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Podcasting Goes From Indie to Mainstream Overnight

Posted on: Wednesday, 13 July 2005, 06:00 CDT

Mainstream media companies are starting to dominate podcasts -- topping in popularity the quirky independents that created the trendy online radio genre.

Podcasts from ESPN, CNN, ABC News and the TV show Queer Eye are among the most popular this week on iTunes, Apple's download site.

That's a huge change. Until recently, podcasts were largely pirate-radio-style broadcasts, often produced by one person on a home PC. Now, podcasts are anchored by such staid celebrities as Rush Limbaugh and Ted Koppel.

Podcasting "went from underground to mainstream overnight," says Ted Schadler, digital media analyst at Forrester Research.

Customers signed up for more than a million free podcast subscriptions in just two days when iTunes started featuring them last month. That includes independent podcasts, such as The Dawn and Drew Show. But the soaring popularity of mainstream podcasts on iTunes may make it tough for indies to find an audience -- and profitability.

"Apple and the mainstream media are making a monumental mistake," says Richard Bluestein, who podcasts on YeastRadio.com. They're "repackaging the same boring, heartless and anti-human garbage" instead of focusing on alternative programs, he says.

Podcasting began appearing last year, when its pioneers figured out that talk radio programs could be downloaded with a click of a mouse, just like digital music files. Podcasting gets its name from Apple's iPod digital music player.

Some early podcasts, such as Rob Greenlee's WebTalk Radio, were digital versions of existing radio shows. But most were new. Podcasting is open to anyone "with a laptop and a $6 microphone," Greenlee says. Now the low costs have attracted:

*Los Angeles public radio station KCRW, which podcasts 22 shows it already produces, says General Manager Ruth Seymour. The podcasts are attracting new listeners, which could lead to more donations for the publicly supported station, Seymour says.

*Bravo, the network behind makeover TV show Queer Eye. It strips audio from TV vignettes and turns them into a popular podcast called Hip Tips.

*Disney, which has taken some of the videos on its website, stripped out the audio, and repackaged them as podcasts. It also plans to offer podcasts from its regular radio stations, called Radio Disney.

The conflict between big and small podcasters is expected to intensify as interest grows in advertising, subscription fees and other ways to make money. But Michael Rundle, a Cambridge University student who hosts a music podcast, insists there is room for everyone. "Just because some shows might end up with a smaller audience than ABC News, the genius of podcasting means they can still survive," he says.

Source: USA TODAY

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