One of the fun parts of being in the San Francisco Bay Area is listening to the local radio stations, many of which I grew up with. I like to hear how they have changed over the years and what they are doing these days. For instance, the local far left wing station, KPFA in Berkeley is still on the air and still airing some of the wierdest radio programming you have ever heard. Sports radio KNBR, which airs the Giants and 49ers and can be heard in the evenings in Washington state, now has a second radio station on the air for sports talk radio.
But the biggest change in the local radio scene, and one I was anxious to hear, was KYCY-AM, 1550 on the dial. Less than a month ago, they switched all of their programming over to podcasting. If you are not familiar with the term, podcasting is like a blog, only it is done with audio. It emerged in 2004 as a web phenomenon, allowing amateurs to distribute audio programming over the Web. Listeners can subscribe to certain programs, download them and play them later on digital music players such as Apple Computer's iPod.
But the phenomenon has spread its wings. Now, talk radio hosts of all kinds are offering their already-aired shows as podcasts. And as mentioned above, amateurs are now having their podcasts aired on the radio.
The podcasts I listened to on KYCY were a mixed bag. Some where downright boring while others were interesting and well done. The best ones seemed two or three people interacting on their themes, such as the fashion industry or high tech. Several had musical themes, the best one being on Irish music. But, usually when a DJ got off on some topic that interested him, they became boring and I usually wound up switching to another station. Fortunately, most podcasts are short and no more than 30 minutes long. All-in-all, it was an interesting experience.
But Podcasting itself has emerged as the Internet's hottest fad, but is it more than just a passing fancy?
Forrester Research estimates that 300,000 podcasts, which deliver digital audio content from the Web to computers or portable media devices, will be available by year's end, growing to 13 million in 2009. That is a big number. But, the number of podcast listeners is more difficult to track; and right now there are so few that research firms like Forrester cannot get an acceptable sampling to survey.
As I discovered, this is partly because there is a lack of worthwhile content and partly because the current user experience is unappealing. Podcasting may sound sexy and easy to use, but downloading the necessary software and searching for compelling programming is anything but.
However, with Apple Computer adding support for podcasting to the next version of its iTunes Music Store, as well as interest from such market leaders as Clear Channel Radio, Infinity Broadcasting and Microsoft, content and ease-of-use are expected to improve. With all of this interest, the music industry is eager to determine how, or if, it should support the new medium.
"It's the Wild West right now, and it's incumbent on anyone involved to look at this now to address the business model and the social implication and come up with some rules," EMI Music senior VP of digital development and distribution Ted Cohen says. "If we just sit and stare at it for a while, we'll end up having to go back and modify behavior again."
Podcasting refers to the software and service that deliver digital audio content from the Web directly to the computers or portable media devices of consumers who request it. The content is delivered automatically to users' computers, with no need for them to search for or download it. The content can then be transferred to a portable device like an iPod (hence the name).
As I mentioned earlier, it was originally adopted by amateur broadcasters, but now is drawing attention from mainstream radio, which is pursuing the technology in much the same way that traditional journalism outlets are pursuing blogging.
"The 'professionalism of podcasting' is what I'd call it," Forrester analyst Ted Schandler says. "The biggest shift under way is from 'homebrew' to professional. There's just so many real companies putting material up."
There are many examples from the nation's biggest radio chains. Clear Channel's mainstream top 40 WHTZ (Z100) New York recently began offering the prank phone call segment of its morning show as a podcast. Premiere Radio Networks in April began podcasting seven of its most popular syndicated shows. Infinity Broadcasting plans to offer free daily podcasts from nine news stations. And NPR has begun podcasting some of its programming.
Shows that contain music are not part of these offerings, however, because of licensing issues. NPR even strips out the jingles that precede programming segments.
As mentioned at the start of this article, Infinity launched the first podcast radio station, KYCY-AM San Francisco. The radio group and Sirius Satellite Radio are using podcasting technology with music, but only to receive guest-DJ programming from listeners.
Others have begun experimenting with using podcasts to promote music. BMI created a monthly podcast of unsigned artists who have licensed their work through the society. Also getting into the game is label Razor & Tie, which launched a series of podcasts from its roster, starting with Danko Jones.
Where podcasting goes from here is anyone's guess right now. But it looks like it does have a future, especially since so many professional broadcasters are jumping on board right now. In a way, its time-shifting, just like using a Sony Tivo to watch TV programs when you want. As for amateurs, they are just having fun and producing programs that few if any can hear, unless they are lucky enough to to be picked up by KYCY. But, with AM and FM radio suffering significant user loss, I suspect we may see more stations around the US turning to amateur podcasts for content.
This is a new phenomenon that is not going away.
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