Over-the-Air to On-the-Web

Transcription

Over-the-Air to On-the-Web;
,J
r.
Podcasting as a Viable Primary Future Alternative for
Traditional Radio Broadcasting Methods
©
G
eo
rg
e
D
ra
ke
Name: George Drake, Jr.
Student Number: 33218964
Course: MC71124A - Radio Studies: A Cultural Enquiry
Date: 31st August 2012
Goldsmiths College - MA Radio 2011-2012
‘History teaches that the best method inevitably forces
its way into use and ultimately becomes the standard.’
-Edwin H. Armstrong, January 1941
George Drake, Jr. – MA Radio 2012
Transformations & Sustainability
‘People say they keep [the ‘Radiolab’ podcast] on their iPod, which is
a great compliment. I want it to feel like music – as keepable as
music, not as disposable as radio.’
(Abumrad & Krulwich 2008)
In 1914, Edwin Howard Armstrong developed the regenerative circuit,
,J
r.
which later led to frequency modulation (FM) in 1933 – the invention that
ultimately laid the groundwork for the radio of today. Six years later at the New
York World’s Fair in 1939, David Sarnoff introduced the world to the first
television prototype causing the need for radio to adjust with changing times after
less than a decade (Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio, dir. Ken
ke
Burns). Events forcing alterations in radio broadcasting have been incessant
since the advent of the television, such as the cassette tape, compact disc player,
mp3 player and most recently, the perpetual transformations of the internet.
ra
Media developments have pertinaciously forced improvements on radio, and that
same pattern continues today.
In 1935, Arthur Van Dyck wrote in The North American Review, ‘Much of
D
radio’s indirect usefulness lies in contributing new tools of value to other
branches of the electrical art’ (Van Dyck 1935:307) which is unquestionably true
for radio in the twenty first century. Essentially, radio is the chameleon of
©
G
eo
rg
e
broadcast mediums. Although the first to set a precedent, it now adapts to the
unremitting alterations made to other mediums. Every adjustment, although
executed to prevent the medium from being phased out, has systematically
transformed radio into a much more vast and attainable medium.
The podcast is one adjustment, which was less a direct response to a
change in another medium, but has had an enormous impact on radio
broadcasting itself. Since its inception in the early 2000’s, podcasting has gone
from being a do-it-yourself medium, to an industry standard. By using the internet
as a means of broadcasting, not only has radio become more affordable and
easier to create, it has also become more intimate and easier to access.
By replacing conventional radios with computers and mp3 players, radio is
available at the listener’s convenience as opposed to being set in a rigid
schedule, something radio has never been able to do. Radio stations now have
the ability to include their over-the-air content online for leisurely listening and
1
added mobile applications allow listeners even easier access to the content they
provide.
New aspects to the medium, however, come with a price. With the added
convenience via the internet, the listener also has added online distractions.
Moreover, allowing the expediency of accessibility whenever the listener wishes
also permits the possibility of online multitasking instead of not demanding full
,J
r.
attention.
Naturally, the internet provides a surplus of varying options, such as
streaming audio content and internet radio, which may cause people to not only
stray away from podcasts, but possibly completely ignore their existence.
Ultimately, it is difficult to repress the fact that podcasting is not an aspect
ke
to radio which will be replaced in the near future. Advertisers saw the potential of
podcasting shortly after its inception and have continued sponsorship and
underwriting to maintain the creation of new and established podcasts. Even
ra
members of the traditional radio community are beginning to realise the
importance of podcasting by leaving their roles in radio to either take part in or
begin a podcast of their own.
D
According to a survey conducted by the UK regulator Ofcom (Office of
Communications) in 2010, radio listenership steadily continues to decline as one
©
G
eo
rg
e
of the highest ‘missed activities’ (Rudin 2011:40). More recently, however, ‘The
Podcast Consumer 2012’ study conducted by Edison Research and Arbitron
shows that almost one quarter of the American population are podcast listeners
(Appendix C). By using the popularity of the internet and personal listening
devices, podcasts are becoming a valid future alternative for traditional radio
broadcasting methods.
Technological Advancements
‘ “People are experiencing time poverty. If they can’t listen to the show
on the air, they can listen on a podcast,” said Phil Redo, WNYC’s vice
president of station operations.’
(Baker 2005:C08)
In today's modern world, availability is one of the major afflictions to radio
listenership. Radio, in its purest form in the early twentieth century was the
primary medium for entertainment and information. As time has progressed,
however, so have the means of accessing different forms of entertainment and
2
the sources for information have changed from local to worldwide, while
accessibility has transitioned from impossible to expected.
In a society built around the necessity of immediacy, the podcast has
changed radio from a time-oriented and time-sensitive medium to an evergreen
and versatile medium. Allowing listeners to have the potential to listen at their
leisure means they are in complete control. Not only do they have the ability to
,J
r.
select a podcast based upon theme, topic, length, station, etc., they also have the
option of mobility, time and venue. Richard Rudin noted in Broadcasting in the
21st Century noted:
ke
‘Radio’s transformation […] from being a foreground medium –
something that demanded the fullest attention of the listener – to
being a background medium, which accompanied other activities, has
allowed it to integrate with other media in the online world, leading to
the renewed interest in the use of audio.’
(Rudin 2011:61)
ra
When radio breached the floodgates of the internet, the medium began to
take on an entirely new form. Using internet streaming capabilities, a small
D
station in Duluth, Minnesota can reach past the frequency band, and stations that
exist solely on the internet have no central location, but are rather on a worldwide
platform. Now, radio is much more vast and approachable, and according to Julie
©
G
eo
rg
e
Shapiro, Artistic Director of the Chicago-based Third Coast International Audio
Festival, in comparison to traditional radio, podcasts ‘[have] the freedom
unrestrained by the radio clock or the expectations of a broadcaster’ (Appendix
B).
In 2011, Gazi, Starkey and Jedrzejewski explained radio’s progression
exclusively based on internet technology in Radio Content in the Digital Age:
‘In the past ten years, the radio, like other social media, has
undergone major transformations. We have gone from tuning into a
conventional, traditional analogue radio to an internet radio
characterized by interactivity in a multimedia system with new
languages, new formats and new services.’
(Gazi, A., Starkey, G., Jedrzejewski, S. 2011:63)
Unilike streaming options or internet radio, podcasts have the same
qualities that set them apart from over-the-air broadcasting, but are much more
flexible. Once downloaded, a podcast can be listened to on a smart phone or
mp3 player, as opposed to the other options, which require an internet or mobile
3
phone connection. Furthermore, while there is a vast array of streaming radio
station options, even music streaming companies such as Spotify, Last.fm,
Grooveshark and Pandora still require an internet connection.
Former head of interactive radio at the BBC, Chris Kimber believes that
podcasting is not equivalent to other options:
,J
r.
‘Podcasting is fundamentally different from an internet stream, since
listeners can carry the program with them and listen when they are
ready. […] We are trying to ensure that radio survives the digital age,
we don’t want to be the only media that is not digital.’
(Crampton 2005:18)
With the use of the podcast, radio stations now have the capability to
ke
make their over-the-air content available to listeners across the globe, even if the
station does not stream their content live online. This allows listeners to program
