Feb 06
9
Podcasts
I was listening to a podcast interview with Mark Kvamme from Sequoia
Capital. He has a background in media/advertizing. And is very bullish
about podcasting.
I am too.
But, and there is a but, when I talk to friends about it, I find very
few who have tried it. Even my two daughters who both have iPods and
are avid users of them, don't do podcasts. I do. My wife does. So is
there a new demographic that is particularly tuned to podcasts?
I was talking to two of the partners in Fruitcast early this week when
I was in Los Angeles. They told me that their big podcast is about
“Lost”. And that the fan base is just extraordinary. So is podcasting
more about finding some specialized source of information about
something that you really feel passionate about? Instead of the concept
of extending radio – which frankly, is just audio wallpaper…
I think at this point in time it is.
Which means that anyone who wants to create a podcast needs to only do
it built on something that (a) they feel passionate about, (b) they
know quite a lot about – and preferably more than most other people,
(c) that they have the ability to get that passion down in the recorded
medium (which doesn't necessarily mean radio quality production values,
but does require some level of expertise) (d) that the podcast is
hosted by someone who can bring additional potential listeners…..
Pew Internet Research in April last year said that 29% of the 22
Million Americans who owned iPods at that time had listened to
podcasts. During the rest of last year iPod sales spiked incredibly and
they don't appear to be slackening off. Yesterday I saw that Apple has
substantially discusounted the Shuffle sku. If that 29% number holds
firm over the next year, and translates globally the global
listenership of podcasts is going to hit 50 Million plus this year I
would predict. This, together with the fact that podcasts are a classic
long tail proposition whereas radio is totally ephemeral, means that
the potential listenership for sponsorship messages is going to be
huge.
Last year “podcast” was the word of the year. This year podcast is going to be the new black in advertising and sponsorships.