podcasting. Computerworld, 39, 34-35.

Lewis, P. (2005). Invasion of the podcast people. Fortune, 152, 204-206.

Pethokoukis, J. M. (2005). Podcasting: Grab Your Mike and Go. U.S. News & World Report, 139, 58-59.

Podcasting. Wikipedia.org. (2005). [online] Retrieved November 1, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

Quain, J. R. (2005). DIY: Create Your Own Podcasts. PC Magazine, 24, 66-68.

Roush, W. (2005). Podcasting Made Painless. Technology Review, 108, 70-71.

Sullivan, L. (2005). Finding Profits in Podcasting. InformationWeek, 1053, 47-49.

Warlick, D. (2005). Podcasting. Technology & Learning, 26, 70-71.