their own radio station, with a variety of content and broadcast whenever and
ra
wherever is most convenient for them. Rudin notes, ‘The whole of broadcasting,
which developed from a ‘one to many’ approach is shifting to a much more
intimate relationship’ (Rudin: 2011:175). Worldwide accessibility to radio is a
D
modification to broadcasting that could not have been foreseen, and the
challenges presented were undetectable and, at the turn of the century,
unsolvable. However, even with the many transitions radio has endured, the
©
G
eo
rg
e
elements that set radio apart from other mediums have remained.
Guy Ruddle, former podcast editor at The Telegraph, was interviewed by
Campaign in 2006:
‘Radio has always been the most intimate medium, but this goes one
step further. […] [People] can take it with [them] and […] do other
things while [they’re] listening. Podcasts have the intimacy of radio
with all the flexibility of newspapers.’
(Bannister 2006:24)
Julie Shapiro agrees with Ruddle’s statement and adds:
‘It’s also intimate because [people] have so much choice over what
[they’re] going to listen to and […] don’t have to gamble on an
interviewer finding someone [they’re] interested in listening to. The
niche orientation of podcasts is really giving something special to the
listening audience.’
(Appendix B)
4
Allowing listeners to shape their own programme blocks and set their own
broadcast schedules around their own availability has, as stated by Rudin,
Ruddle and Shapiro, harnessed radio’s intimacy and amplified it by giving the
listener control. Although directed towards a large audience and designed for
mass appeal, podcasts are fundamentally designed to allow the medium to be at
the listener’s disposal. Programming decisions being left for the listener to make
,J
r.
creates a influx in the appeal of radio and a renewed interest in new-age radio
programming, establishing a modernised broadcasting structure with more
identity (Gazi, A., Starkey, G., Jedrzejewski, S. 2011:63).
Podcasting is one of the main contributors giving radio more ‘identity’ on a
worldwide foundation. Permitting the listener to control what he or she listens to
ke
provides a much stronger connection than simply a one-sided conversation
programmed by a radio station. And with the inclusion rather than seclusion of
the listener, new radio has become a more enjoyable, identifiable and relatable
ra
medium.
Cebrián recapitulates the allowance of listeners interaction with the new
D
aspects to the medium in this manner:
©
G
eo
rg
e
‘The jump is momentous, as it changes to a model based on dialogue
between users in the role of listeners, for they are the drivers of the
communication process they undertake. Of course while the station
has also designed another process as is the organization of the web,
programming and providing tools so that users can then start the
process. Users are freed from the bondage of live broadcasting and
can access at other times and, most of all, develop personal
strategies for use and consumption.’
(Cebrián 2008 cited in Gazi, A., et al. 2011:63)
Podcasting developed due to amateur producers who were bored of and
wanted to change the homogenised sound of traditional radio (Baker 2005:C08 &
Green, Lowry & Yang 2005), and since the turn of the century, podcasting has
changed radio by ‘developing a participatory journalism of conversational
information’ (Gazi, A., et al. 2011:66).
Podcasting’s inclusion into the world of radio broadcasting can be
compared to the rise in popularity of social networking sites. The convergence of
radio and the internet institutes a web of communication amongst the audience
and permits discussions and interaction on an online platform (Rudin 2011:175).
By comparing internet radio broadcasting to social networking sites, Rudin
insinuates that the progression radio has transformed the demographic from an
5
‘audience’ to, truly, the ‘listener.’ Podcasts assist in focusing content to individual
listeners in a more specific and personal manner, while still appealing to a vast
array of people. On account of the sheer amount of options and the ability to
even create their own podcast, the listener is transformed into programmer and
quite possibly a producer. The internet’s adjustments to the medium have forced
radio to move away from simply entertaining or informing and focus on attempting
,J
r.
to relate, engage and take part in listeners’ lives by allowing them to interact with
members the audience and the podcast presenters, while listening at their own
convenience in their chosen venue.
Issues & Alternatives
ra
ke
‘ “Unless traditional radio stations look at [internet radio] models, they
will quickly find that they are irrelevant because young people just
don’t listen to the radio any more,” [said George Cruickshank, IT
strategist for classical station 2MBS in Sydney.]’
(Bock 2008:3)
Although introduced in the early 2000’s, the same issues that hindered the
progression of podcasting still remain today. Legal debates pertaining to music
D
copyright are the largest factors contributing against the proliferation of
podcasting. Many people support podcasts as a great outlet for music
©
G
eo
rg
e
advertising, but they are also often seen as listeners obtaining songs at no cost.
Because listeners are able to download episode of podcasts as opposed to
streaming them, both major and independent record labels are hesitant to allow
podcasts to contain entire songs by their artists.
Larry Kenswil, former President of UMG’s eLabs division spoke with
Billboard in 2005:
‘We’d like to see podcasting emulate radio. […] The important
licensing terms…are going to make sure that a podcast is for radiotype uses and not a substitute for subscription services, CDs or
downloads.’
(Garrity 2005:8)
Essentially, the primary argument against podcasting is not in fear of the
suffocation of terrestrial radio but rather attempting to keep podcasting from
bleeding over into other mediums. According to entertainment lawyer Michael
Leventhal, granting the listener permission to download a podcast with an entire
song is ‘arguably crossing the line between airing and selling [songs]’ (Piper
6
2005). BMI [Broadcast Music, Inc.] and ASCAP [The American Society of
Composers, Authors and Publishers] have ‘created blanket licensing schemes,’
however, ‘record labels have not followed suit’ (Bruno: 2005). Record labels
primarily remain tentative due to distribution methods and the considerable
difference between the ‘performance’ and ‘reproduction’ of songs (Garrity
2005:8). A ‘performance’ of a song is classified as being played on the radio or
,J
r.
heard via a streaming internet site. A ‘reproduction,’ on the other hand, is how
record labels view songs within a podcast. Since the listener is able to download
it to their computer or mp3 player, labels view podcasts as a ‘reproduction’ and
feel they should be treated as a download (8). Leventhal believes that, ‘[it is] to
the record industry’s benefit if these podcasts happen, so they can be in the
ke
income stream’ (Piper 2005). Ole Molgaard, former head and current board
member for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR), echoes that statement by
Leventhal, ‘Podcasting is the direction radio will go, the record companies just
ra
need to catch up’ (Crampton 2005:18).
eTown is a US music-oriented podcast, featuring live music and
conversation. Nick Forster, CEO, founder and host of eTown follows a more
D
historical model of distribution when concerning the music in his podcast:
©
G
eo
rg
e
‘eTown [provides] copyrighted material, but it’s not the recorded
version. We’re providing live performances of copyrighted material,
but the stations who distribute eTown, historically, are the ones who
have the licensing relationships with BMI and ASCAP.’
(Appendix A)
Although hindered by record labels, there remain loopholes in the current
podcast structure. However, another aspect to podcasts that could potentially
hurt listenership is not demanding the fullest attention of the listener. Multitasking
is not a new aspect to the radio medium, however since the advent of the internet
multitasking has evolved from combination to distraction.
According to Rudin, the Middletown Media Studies II established that in
2006 ‘the computer [had] emerged as the second most significant media device
at about 120 minutes [per day]’ and ‘about 30 per cent of all media time is spent
exposed to more than one medium at a time’ (Rudin 2011:41). Taking into
