A report about podcasting, and its popularity in the United States.
For May 7, 2015, but can be used a few days later. Info: newsroom.free103point9.org newsroom.wgxc.org
Since the days of Thomas Edison, humans have made audio programs of variable lengths â usually 28- or 58-minutes-long â and listeners â usually through radios â have listened. Now, though, many people listen to audio programs through other, digital means, subscribing with an RSS feed, or purchasing the sounds from the iTunes store. The term âpodcast,â if oneâs short-term memory has failed, is a proprietary term for a piece of hardware that barely still exists. Still, the term was bandied about a lot in the past year with the popularity and media chatter about âSerial,â the first program to reach five million streams or downloads in iTunes history. The Pew Research Center reports that in 2014 three new âpodcastâ networks were launched by public radio groups: Radiotopia by PRX, SoundWorks by PRI, and Infinite Guest by APM. Now The New Yorker and WNYC are working together to produce a new national radio show and podcast set to premiere in the fall. In 2015, a Pew Research study indicates, 17 percent of Americans listened to a podcast in the past month, up from 9 percent in 2008. But, on the other hand, only one-third of all Americans have ever listened to an entire âpodcast,â so we arenât talking about the penetration of television or radio yet. But now âpodcastingâ is being marketed to advertisers, through giant radio networks such as iHeartMedia. Mark Ramsey wrote that, âLast week, iHeartMedia launched its first âSoundFront,â where they debuted a slate of new original programs that were widely misinterpreted by the media. For example, the headline in Ad Age read âIHeartMedia Shows Off Original Podcasts at âSoundfrontâ.â While that is technically accurate, whatâs much more accurate is the deeper reality of iHeartMediaâs strategy which few outside iHeartMedia and their advertisers seem to understandâ¦. Itâs a platform strategy â as in, content across every platform. Every piece of content iHeartMedia creates will live in some form or another across all of its platforms, thus magnifying the reach and engagement for that content and also magnifying the opportunities for advertisers.â So the typical internet story is playing out, as the DIY ethos of âpodcastingâ gets the throw-everything-at-it corporate approach.
Podcasting Has a Moment in the Mainstream May 7, 2015
Radio news about radio waves.
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May 7, 2015
Produced at Wave Farm/WGXC in the Hudson Valley, New York.
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