Getting plugged on the podcast

As leading publishers in the region race to transform themselves into cross-platform content providers, the podcast and its big brother, the vodcast, have emerged as the new, new thing.

The reason is simple: the technology is (relatively) new and sexy - and the most likely consumer to download a pod, or vodcast, research shows, is young and affluent - just the kind of audience that newspapers traditionally have most trouble attracting and hanging onto.

The question, however, is this: does this brave new world of audio-visual content promise to generate new revenue streams, or is it just added value for an increasingly discriminating audience?

1. So, what exactly is a podcast? And why is it so cool anyway? While the term 'podcasting' is drawn fromApple's iPod, other portable MP3 media players are equally able to play a podcast. The term 'podcasting' was created by ex-MTV presenter, Adam Curry, who created an Applescript application that made the process of downloading audio files to iPods automatic. Podcasting is simply offering audio - and, in the case of vodcasting, video content - on demand, to be downloaded and consumed later.

2. The reason podcasting has created such a stir is that it is a cheap way to expand the means of content delivery for traditional media. Anyone with a mic and a computer can quickly and easily create an audio package for distribution via the internet.

3. As well as giving readers more choice in the way they consume the stories they're interested in, podcasting gives advertisers an opportunity to create highly targeted pieces of communication. There's the ability to sponsor a regular themed podcast, or to create radio-style ads of five or 10 seconds that can run at the beginning, end, or during a podcast.

4. The fact that consumers have to click to download a podcast means it's easy for advertisers to see how many people are accessing their ad; the problem is that at the moment they don't know how many of those people actually listened to it, or how many times they listened to it. On the plus side, though, there's a wealth of information to be gleaned from compiling audience profiles of podcast users. Knowing which podcasts, and which online content items, have been clicked on by an individual reader or user will certainly be of value to advertisers, in the same way that Amazon can estimate what you might like to buy based on what you've looked at before.

5. Numbers of users aren't really that big, however, and exponential growth isn't generally forecast. Recently however, a Nielsen//NetRatings study showed that in the US, more people have downloaded a podcast lately than have published a blog, or engaged in online dating. It found that 6.6% of the US adult online population - or 9.2 million web users - had downloaded a podcast within the last 30 days; four percent, or 5.6 million users, had also downloaded a video podcast, or vodcast. 

6. While the absolute number of podcast downloaders is still small, they remain an attractive bunch of people. Those most likely to download podcasts are, generally, young - usually under 30 - well-educated males with higher-than-average incomes. They're also extremely busy, which makes them difficult to target via traditional media.

7. For print publishers and their advertisers, it is unclear whether podcasts will have real staying power and not just novelty value. It seems uncertain whether consumers who don't already consume a newspaper, whether in print or online, will start doing so because they can download podcasts. The added choice for existing consumers may well help retain readers, though, and there are clearly opportunities for media owners who can generate desirable podcast content to generate ad revenue.

8. The real appeal of podcasting probably lies more in its potential. Automatically generated podcasts, based on consumers' pre-selected preferences, are on the horizon.The ability to download on the move, via a mobile phone, will also make the technology far more appealing.