consideration that in seven years time the internet has significantly evolved, this
information is even more prevalent in today’s society.
Rudin continues:
7
‘Only a couple of per cent of those who ever listen to the radio via the
internet did nothing else; around a quarter were using the computer
for activities such as shopping and playing computer games – which
must take up a fair amount of mental concentration – and nearly 80
per cent were simultaneously checking their emails.’
(176)
,J
r.
Radio has seen multitasking as an advantage in the past, however by
combining media forms, one often receives more attention than the other. Many
of the advancements made to the internet in the more recent years such as social
networking and e-mail sites demand more attention than a podcast, and by
multitasking online while listening to a podcast, one can presuppose that the
ke
latter frequently receives less attention.
Internet radio has begun to take shape over the last few years, and has
proven to be a contender in the multiple new forms of radio, however the term
‘internet radio’ is difficult to define. There are numerous options when concerning
ra
internet radio: listen again services (originally broadcast over-the-air then made
available online), streaming radio programs (individual programs only available
D
online), internet radio stations (stations that exist solely on the internet) and
online streaming radio (simulcast online from an over-the-air broadcast).
However, Playdio is one option, which is altering the course of internet radio
©
G
eo
rg
e
options.
Founded in 2009 by Kudos Records (Forde 2010:10), Playdio, ‘a
combination of playlist and radio - lets users create their own radio shows by
making song playlists interspersed with spoken links’ (Topping 2010:11).
Danny Ryan is the MD for Kudos Records and founder of Playdio:
‘We were looking at podcasting and there was no easy way to have
licensed music on there or any way for it to make money for the
producer. We then looked at streaming music services to see if there
was a way that we, as an aggregator, could add value to those
services.’
(Forde 2010:10)
By collaborating with streaming music platform Spotify, Playdio allows
people to record entire music radio shows and ‘stitch’ the presenter and music
together into separate tracks. Playdio is revolutionising the online radio industry is
by giving the listener complete control of the shows themselves and allowing
them to interact by giving them ability to skip past or even repeat songs (10).
8
Playdio has found an alternative to bargaining with record labels, while still
remaining true to the radio medium. However Spotify SVP of strategic
partnerships Paul Brown thinks that podcasts remain on an entirely different
level:
,J
r.
‘Is it the cure to podcasting? […] No. But it’s an interesting way of
doing some programming on the platform. Podcasts are a different
beast to pre-set downloadable and streamable content.’
(10)
UK radio’s monitoring outfit RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research)
Measurement of Internet Delivered Audio Services (MIDAS 6) conducted in 2010
ke
found:
ra
‘31% of adults claim to have ever listened to the radio via the internet,
including 29% who have listened live (up from 27% in November
2009) and 25% who have used time-shifted listening (using Listen
Again services, up from 23%)’
(Appendix F)
The popularity of streaming internet radio has risen due to listen again
D
services, the ability to listen to radio from other parts of the world, and certain
modern inventions such as the Logitech Squeeze-Box Radio and Pure Evoke
Flow, which transfer internet radio from a computer to a wireless-capable device
©
G
eo
rg
e
(Campbell 2012:6).
Internet radio options, like traditional radio, continuously progress and
adapt to meet the needs of the audience and maintain pace with changes to
technology. As an alternative to traditional radio, internet radio still remains too
heavily connected to its predecessor, however as it evolves, it also gains
popularity. Aspects of internet radio that have the most promise do not follow the
traditional
presenter/listener
radio
model,
but
rather
are
the
offshoots
encouraging listeners to take part or create their own program that are truly
revolutionary.
Gaining Momentum & Switching Mediums
‘ “Podcasters are experimenting with new content and narrative arcs.
This is going to change the form of radio because most podcasters
don’t know there’s a right way – or a wrong way – to do it,” [said Tod
Maffin, technology futurist and national producer for CBC Radio.]’
(Gill 2005:R3)
9
Since 2005, podcasts have increased in quantity, quality, revenue and
funding, most importantly, however, the audience for podcasts has increased
exponentially. Since podcasting became a radio norm in 2005, it has proven to be
an aspect of the medium that is less of an offshoot and more a stand-alone entity.
Legitimate podcasts, which are not affiliated to a radio station when they are
established, are continuously played by radio stations not only encouraging
,J
r.
production from other podcasters, but also encouraging fellow radio stations to
begin reaching out to podcast producers for content to provide for their over-theair services.
The success of The Ricky Gervais Show was the first to set the precedent
and also the first to allow the radio world to see the potential of podcasting. The
ke
first series of the podcast entered the Guinness Book of Records in 2007 for
being the most popular podcast ever (Bannister 2006:24), only to be broken by
The Adam Carolla Show in the US in 2011 (Hudson 2011). At the time, Gervais
ra
did not have a price attributed to his podcast, however if the same amount of
people were to download the second series as did the first and he were to follow
the LBC model and charge £2.50 per month for his podcast, he could ‘reap a
D
staggering £4.28 million in revenues’ (Bannister 2006:24).
The more current podcast structure follows a similar form, however, less-
©
G
eo
rg
e
established producers and hosts are becoming the mainstream. WNYC-FM’s
own ‘Radiolab’ podcast is a prime example of a show that transcends original
broadcast norms. Originally conceived in 2002 as a three-hour radio
documentary show to fill time during WNYC’s Sunday night schedule, ‘Radiolab’
has become the ‘top of the line’ in terms of structure, production and editing.
Since 2007, the show made for over-the-air broadcasts became available as
podcasts, which in turn created a phenomenon (Walker 2011:MM42).
Each series of ‘Radiolab’ consists of only five new episodes, however
podcast listeners get the added benefit of ‘Radiolab Shorts,’ made only and
specifically for the podcast audience. On average, each series attracts a million
listeners via WNYC’s over-the-air broadcast, which however sits in the shadow of
the 1.8 million who are subscribed to the podcast (MM42).
Much like ‘Radiolab,’ most recently Roman Mars, a producer and reporter
at the San Francisco public radio station KALW-FM became a podcast staple for
his ‘99% Invisible’ podcast. After launching in 2010, it had minimal airplay on
KALW’s Morning Edition show and various other non-commercial stations around
10
the US. However, after ‘Radiolab’ featured a segment he produced in one of its
shows, ‘99% Invisible’ became one of the top downloaded podcasts on iTunes
(Lapin 2012). Since the ‘Radiolab’ endorsement, the podcast has truly become a
sensation.
Wanting to increase the show’s production, hire an assistant producer and
upgrade his home studio, Mars reached out to his audience for funding via the
,J
r.
online fundraising platform Kickstarter:
ke
‘[‘99% Invisible has already] attracted big sponsorships from
companies such as Facebook. And [recently], the show wrapped up a
30-day fundraising campaign for its third season. The goal was
$42,000. The final amount rasied [was] north of $180,000. […] The
show smashed the website’s records, becoming the most-funded
journalism project in its history.’
(Lapin 2012)
The ‘99% Invisible’ podcast is still broadcast on only a limited number of
ra
non-commercial radio stations in the US, however since being lunched, Mars has
moved from his bedroom to a proper studio space, and since September 2010
his podcast has been downloaded over 4 million times. Aside from the
D
monumental fundraising efforts of his audience, ‘99% Invisible’ is still being
approached for advertising possibilities, but Mars says that he’s ‘never had an
©
G
eo
rg
e
underwriter ask [him] how many stations [he is] on’ but rather, ‘how much [he
