Comments on: Yes, Virginia, There Really Is an Audience for Podcasts.

By: jaymjordan

jaymjordan — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:49:20 +0000

I keep seeing a lot of talk about podcasting making a big comeback, but I never see anybody talking about how the iPhone contributes to that growth.
In my experience the problem with podcasting was hooking the iPod up to the computer. It was easier to listen, or watch a podcast online than to bother syncing it to the iPod.
The podcast is a passive medium. People pay attention to them the way they listen to the radio, while they do something else. Being tied to the computer really inhibits that, both in terms of iTunes slowing down a lot of older computers, and just not being able to move around.
Now that the iPhone takes the computer out of the equation subscribing to a podcast is much more attractive. I believe that as the iPhone is more widely adopted that podcasting will see substantial growth.

By: jaymjordan

jaymjordan — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:49:20 +0000

By: AdamSinger

AdamSinger — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:39:03 +0000

Great point…my commute is like 5 minutes so I didn't even think about that…

By: KatFrench

KatFrench — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:24:11 +0000

Two words: Bi-state commute. (Okay, that may be three words, or a word and a compound word. Whatever.)

I think Matthew Chamberlain did a great job in his earlier reply of highlighting how people work listening to podcasts into their daily routine. Check it out.

By: KatFrench

KatFrench — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:22:45 +0000

Wayne – Thanks for stopping by. Always good to hear real-world stories. I would imagine guest scheduling would be a pretty time-consuming and challenging element.

I'm still trying to figure out how you managed to run down MC Hammer for an interview.

By: KatFrench

KatFrench — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:20:28 +0000

You should totally give it a shot! (And I worked in radio for three years, and still didn't like the sound of my own voice–I think very few people do.)

By: KatFrench

KatFrench — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:17:01 +0000

Genuine – Nice to hear some specifics from the trenches. Thanks!

Totally agree that coming up with “must listen” content for every show is the biggest challenge, at least it was in my experience.

I know a lot of folks in marketing use BlogTalkRadio. Hindsight being 20/20, mentioning some of the more popular distribution networks. Maybe a future post.

By: KatFrench

KatFrench — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:12:42 +0000

Matthew – Thanks for the reply. Fascinating information, all, and thanks for trying to keep it brief.

I think that you have a great point about 2008 being a year when the signal-to-noise ratio went up because the people who got into various social media (podcasts included) last year with a “get rich quick” mindset were winnowed out. I saw that on a few social news sites as well.

Interesting stuff on the tech sphere being more into longer podcasts… maybe because the typical tech workday is structure more around long coding sessions, rather than the interrupt- driven day that other industries have?

By: KatFrench

KatFrench — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:07:17 +0000

Adam – depends on how you define “efficient.”

If I've got a half hour commute each way (and I'm not speaking hypothetically here. I actually do have a half hour commute), then listening to a podcast on my MP3 player is a way to recoup some of that time in a productive way.

I'm a visual-spatial learner, too, but I've learned to NOT read my feeds while driving.

By: KatFrench

KatFrench — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:05:06 +0000

Thanks for the comment, Meg. For some applications, a podcast works better than a blog, and I agree they're an often-overlooked option.

By: KatFrench

KatFrench — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:03:48 +0000

I completely agree about the length issue; and I'd lean in the direction of 15 minutes moreso than 30. Bite-sized audio chunks. Long enough for a coffee break, not longer than your average lunch (or commute!)

And pretty soon, we'll have to start writing posts about “how to pitch podcasters” in addition to “how to pitch bloggers.” Super.