Chapter 21 Do you podcast yet?

Like other cities in the world, you will see many commuters in Chicago, USA, wearing iPod white headphones.Last month, though, what Chicago commuters were listening to changed.For those who feel like they're missing out on some local information because they can't watch the city's most popular TV show, WLS (affiliated with ABC), during the day, help is close at hand.They can listen to the latest TV news features on their iPods. The iPod is Apple's most popular audio device. "These people still listen to music avidly. But it's tiresome and they're increasingly uploading content to their iPods," said Emily Barr, chairman and managing director of WSL Television.The Chicago station broadcasts news five and a half hours a day, covering urban organic farming and urban beekeepers.Some of that content is repackaged as "podcasts," audio files that are easily downloaded and listened to on an iPod or other similar playback device.Since all of the station's programming is already in digital form, making "podcasts" is relatively simple and inexpensive.

“Chicago commuters know my reporters by name. Podcasts provide another way to experience our programming when you’re not watching TV,” Ms. Barr said. A growing number of television programming providers, including NBC, CBS and BBC, are making their content heard rather than watched form.This partly reflects the rapid change of podcasting, even though podcasting has only been around for more than a year. "In just a short amount of time, podcasting has exploded," said John Papanek, senior vice president and editorial director at ESPN New Media. ESPN New Media, a division of Walt Disney Co.'s Sports Entertainment Inc., offers podcasts through Apple Inc.'s iTunes business. "It's no longer just for pioneers pursuing new technologies."

Like most emerging formats, podcasting started out as secretive and advanced.Thousands of podcasts are still created every day by amateurs, covering everything from discussions of everyday issues to music and movie reviews, aviation shows, gardening and technology.Pornographic content in the form of "sexcasts" and religious content in the form of "Godcasts" are also gaining popularity. Starting June 28, people can get podcast content from Apple's digital music site iTunes, which makes podcasts more popular.Three weeks after the service launched, it had attracted 5 million subscribers.The site provides podcast search services, selects and publishes the top 100 podcast content, promotes famous brands, and more.Just a few weeks ago, Radio Disney, the Disney company's broadcasting group, signed a podcast deal with iTunes. "(Between Disney Broadcasting Corporation and iTunes) there is an economic relationship, but the contract is mainly about giving us the power to promote iTunes to a new audience, and at the same time increase the popularity of Disney Broadcasting Corporation." Disney Broadcasting Corporation Chairman and President said manager Jean-Paul Colaco.

According to Adam Curry, just because big media companies are entering the podcasting space doesn't mean they're crowding out smaller players.Mr. Gurry is an experienced broadcaster and co-founder of PodShow. PodShow, a podcast network, just attracted $8.85 million in venture capital. "Big media companies have forgotten what they can do with broadcast, and they've lost a lot of creativity," Mr Gurry said.Listeners want good stuff, and in that sense, big corporations have little advantage over individual podcast producers. Although podcasting has only been around for a year, the medium is likely to change dramatically this year and next.Media groups are trying to define their strategies.Two things are very important: How unique does the content of the podcast need to be, and can people make money from it?

In terms of advertising, this medium has started to attract attention.Many podcasts have small ads or sponsors. Verizon, the largest telecommunications group in the United States, will soon begin running 15-second commercials on ESPN podcasts.These ads won't just be broadcast.Chicago-based ABC7 has developed a system that allows users to view podcast-like content while using an advanced iPod. Joel Hollander, Chairman and CEO of Infinity Broadcasting.The company is one of the largest broadcasting groups in the United States.He thought the medium would attract a new model of advertising on radio.In particular, he thinks there will be fewer commercials on podcasts, and possibly shorter ones.

Another potential monetization comes from subscription fees.For example, the BBC is designing a strategy for new media such as podcasting.Simon Nelson, head of BBC radio and interactive music, said he was surprised by the strong interest in the BBC's downloadable audio content. The BBC currently offers podcast subscriptions for 20 programmes.Mr. Nelson said the company might charge for seven-day-ahead content, or develop other similar premium services. In terms of content, this medium usually provides non-real-time content.Podcasts are updated automatically every time an iPod or other MP3 player is connected to a computer, but not when people are listening. "The latest part of the news is very important, and it's not appropriate for an MP3 player without a connection," said Andrew Locke, director of product strategy for online news site MSNBC.com. “But audio versions of programs like Meet the Press [a weekly TV commentary program on recent events] are doing well. That kind of content seems more appropriate for this type of media.”

Although the iTunes software was developed for music content, music is actually only a small part of podcast content.The reason is copyright issues: Either the rights are not granted, or the royalties are too expensive for podcasters to make them available to listeners for free. So far, most media companies have offered repackaged content that is also available on other channels.However, as more people use podcasts, this approach may not be successful. "The challenge for media companies is to develop new content for podcasts," Mr. Kolak said. "We're going to have to make sure our listeners don't leave."

There is hardly any consensus on what ubiquitous podcasting will look like.The forecast for the number of users within 5 years ranges from only 10 million to nearly 60 million.Much will depend on how the technology evolves, such as whether it becomes "real-time" as it integrates with wireless devices.Jeff Gralnick thinks media companies can't underestimate it.Jeff advises NBC's news business on new media."This is clearly a nascent technology and it would be foolish to ignore it," he said.