gets] downloaded’ (Lapin 2012).
Advertising revenue has steadily increased over the past seven years and
advertisers that have not been taking part are, instead, beginning to take notice.
Although advertising in podcasts is often compared to the commercialised-sound
of traditional over-the-air broadcast radio, often times because of its specific
direction to the podcast audience, it is accepted rather than despised. Not only
are listeners’ favourite podcasts supported, but also the advertising is directed to
them rather than a mass audience.
In 2010, The Assosciation for Downloadable Media (ADM), an appendage
of ZimmComm New Media, LLC, conducted an independent research study,
which found that ‘90% of listeners had taken some kind of action as a result of
podcast advertising or sponsorship.’ Moreover, ‘40% reported purchasing
products or services.’ The results ultimately found that in 2010, ‘podcast
advertising spending [was] on track to reach $435 million [US] within two years’
(Brown 2010:FP11).
11
Podcast advertising is vitally different from other radio advertising
methods. Hypothetically, if there were an advertisement on The Ricky Gervais
Show for a touring comedy festival, it would not seem far-fetched. Alternatively
however, within the traditional broadcasting model, each of a station’s listeners is
not necessarily the target demographic for wood stain or used books. Podcasting
allows advertisers to direct their brands to a specific group, rather than blanketing
,J
r.
an entire city.
Nick Forster of eTown describes his experience with sponsors and
targeting his audience as follows:
ra
ke
‘If our sponsors were interested in a younger demographic, we could
say, “Wait, don’t get too nervous, we have all of these podcast
subscribers, and the evidence we have suggests they are a younger
demographic. While we’ve got 300 radio stations, we’ve also got
60,000-70,000 podcast subscribers plus non-subscribing podcast
listeners.” It’s a way for us to balance the erosion of our audience as a
result of radio losing relevance for certain people as technology
advances.’
(Appendix A)
D
Public relations firms quickly began encouraging advertisers to sponsor
podcasts after seeing their potential. Sylvain Perron is the former managing
director and current general manager of Canadian PR firm Edleman persuading
©
G
eo
rg
e
clients to consider podcast advertising:
‘Podcasts offer the opportunity for brands to engage with a highly
targeted audience in a very dynamic way [while building] real value
around what matters to their audience.’
(Brown 2010:FP11)
As advertisers begin to adhere to podcasts as a form of media
penetration, the same could be said for current radio station on-air personalities.
Many have left their current positions in radio broadcasting to take part in or
establish their own podcasts in an attempt to save their careers within the
medium.
These situations are on a rise and could potentially become an industry
norm. Many are removing themselves for the freedom of creating and controlling
their own programs, however it is just as common that their shows have been
cancelled and they begin pursuing recreating them as a podcast.
The Los Angeles Times interviewed Perry Michael Simon, editor at
AllAccess.com, in 2012 for his take on the growing matter:
12
‘It’s an example of how creative talent is adapting to a new reality. […]
The number of outlets they’ve got on traditional media have shrunk.
It’s wise of anybody on the talent side to be entrepreneurial.’
(Carney 2012:D10)
Tom Leykis, former shock-jock for KLSX-FM (now KAMP-FM) in Los
Angeles lost his talk show due to a format change. Three years later, he revived
,J
r.
the show in podcast form:
‘I didn’t know what to do next. […] [But] it became apparent that
anyone with a laptop and a cheap microphone was doing a podcast.
[…] [I wanted to] create a radio station without a transmitter.’
(2012:D10)
ke
By establishing their own podcasts, these former personalities are
essentially creating their own competition against radio stations with an already
established local audience. If a station attempts to save money by replacing its
ra
existing morning show with a syndicated one and their former personality creates
their own podcast, the majority of their audience could potentially begin
commuting with the new podcast instead of the new morning show. Arguably, the
D
syndicated show has a reputation and loyal following across the country, however
within that city the former host has the majority. Furthermore, that host could also
©
G
eo
rg
e
potentially expand their audience by offering the podcast online for the world to
listen.
Replacing ‘Radio Without a Radio’
‘[Podcasting has] become radio without a radio. A lot of people who
listen to [‘Radiolab’] don't have a radio. They have other gadgets.
They'll listen on a computer, or a device they put on their ear. They
mail it to each other, so it's radio by letter. […] [It is] a distribution
system that is being invented by the listeners.’
(Abumrad & Krulwich 2008)
As a whole, over-the-air listenership continues to decline, especially in the
older demographic. 2010 Ofcom Communications Market Report figures suggest
that ‘listening to the radio is the second most-missed activity. […] (16 per cent of
55-64-year-olds) far higher than the younger adults and the [UK] adult population
overall’ (Rudin 2011:42). In contrast, Edison Research and Arbitron’s ‘Podcast
Consumer 2012’ figures signify that only 29 per cent of non-podcast listeners and
53 percent of podcast listeners in the US listen to the radio (Appendix D).
13
Podcast listening however, has increased since it began in the early
2000’s. Further evidence from ‘The Podcast Consumer 2012’ noted that podcast
listening has increased since 2010 and 29 per cent of Americans listened to a
podcast in 2012 (Appendix E). RAJAR MIDAS 6 figures from 2010 indicate that in
the UK, ‘15% of the adult 15+ population have downloaded a podcast’ and on
average ‘podcast [users subscribe] to just under 5 podcasts [a week]’ (Appendix
,J
r.
F). Furthermore, in 2011 the BBC announced its podcast programs had been
downloaded over 1 billion times since its podcast service launched in 2007
(Barnett 2011).
Arthur Van Dyck speculated in 1935 that as ‘big as the radio industry is
now, it is using only one-third of its already known potentialities’ (Van Dyck
ke
1935:307). If he were indeed correct in his conjecture then, he is most certainly
correct within today’s radio broadcasting standards, however not to the highest
degree. Today’s radio industry is fundamentally limitless. With the addition of
ra
internet capabilities, mobile phones and portable listening devices new aspects to
the radio medium can and will continually alter the face of radio. Radio is
currently spanning past frequencies to countries abroad and while, ‘In other parts
D
of the world, [in places where technology won’t arrive for a long time], terrestrial
radio is […] such a link for communities’ (Appendix B) for the majority of modern
©
G
eo
rg
e
societies, terrestrial radio broadcasting is not becoming obsolete, but rather
antiquated.
In today’s standards, theories and practices, ‘broadcasting’ is a term,
which seems to not fully represent the whole of radio. In a sense, the word
‘broad’ sounds vague within the context. Rudin recognises that today’s culture is
‘indeed challenging the whole meaning of ‘broadcasting’ and blurring the
boundaries between what we may call old and new media’ (Rudin 2011:174).
‘Broadcasting’ began to full take form in the early twentieth century, however the
radio of today is exceptionally vaster than its counterpart of a century ago. While
the designation of an alternative term is superfluous, the concept behind the
alternative is not. Radio is continuously changing, morphing and growing into an
unrecognisable medium and each alteration has not only impacted radio as a
whole, but also influenced the way society interacts with media.
Gazi, Starkey and Jedrzejewski recognise that ‘Podcasts can be both a
threat and an opportunity for traditional radio’ explaining that current radio
stations ‘can incorporate these new applications quite easily, meeting the new
14
demands of the listener with no extra costs to the station’ (2011:211). While this
is most certainly true for the present, modifications will need to be made across
the board for the coexistence to proliferate. Portable listening devices and
