The term “podcast” is a combination of the words “iPod” and “broadcast.” According to Duraes et al. (2007),
“Podcasts are media files that can be distributed via the Internet and played on computers and handheld devices, including iPods or other digital audio players. The essence of podcasting is the creation of audio and/or video content for an audience that wants to listen to what they want, when they want, where they want, and how they want.”
The word podcast contains a reference to Apple’s Mp3 player, the iPod, but podcasting is not limited by platform or device. In general, users download podcasts through portals such as Apple’s mobile podcast application or the Windows 8 podcast application, but many podcasts are also available directly through the podcast provider’s website or a proprietary app offered by the podcast provider. Podcasts can also be “streamed,” in which the listener uses a mobile application or computer program to listen to the podcast directly from the source without downloading.
Although the term “podcast” can refer to audio, visual, or text, the vast majority of podcasts currently available are audio podcasts; due to the proliferation of listening devices such as Mp3 players and mobile phones during the 2000s, audio podcasting became the dominant form of podcasting, and thus in general (and in the present report) the term “podcast” refers audio podcasting exclusively.
Podcast format varies greatly from provider to provider. Spoken word podcasts with formats similar to shows on terrestrial radio tend to be the dominant style; music-oriented podcasts also exist, but are rarer due to legal and copyright issues.
2.2 History
The term “blog,” (a shortened version of “web log”) has been in common usage for quite some time, and audio blogging, which refers to posting an audio recording as a blog post, has long been a common practice. However, the history of podcasting, which can be thought of as an audio blog post synched to another device, begins in the early 2000s.
In the early 2000s, a software developer named Dave Wiener developed “really simple synchronization,” or RSS. RSS allowed bloggers to synch information automatically, and was compatible with many different devices and formats. In 2003, Wiener used his RSS to synch audio content on his blog, marking one of the first times that what we now know as a
“podcast” was produced. Also in 2003, another software developer Steven Curry used RSS to synch audio content to iTunes, a technology critical to the development of the medium.
In 2005, journalist Ben Hammersley wrote an article in The Guardian on the state of internet radio. In this article, he noted the lack of appropriate terminology to describe internet radio as a distinct phenomenon and, among others, proposed the term “podcast,” a combination of the words iPod and broadcast, as a solution. The name became widespread as the year progressed, and in June of that year, Apple added a podcast feature to its iTunes software and iTunes store.
Podcasting continued to grow in popularity over the next few years. British comedian Ricky Gervais began offering a podcast through Guardian Unlimited from late 2005 through early 2006. It was consistently the highest ranked podcast available, and in the 2007 edition of The Guinness Book of World Records, it was certified as the most downloaded podcast in the world, with an average of 261,670 downloads per episode during its first month, and 4.5
million total downloads within two months of its release (Guinness World Records Limited, 2006).
The next two years saw the medium of podcasting mature as content providers looked for ways to more effectively monetize. In 2006, podcaster Lance Anderson became the first podcaster to hold a live show, in which he taped an episode of his podcast in front of a live, paying audience. This is now common practice and widely used by many popular podcasts.
The next year, podcasters Jack and Stench began offering a podcast with a monthly subscription fee, marking one of the first successful implementation of this business model.
As awareness of podcasting grew, so did its scope. In 2009, comedian and radio personality Adam Carolla began offering a daily podcast. According to The Guinness Book of World Records, between 2009 and 2011, the Adam Carolla Podcast (later the Adam Carolla Show), was downloaded a total of 59.6 million times, making it the most downloaded podcast in the world to date (Guinness World Records Limited, 2011).
2.3 Commercial Implications Podcast Market and Listenership
Since podcasts are available through such a variety of channels, it is difficult to arrive at the exact number of podcasts available. However, as a point of reference, Pew Research estimated the number of English language podcasts available in 2010 to be 90,000 (Olmstead, Mitchell and Rosenstiel, 2012), and Apple’s iTunes offers podcasts in 155 countries worldwide.
Podcasting is increasingly being accepted as an alternative to traditional radio programs in the United States. Although it has leveled off somewhat in recent years, awareness of podcasting has risen steadily since 2006, as evidenced by Figure 1
.
Figure 1 Awareness of Podcasting Source: Mitchell et al, 2013
Additionally, the number of Americans who had listened to an audio podcast rose 18% in the period between 2006 and 2012, and the number that had watched a video podcast rose 16% in that same period (Webster, 2012).
Podcasting as a business
As the idea of podcasting as a business is relatively new, it has not been extensively studied.
The majority of literature regarding podcasting specifically only addresses podcasting as an auxiliary medium to achieve other goals, not as a means by which to make money; examples include podcasting’s role in education (Evans, 2008; Hew, 2007).
Crofts et al. (2005) indentify several business models used by podcasts.
Sponsorships. Corporations sponsor proprietary podcasts. In other words, one company provides all the advertising for an entire podcast. Example: Volvo’s podcast at autoblog.com.
Advertising. Podcasters or parent companies solicit advertising from a variety of sources that plays at various points during the show, often times at the beginning and end. Examples: The Adam Carolla Show, Freakonomics, etc.
Listener donations. Podcast hosts or parent companies solicit donations directly from listeners, either via direct appeals during the podcast, email solicitations, or other means.
Cooption. Existing broadcasters use the podcast medium to distribute existing content, either from TV or radio. A prominent example of a company using this business model is the US company PRI, which produces shows for American public radio and also distributes many of them as podcasts.
Paid subscription models. Companies charge a fee in order to access podcast content.
With the proliferation of smart phones and the popularity of platforms such as Apple’s iTunes, this business model appears to have fallen somewhat out of favor with podcasters; however, some podcasters still require a fee for customers to access archived or special content.
III. Literature review