computers will soon need to be adjusted to receive radio signals or alternatively,
and possibly more realistically, radio stations will need to exist solely on the
internet to compete with podcast listenership.
,J
r.
The podcast becoming the primary radio industry standard will not be
immediate, nor will it be a simple transition. It will cause backlash from some of
the current generation, but to incoming generations the transition will have had no
effect. Societal and technological norms have fluctuated media practices and
strategies since media’s inception, however, when the dust had settled those
ke
fluctuations did not go unnoticed, but rather unrecognised by future generations.
In the mid-twentieth century, Edwin Howard Armstrong attempted to alter
the mindset of individuals against the induction of frequency modulation (FM) as
ra
the radio standard writing:
D
‘Once in a while an invention is made that overcomes so many of the
problems with which an industry has been contending that its methods
are quickly recognized as the right ones to follow.’
(Armstrong 1941:153)
G
eo
rg
e
Although the transition is presently unanticipated and the estimation of a
timeframe remains impossible, the popularity of podcasts continues to increase,
leaving traditional radio methods to remain in the shadow. In the future,
podcasting will arguably become the frequency modulation of the current radio
model, while traditional over-the-air broadcasting on the other hand will adopt the
role as the opposing amplitude modulation (AM): not entirely phased out,
©
however no longer the industry standard.
15
References
1. Abumrad, J., & Krulwich, R. (2008). Interview: Jad Abumrad and Robert
Krulwich Interviewed by Andy Battaglia [online] 24 April 2008. Available at:
<http://www.avclub.com/articles/jad-abumrad-and-robert-krulwich,14233/>
[Accessed: 9 July 2012].
,J
r.
2. Armstrong, E.H. ‘Frequency Modulation and Its Future Uses’ Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 213, New
Horizons in Radio (January 1941), p. 153-161, Published by: Sage
Publications, Inc.
3. Baker, C. (2005) ‘Podcasts penetrate radio market’, Washington Times,
11th February, p. C08.
ke
4. Bannister, L. (2006) ‘Why it pays to podcast’, Campaign, 21st April, p.24.
ra
5. Barnett, E. (2011) ‘BBC podcasts hit 1 billion downloads.’ BBC, [online]
12th December 2011. Available at:
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8946965/BBC-podcasts-hit1-billion-downloads.html> [Accessed: 24th July 2012].
D
6. Bock, A. (2008) ‘RIP radio?’, Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), 14th
January, p. 3.
©
G
eo
rg
e
7. Brown, A. (2010) ‘Podcasts sound the right note; Market could hit US
$435-million within two years’, National Post (fka The Financial Post)
(Canada), 2nd March, p. FP11.
8. Bruno, A. (2005) ‘The Digital Future Is Not Here Yet’, Billboard, 18th June,
p. 35.
9. Campbell, I. (2012) ‘The old 'wireless' gets a digital makeover’, Irish
Times, 29th March, p. 6.
10. Carney, S. (2012) ‘NEW MEDIA; Leykis could blow up the medium; The
former KLSX jock brings his show back online with minimal resources. It
could be radio's future’, Los Angeles Times, 1st July, p. D10.
11. Crampton, T. (2005) ‘International radio on your portable player; Podcasts
help networks reach digital listeners’, International Herald Tribune, 19th
June, p. 18.
12. Edison Research, Arbitron (2012) The Podcast Consumer 2012, Available
at: <http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/2012/05/the-podcastconsumer-2012.php> [Accessed: 17th July 2012].
13. Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1991) [DVD] dir. Ken Burns
(PBS Distribution).
16
14. Forde, E. (2010) ‘PODCASTING: Playdio paves way for podcast music’,
Music Week, 15th May, iss. 19 p. 10.
15. Forster, N. Personal interview with Nick Forster. (See: Appendix A).
16. Garrity, B. (2005) ‘Podcast at the crossroads’, Billboard, 1st October, p. 8.
,J
r.
17. Gazi, A. Starkey G., Jedrzejewski, S. (2011) Radio Content in the Digital
Age, Bristol, UK: intellect.
18. Gill, A. (2005) ‘Radio blogs get great reception; Podcasting is the latest in
broadcast technology storming the Internet and it's sparking a radio
renaissance’, Globe and Mail (Canada), 23rd March, p. R3.
ke
19. Green, H., Lowry, T., Yang, C. (2005) ‘The New Radio Revolution.’
Businessweek, [online] 2nd March 2005. Available at:
<http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2005-03-02/the-new-radiorevolution> [Accessed: 12th July 2012].
D
ra
20. Hudson, A. (2011) ‘Podcasts: Who still listens to them?’ BBC, [online]
23rd July 2011. Available at:
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9545533.stm>
[Accessed: 24th July 2012].
©
G
eo
rg
e
21. Lapin, A. (2012) ‘Podcast with limited radio airplay sets Kickstarter record’
Current.org, [online] 20th August 2012. Available at:
<http://www.current.org/2012/08/podcast-with-limited-radio-airplay-setskickstarter-record/> [Accessed: 23rd August 2012].
22. Piper, G. ‘As Podcasting Goes Commercial, Amateurs Could Face Legal
Trouble’ Washington Internet Daily, Vol. 6, No. 91, (11th May 2005)
[Accessed via NexisLexis: 21st July 2012].
23. Rudin, R. (2011) Broadcasting in the 21st Century, Great Britain: Palgrave
Macmillan.
24. Shapiro, J. Personal interview with Julie Shapiro. (See: Appendix B).
25. Topping, A. (2010) ‘Mini John Peels set to shape sound of internet radio’,
Guardian, 17th May, p. 11.
26. Van Dyck, A. ‘Radio, and Our Future Lives’ North American Review,
Vol.240, No.2 (September 1935), p. 307-313, Published by: University of
Northern Iowa.
27. Walker, R. (2011) ‘On 'Radiolab,' the Sound of Science’, New York Times
Sunday Magazine, 10th April, p. MM42.
17
Background References
1. Abumrad, J. (2012). Jad Abumrad: Reinventing radio for the 21st Century
Interviewed by The CNN Next List Staff [online] 28th April 2012. Available
at: <http://whatsnext.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/28/reinventing-radio-for-the21st-century/> [Accessed: 9th July 2012].
,J
r.
2. Bennett, S. (2012) ‘Podcasts freed the radio star’, Herald Sun (Australia),
23rd June, p. 6.
3. Cardew, B. (2011) ‘Radio: Millions of listeners stuck to Radioplayer’,
Music Week, 11th June, p. 8.
4. Carroll, J. (2006) ‘Pod people’, Irish Times, 19th May, p. 4.
ke
5. Crook, T. (2011) The Sound Handbook, 1st edn., Great Britain:
Routledge.
ra
6. Day, J. (2005) ‘Ofcom boss warns of future without radio.’ Guardian,
[online] 5th July 2005. Available at:
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2005/jul/05/radio?INTCMP=SRCH>
[Accessed: 9th July 2012].
D
7. Dodson, S. (2000) ‘Meet the future of radio.’ Guardian, [online] 9th
October 2000. Available at:
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2000/oct/09/mondaymediasection.
newmedia2> [Accessed: 9th July 2012].
©
G
eo
rg
e
8. Faguy, S. (2009) ‘Voices kept in tune; Montreal radio personalities have
turned to podcasts to get the word out - and build personal brands’,
Gazette (Montreal), 28th December, p. A20.
9. Hart, K. (2006) ‘As Podcasts Spread, Advertisers Sniff Money’,
Washington Post, 23rd July, p. F07.
10. Heisler, S. (2012) ‘Podcasts pop, but show me the profit!’, Daily Variety,
25th July, p. 15.
11. Henry, A. (2010) ‘TuneIn for iPad: Listen to Radio Stations from Around
the World.’ PC Magazine, [online] 29th November 2010. Available at:
<http://appscout.pcmag.com/apple-ios-iphone-ipad-ipod/269098-tuneinfor-ipad-listen-to-radio-stations-from-around-the-world> [Accessed: 9th
July 2012].
12. Kenber, B. (2009) ‘Internet radio is calling; the tune’, Daily Telegraph, 12th
December, p. 7.
13. Krueger, C. (2006) ‘Podcasts picking up, but who's listening?’, St.
Petersburg Times (Florida), 9th January, p. 1B.
18
14. Malyemail, T. (2012) ‘How 99% Invisible Will Change Public Radio.’
Wired, [online] 20th July 2012. Available at:
<http://www.wired.com/design/2012/07/99-invisible/> [Accessed: 21st July
2012].
,J
r.
15. McKenna, T. (2006) ‘Podcasts give radio PR extended life on the Internet’,
PR Week (US), 2nd October, p. 13.
16. Murphy, D. (2007) ‘Prick up your ears’, Marketing (Canada), 5th
December, p. 38.
17. Pogue, D. (2005) ‘In One Stroke, Podcasting Hits Mainstream’, New York
Times, 28th July, sec. C p. 1.
ke
18. Price, D. (2008) ‘A world in your ear’, Sunday Times, 31st August, p. 14.
19. Rankine, D. (2011) ‘Best apps: TV and radio’, The Times, 26th February,
p. 23.
D
ra
20. Salmon, C. (2007) ‘Podcast News.’ Guardian, [online] 24th August 2007.
Available at:
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/aug/24/popandrock3> [Accessed:
9th July 2012].
©
G
eo
rg
e
21. Uncredited (2007) ‘Soaring appeal of podcasting’, New Straits Times
(Malaysia), 29th November, p. 10.
19
Background Website References
http://www.last.fm/
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/
http://www.pandora.com/
http://www.playdio.com/
http://www.radiolab.org/
http://www.rajar.co.uk/
http://www.rickygervais.com/podcast
http://www.spotify.com/uk/
http://thirdcoastfestival.org/
http://www.wnyc.org/
,J
r.
http://99percentinvisible.org/
http://www.adamcarolla.com/
http://www.arbitron.com/
http://www.ascap.com/
http://www.bmi.com/
http://www.edisonresearch.com/
http://www.etown.org/
http://grooveshark.com/
http://www.kalw.org/
http://www.kickstarter.com/
http://www.kudosrecords.co.uk/
ke
Further Research
ra
‘The Podcast Consumer 2012’ (2012)
Slideshow of findings: (See: Appendices C, D & E)
http://www.slideshare.net/webby2001/the-podcast-consumer-2012
Description:
http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/2012/05/the-podcastconsumer-2012.php
G
eo
rg
e
D
Middletown Media Studies II (2005)
The Media Day and Concurrent Media Exposure Findings:
https://www.bsu.edu/webapps2/cmdreports/product_select.asp?product_id=10
Description:
http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CentersandInstitutes/CMD/InsightandResearch/
Capabilities/ProjectGallery/MiddletownMediaStudies/MiddletownMediaStudiesI
I.aspx
RAJAR MIDAS 6 (2010)
See: Appendix F
©
ZimmComm New Media, LLC, Association for Downloadable Media (2010)
Homepage:
http://zimmcomm.biz/
About:
http://zimmcomm.biz/2009/03/09/adm-glossary-of-terms/
20
Appendix A
Forster, N. 2012. Personal interview with Nick Forster. Interviewed by George
Drake, Jr. Skype, 25th August 2012.
(Call duration: 11 minutes, 57 seconds)
,J
r.
Transcription:
GD: I want to talk about music copyright for a bit and get your take on the matter.
Record labels aren’t giving permission for podcasts to use entire songs in their
podcast because of legal disputes – how is eTown working with this?
D
ra
ke
NF: The evolution around what eTown has been doing is based on an older
model involving radio in which, content providers like eTown provide copyrighted
material, but it’s not the recorded version. So, we’re providing live performances
of copyrighted material, but the stations who distribute eTown historically are the
ones who have the licensing relationships with BMI and ASCAP, so they pay and
we send them all of the publishing information. That’s the standard historical
model; that the radio stations take care of that.
In the era of podcasting, and other forms of downloading, we’ve entered
into a grey area. We’re not using just the recorded versions of these various
songs. We should probably be doing more than what we are doing, but because
we’re just making available a product that’s also available on 300 radio stations
it’s kind-of a slightly blurry area right now.
GD: Do you see this being a continuing issue or do you see its resolution in the
near future?
©
G
eo
rg
e
NF: I personally don’t see a resolution in the near future. Although it’s going to
interesting to see what happens with Spotify, which is kind-of a game changer,
and there’s that lawsuit against that company called Grooveshark, and certainly
Pandora as well. It’s really difficult to put all of this stuff back in the box,
especially because we have a generation of consumers who aren’t used to
paying for music.
I think there are massive lawsuits against the interesting model
Grooveshark where they say ‘Pay what you think is fair, and we’ll pay royalties
based on our income to the various content providers and copyright holders.’ And
then the record companies came after them and it’s turned into this massive
lawsuit. It’s the last gasps in a way of that dying industry.
GD: In terms of other options like Sirius/XM, or internet radio and online
streaming content sites – what do you think is the biggest competitor to
podcasts?
NF: The thing about Sirius/XM is that there is now an entity called Sound
Exchange, which is a royalty-generating organisation that’s based on the number
of digital plays. So, number of times that a song is played in a digital arena
primarily from Sirius/XM, but also taking into account probably some YouTube
plays or some other trackable entities. They’ve been collecting revenue and
distributing it. I can tell you as a songwriter and a performer that I’ve made more
21
ke
,J
r.
money from Sound Exchange in the last few years than I ever have from record
royalties.
So, the whole thing with people crying, “Oh my God, it’s the end of an
era,” record companies were skillful rip off artists who basically were banks who
loaned musicians money at absurd rates. Record contracts to this day include
things like ‘packaging discount,’ which is a hold-over from the days of the 78’s
when records were fragile where they would literally take 10 per cent off the top
for ‘breakage.’ So, they say, “There’s 10 per cent of your sales we’re not going to
pay for because of ‘breakage.’ And that’s leftover from the 20’s.
Every record contract is fraught with those contradictions that are primarily
designed to make it so that it’s, “Here’s $20,000 to make a record, and here’s the
math we’re going to use to pay ourselves, which means generally we will have
been repaid three or four times before we start paying you anything. And if you
make another record in that time, we’re going to do something called crosscollateralisation, where we’re going to make sure we’re not going to pay you any
royalties on your first record until your second record is paid off.” So, it was a rat’s
nest of clauses that were designed to favour the record companies.
So, there’s an upside to this digital age and I think Sound Exchange is
certainly a great example of that.
ra
GD: How have you personally seen the advertising, underwriting and sponsorship
of podcasts increase or decrease?
©
G
eo
rg
e
D
NF: We actually haven’t done it at all. We offer the podcast as an added benefit
to our existing sponsors because they became initially conscious to the fact that
our demographic was aging. The radio listener is not 20 years old right now.
If our sponsors were interested in a younger demographic, we could say,
“Wait, don’t get too nervous, we have all of these podcast subscribers, and the
evidence we have suggests they are a younger demographic. While we’ve got
300 radio stations, we’ve also got 60,000-70,000 podcast subscribers plus nonsubscribing podcast listeners.” It’s a way for us to balance the erosion of our
audience as a result of radio losing relevance for certain people as technology
advances.
GD: It seems the popularity of leaving an over-the-air broadcasting job for a
podcasting one is increasing, what are your thoughts on this?
NF: I think that it’s still a numbers game. There are a hundred times more people
leaving this radio and record world than there are opportunities for them. Bear in
mind what I said earlier, which is when you have these contracts that are grossly
in favour of the record company model where they can also, before they pay you
royalties, reimburse themselves for their so-called expenses. And those
expenses could be, “Oh, I’ve got a team of salesmen out there talking to radio
stations, taking people out to dinner, flying around the country, staying in hotels.”
It’s no longer payola where they’re saying, “Here’s a bunch of blow and
some hookers and $100 bills,” but they had this whole thing where they had
these virtual banks, I don’t know if you heard about that whole thing. They had
trips and hotels and if a program director or music director played a record a
certain number of times, X amount of ‘funny money’ dollars would go into the
virtual bank and the record company would then be obliged to fulfill that obligation
in some obscure way. What they did in order to do that was rather than have
sales departments, who would be tied to the record company, they would hire
22
ke
,J
r.
what was called independent promoters. So, they would be at arm’s length of
these people who would go around and do favours for these radio stations who
were playing these records. Then the record company would deduct the cost of
the independent promoter from the overall expenses before they started
reimbursing the artists.
As this whole thing unravels, as it should because it was awful, hundreds
and hundreds of people are like, “Whoa, what happened? I don’t have a gig
anymore because that whole model doesn’t work anymore.” And thank God. Go
earn an honest day’s work somewhere else, but it isn’t going to be in podcast
production, because it’s just not the model. They don’t have those skills, they
were never producers, they were never art creators, they were wheeler dealer,
snake in the grass types who – I’m painting an unnecessarily dire picture
because a lot of people who are radio promoters who work records, I know
bunches of them, a lot of them are crazy about music, they love the artists and
they really work hard on behalf of getting music heard for those artists in an era
that’s increasingly competitive. But I don’t see that as being a one-to-one transfer
at all in terms of labour force.
©
G
eo
rg
e
D
ra
END
23
Appendix B
Shapiro, J. 2012. Personal interview with Julie Shapiro. Interviewed by George
Drake, Jr. Skype, 15th August 2012.
(Call duration: 25 minutes, 59 seconds)
,J
r.
Transcription:
GD: Briefly, in your own words, describe how you think podcasts are
revolutionising radio.
©
G
eo
rg
e
D
ra
ke
JS: Well, from the third coast point of view it’s all about content. What we’re
hearing is a much more individualised approach to telling the stories people are
really curious to tell. When podcasting was invented, it was after Third Coast had
started, so we were actually watched from the very beginning as people started
getting excited about the potential for story telling through podcasting, and having
the freedom unrestrained by the radio clock or the expectations of a broadcaster.
And I will say, I think for the first half a decade we were pretty
disappointed because all of what we heard sounded either exactly like the radio
or much poorer. It was really unimaginative and it was a lot of people hanging out
– well I’m generalising, but I really think there was a podcast called Two Guys
and a Six-Pack in the Garage Podcast. It was really this whole sort-of rush to do
things quickly without a lot of thought, craft and storytelling.
But now, the flipside of that is that it’s really come along and what we’re
hearing now is really amazing, groundbreaking, innovative work coming up from
podcasts that don’t originate on the radio. They might get to the radio after the
fact, but there are these other viable streams of content that we’re hearing. I think
our competition is a good reflection of that, because we’re now getting more and
more entries from people we’ve never heard of before who are producing their
own podcasts.
There’s kind-of a learning curve for people just starting out and we hear
improvement over the years, for instance last year’s gold award was produced for
a podcast. For us there’s been an increase in quality, creativity and imagination
brought to those and we’re starting to see what was promised at the beginning,
which was ‘this is very revolutionary for the form.’ And it was from the beginning
in terms of people listen or the fact that they didn’t need to be tied down to their
desk or being able to listen to whatever you want whenever you want as many
times as you want. That’s all been really great for the form as well because for
highly produced work, it can be appreciated in so many new ways.
GD: What is Third Coast Festival’s stance on podcasts and what is it doing for
the podcast world?
JS: Well I guess we kind-of feel that it’s leveling the playing ground a little bit it’s
allowing anyone who has the motivation to figure out how to make a podcast
make one and then distribute it however they want to. Soundcloud has made
huge advances in people sharing their work and sort-of normalising audio as a
shared collective community that’s constantly being fed by the users and there
are other outlets for that as well. PRX (The Public Radio Exchange) has gone far,
encouraging producers to make work, put it up and make it available for other
ears, including broadcasters. It’s also given new producers a way to make money
24
,J
r.
outside of the radio world, to use their audio production chops in a professional
way and then maybe do creative work on the side if what they’re being paid to do
isn’t much of a creative outlet for them.
It’s funny, Third Coast Festival considered making a podcast award as
part of the competition, but podcasters said they just want to win the best
documentary, best story without being siloed into the caveat of it being the best
podcast so maybe it’s different than the other entries. And I think that was really
proven last year by last year’s gold award winner being a podcast.
So, the division is coming down. The really groundbreaking, creative stuff
is still the exception to the rule in podcasting, but I think that exception is getting
made more often.
ke
GD: The podcast editor at The Telegraph said this about podcasts: ‘Radio has
always been the most intimate medium, but this goes one step further. […] You
can take it with you and you can do other things while you’re listening. Podcasts
have the intimacy of radio with all the flexibility of newspapers.’ Do you agree
with this statement, and if so, what would you add to it?
©
G
eo
rg
e
D
ra
JS: Yeah, I do totally agree. I think they’re also intimate because you have so
much choice over what you’re going to listen to and you also don’t have to
gamble on an interviewer finding someone you’re interested in listening to. The
niche orientation of so many of the successful podcasts is really giving something
special to the listening audience.
I also worry about people only listening to what they want to listen to and
not ever stumbling upon accidental discoveries by only relying on what their
community of people listen to. We lose a little bit of the magic of radio, which is
the surprise, the ephemeral quality, the ‘you don’t really know what you’re going
to get’ versus podcasts, which you can really organise and control what you hear.
I’m also, I have to say, a little disappointed by who unevenly the genders
are represented in the podcasts. I hope someone challenges me on this and
proves it untrue, but to me, what I’m seeing as the successful podcasts that are
really taking off and getting notoriety are almost all driven by guys. And that
doesn’t take away the quality at all, but we’re sort of like, “Where are the lady
podcasters?” There are some out there, but I think by-and-large we’re seeing it
mimic usual, and I say this not because I want it to be true, but I find that a lot of
the media fields, the techy fields are dominated by guys. And because it’s the
intersection of story-telling and technology women are having a harder time
getting a foothold up there. There are definite notable exceptions to that, but I
think that the trend is that we’re hearing more from guys.
GD: Going off from that last question, do you think giving people the ability to
listen wherever and whenever they like is hurting or hindering podcast
listenership?
JS: It helps, definitely helps. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened, I think, to
producers. That radio can now, at all times, be in your pocket. I think people can
concentrate better, because often if you’re doing a repetitive task you can
concentrate better. And I especially think having that voice right in your ears,
especially for the powerful stories, I think is so meaningful.
I also think that podcast producers, just like the thing that all independent
producers run up against is how are they going to support themselves making a
podcast? Then you run into advertising and they begin sounding more
25
GD: Do you see multi-tasking, primarily online, as a problem?
,J
r.
commercial and start mimicking other commercial outlets. There’s sort-of
sanctity, for us, of art, content and form, which can be achieved through the
podcast, but slowly they begin sounding underwritten or advertising supported as
other outlets and radio shows as well. In public radio, at least, everyone
understands how stuff gets made.
What’s really interesting is that the successful radio shows have also more
successful podcasts. In an article that was put out about Radiolab a couple years
ago, Rob Walker, the author realised that more people were listening to the
podcast than hearing it on the radio, and that’s a major current American radio
show. I don’t know what any of the numbers are for any of these types of
statistics, but it makes sense to me with people like Roman Mars and his podcast
99% Invisible, it’s a radio show as well, but it’s really taken off because of the
podcast.
©
G
eo
rg
e
D
ra
ke
JS: I don’t see multitasking online as an issue because once you have it in your
iTunes you can always go back and listen to it again. And I think generally, the
accessibility, the ownership quality of podcasts is that people are just in the habit
of listening more. I think the whole culture is shifting towards podcasts being a
common thing for education and entertainment.
As a purist I might say they’re mp3’s they’re not the original wav files that
sound the best, but I think by-and-large the benefits outweigh any of the
drawbacks to being able to listen that way.
One problem I’ve found with podcasting is maybe not more to the putting it
on your phone and taking it with you, but if you’re sitting at your computer and
listening to it. There’s a sort of anxiety that people feel because they can’t keep
up with their podcasts. And I know, for me, when we have entry season for
instance, when I can’t listen – those little blue dots in my iTunes are hunting me a
little bit because I can’t keep up. But if you’re prone to being on top of that kind of
stuff I think that it’s kind of a joke, but I think there’s this sense of keeping up or
missing something that’s really great.
GD: In terms of other options like Sirius/XM, or internet radio and online
streaming content sites – what do you think is the biggest competitor to
podcasts?
JS: Anything music based. I think people by-and-large, outside of public radio
geeks, still think of music listening. When we go into classrooms and talk to
teenagers, we’ll say “OK, who listens to the radio?” and they all raise their hands,
but almost 90% of them listen to commercial music radio. And especially in the
work place, I’d rather listen to music than documentaries all day long, so I think
those services are still competitors.
I feel super unqualified to say anything about satellite radio because I
don’t interact with it myself and it’s been beyond the Third Coast connection as of
yet. Our only connection is maybe through Radio Remix, which is going out now
on satellite stations. But if there are documentary streams out there that people
are hearing, that’s great. Third Coast would totally support that.
Our goal is to have content heard in as many places as possible and
getting the most content to the most ears. So, anything that does that, from our
point of view, is a good idea, although, there’s always the thought if the producers
are getting paid for that work getting out there. Those sorts of questions are
26
,J
r.
always very serious ones to consider because independent producers struggle so
hard to make it work.
I just got introduced to the ARTE Radio, the French online, on-demand
service recently and that’s a great example of internet radio at it’s best, and to
some degree where a lot of networks and podcasts could be heading. They
introduced podcasting to France in 2005, or so they claim, and they have 1,600
original pieces that have been made through the project. And they’re all available
online to listen to, download, distribute through creative commons sites. It’s just a
very forward-thinking way to incorporate the technology, opportunity and to throw
it open to anyone to participate. Anyone can make stuff, they can approach
ARTE Radio and work with them to make their piece.
GD: How have you personally seen the advertising, underwriting and sponsorship
of podcasts increase or decrease?
ra
ke
JS: Most of the podcasts I listen to are more public radio oriented, so they sound
exactly the same. We always pay special attention like, “Oh, they’re interested in
podcasts, maybe Third Coast should approach them.” It seems like the same
thing in public radio. They’re allowing people to make work, and I think that’s
fantastic, but I find them as a necessary evil in terms of my listening experience.
Some more imaginative podcasts use the ads in a more creative way making
them easier to swallow, but I feel like if you’re realistic about supporting this work,
that’s what it needs to get it done. That’s how it works in our world at least.
D
GD: It seems the popularity of leaving an over-the-air broadcasting job for a
podcasting one is increasing, what are your thoughts on this?
©
G
eo
rg
e
JS: I think that this feeling of liberation through podcasting kind-of plays out in
that dynamic, where people working for big networks, nine to five jobs, that’s the
grind and it can get to you. So this idea that you can offer your own podcast with
your own rules and get it distributed out there is really appealing to people that
have confidence in the stories they want to tell.
I can see it happening more and more, but it remains to be seen if it’s a
long-term viable thing to do. And what’s interesting is when the popular podcasts
get reabsorbed back into the system that they started on the outside of. A lot of
this is just happening now, so it’s difficult to say where that will lead. I suppose I
don’t see it happening in droves, just people here and there deciding that it’s a
viable future, we wish them the best of luck. It comes back to how they’re going
to support the podcast and the excellent, intense production work they want to
do.
To me, there are only so many hours in the day and there’s a lot of
redundancy in what’s out there so it shows the stakes are higher and you really
need to up your game. But I’m just guessing. Our little world of podcasting it
probably miniscule in comparison to what’s out there so I don’t really have that
much time to explore beyond our world of it, but I feel that the entertaining
podcast goes far, and there’s a ton of comedy and ironic, cheeky guys on the
podcasting radar. That doesn’t surprise me, though. It’s kind of how mainstream
culture goes, the mimicking of what’s popular in today’s culture is prevalent in
podcasting as well.
GD: In short, what are your views on podcasts replacing traditional over-the-air
broadcasting methods?
27
©
G
eo
rg
e
END
D
ra
ke
,J
r.
JS: In some ways we look at it from such a first-world perspective. In other parts
of the world, terrestrial radio is so important and such a link for communities. It
seems that it will never go away, in places where technology won’t arrive for a
long time, the radio is the heartbeat of all of these communities all over the world.
So, trying to balance where we’re at versus the rest of the world because radio is
such an important cultural tool everywhere, really. I don’t think it’s going away for
a long time in those types of areas, but I do know cell phone technology and
other basic amenities are reaching those areas but I don’t see podcasts playing a
crucial role in that culture.
But in our world, over the past ten years, people have been saying, “Radio
is going to die” but podcasting came along and offered this other way to keep it
alive. I think they’re pretty compatible for now, I don’t see over-the-air
broadcasting going anywhere soon. I think that public radio is still attracting so
many millions of young listeners who are embracing podcasts but also recognise
the importance of terrestrial radio. I don’t have a strong feeling that these are
radio’s twilight years. But some people probably have some numbers to prove
that and would like to claim that that’s what’s very much going to happen.
At Third Coast it doesn’t really matter to us. I love radio and I feel a loyalty
to turn it on and listen, but for Third Coast we’ve been able to back up and say
“Oh it’s all audio, we don’t really care what the delivery system is.” We’re just
looking for the best stories. And whether they come from radio or from podcasts,
Third Coast can drive either way, but if there are more stories from podcasts then
we’ll look there a little more. We can be open to all of it still. From that standpoint
it’s difficult to tell where it’s going, but we’re benefiting in any case. We’re not as
interested in what happens, I guess – but we care, not to say we don’t care.
28
ke
,J
r.
Appendix C - ‘The Podcast Consumer 2012’ Findings (2012)
G
eo
rg
e
D
ra
Appendix D – ‘The Podcast Consumer 2012’ Findings (2012)
©
Appendix E – ‘The Podcast Consumer 2012’ Findings (2012)
29
©
G
eo
rg
e
D
ra
ke
,J
r.
Appendix F – RAJAR MIDAS 6 Findings (2010)
30
©
G
eo
rg
e
D
ra
ke
,J
r.
Appendix F (cont.) – RAJAR MIDAS 6 Findings (2010)
31

Over-the-Air to On-the-Web

Transcription

Similar documents

The Prism Podcast - Evidence

23-35 Broadway Astoria, NY 11106 Reservations suggested

Fail Fast

For subscribing to the CWTD podcasts

Kevin Crossman The Frat Pack Tribute: www

P 53 REP_Self.si.FINAL

Podcasting! What`s All the Buzz? - OSU WebGarden

Create a podcast on Podomatic

PodCasting…

WedneSdaY - Center on Halsted