National Public Radio is doing it. The Economist magazine is doing it. Your own sister may even be doing it.
Podcasting has become an international phenomenon that may change the very nature of television and radio. Yet relatively few people know what it is, and even fewer have yet to grasp its potential.
In the simplest of terms, a podcast is an audio file. Much like an mp3, you can download it from the Internet onto your computer or iPod, and then listen to it at your leisure. The most obvious advantage of this format is that, unlike a conventional broadcast, you don’t have to be tuned in at a particular time or place to receive it.
But there’s so much more about podcasting that makes it more attractive than “traditional” media.
Dan Carlin should know. Since 1989, he’s been immersed in media production, first on television and later on the radio. Today he makes his living as the host of two podcasts – Common Sense with Dan Carlin, a righteously indignant political talk show, and Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History, wherein he recounts historical events through narrative.
Carlin was an early adaptor. Back in 1995 – ten years before the first modern podcasts – he was hosting a radio program called Crossfire. “I got a call from a guy from a software company,” he says, “and he offered to pay me more than I was making at that time.” He ended up working on a project with a web development company called Homebrew Networks that would put his audio content on the Internet.
“We wanted to demonstrate to people what was possible,” he says. Thus was born the first incarnation of his Common Sense show.
Carlin believes that podcasting can raise the bar of public discourse, especially among youth. “The level of engagement is much different,” he says. “We get a lot more college-aged people than we ever did before. We’re reaching segments of the population that it’s important to reach. When you’re that age, you’re still idealistic about politics. By the time people reach the age of the average radio listener, they’re done thinking about it.”
Since 2005, podcasting and its video counterpart – known as vodcasting – have blossomed, driven particularly by young web natives. The ability to access a file from any computer in the world at virtually no extra cost to the provider (or the listener) makes it an enticingly inexpensive investment with a limitless possibility for exposure. Unlike television, newspapers, and radio, there are no transmitters, presses, or other distribution costs involved. Any person with an Internet connection and a microphone can create one.
When iTunes burst onto the music scene, podcasts piggybacked on its success, taking advantage of the programs’ user-friendly browsing and listener-generated ratings system. Add to this the fact that an individual podcast can theoretically exist on the Internet forever, and you had all the makings of a media revolution. Thousands of podcasts now exist, covering topics that range from philosophy to Marie Dubuque’s Easy Peasy Gardening.
Carlin’s success as a podcaster is an illustration of the profitability of what, for all its advantages, remains largely a niche media product. “On the radio, 10,000 people in the area might be able to hear me,” he explains. “I’ll probably only appeal to about 2% of them. On the Internet, I’ll still capture that same core percentage, but of a much larger pie: everyone in the world.”
Podcasts have also brought back an age-old dream of amateur content that began with the advent of radio.
In its earliest days, radio was flooded with amateur broadcasters who conducted many groundbreaking experiments, often out of their own homes. In his book, Radio and Television Regulation, historian Hugh Richard Slotten says, “amateurs tended to view the spectrum as a new, wide-open frontier, akin to the American West, where men could pursue individual interests free from repressive authoritarian and hierarchical institutions.” He points out that in 1912 the New York Times estimated that there were several hundred thousand amateur stations in existence.
That same year the government passed the Radio Act of 1912, which required all broadcasters to obtain licenses. This was the beginning of a series of regulations that would eventually consolidate broadcast ownership in the hands of a powerful few for most of the 20th century.
It remains to be seen whether podcasting will meet a similar fate. For now, amateurs – and professionals – have found a new frontier.
Podcasting has become an international phenomenon that may change the very nature of television and radio. Yet relatively few people know what it is, and even fewer have yet to grasp its potential.
In the simplest of terms, a podcast is an audio file. Much like an mp3, you can download it from the Internet onto your computer or iPod, and then listen to it at your leisure. The most obvious advantage of this format is that, unlike a conventional broadcast, you don’t have to be tuned in at a particular time or place to receive it.
But there’s so much more about podcasting that makes it more attractive than “traditional” media.
Dan Carlin should know. Since 1989, he’s been immersed in media production, first on television and later on the radio. Today he makes his living as the host of two podcasts – Common Sense with Dan Carlin, a righteously indignant political talk show, and Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History, wherein he recounts historical events through narrative.
Carlin was an early adaptor. Back in 1995 – ten years before the first modern podcasts – he was hosting a radio program called Crossfire. “I got a call from a guy from a software company,” he says, “and he offered to pay me more than I was making at that time.” He ended up working on a project with a web development company called Homebrew Networks that would put his audio content on the Internet.
“We wanted to demonstrate to people what was possible,” he says. Thus was born the first incarnation of his Common Sense show.
Carlin believes that podcasting can raise the bar of public discourse, especially among youth. “The level of engagement is much different,” he says. “We get a lot more college-aged people than we ever did before. We’re reaching segments of the population that it’s important to reach. When you’re that age, you’re still idealistic about politics. By the time people reach the age of the average radio listener, they’re done thinking about it.”
Since 2005, podcasting and its video counterpart – known as vodcasting – have blossomed, driven particularly by young web natives. The ability to access a file from any computer in the world at virtually no extra cost to the provider (or the listener) makes it an enticingly inexpensive investment with a limitless possibility for exposure. Unlike television, newspapers, and radio, there are no transmitters, presses, or other distribution costs involved. Any person with an Internet connection and a microphone can create one.
When iTunes burst onto the music scene, podcasts piggybacked on its success, taking advantage of the programs’ user-friendly browsing and listener-generated ratings system. Add to this the fact that an individual podcast can theoretically exist on the Internet forever, and you had all the makings of a media revolution. Thousands of podcasts now exist, covering topics that range from philosophy to Marie Dubuque’s Easy Peasy Gardening.
Carlin’s success as a podcaster is an illustration of the profitability of what, for all its advantages, remains largely a niche media product. “On the radio, 10,000 people in the area might be able to hear me,” he explains. “I’ll probably only appeal to about 2% of them. On the Internet, I’ll still capture that same core percentage, but of a much larger pie: everyone in the world.”
Podcasts have also brought back an age-old dream of amateur content that began with the advent of radio.
In its earliest days, radio was flooded with amateur broadcasters who conducted many groundbreaking experiments, often out of their own homes. In his book, Radio and Television Regulation, historian Hugh Richard Slotten says, “amateurs tended to view the spectrum as a new, wide-open frontier, akin to the American West, where men could pursue individual interests free from repressive authoritarian and hierarchical institutions.” He points out that in 1912 the New York Times estimated that there were several hundred thousand amateur stations in existence.
That same year the government passed the Radio Act of 1912, which required all broadcasters to obtain licenses. This was the beginning of a series of regulations that would eventually consolidate broadcast ownership in the hands of a powerful few for most of the 20th century.
It remains to be seen whether podcasting will meet a similar fate. For now, amateurs – and professionals – have found a new frontier.
Carlin hasn’t regretted his move from radio one bit. “It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” he says. “Being in traditional media is horribly overrated, especially from a creative standpoint. In radio, for instance, your boss is the program director. He’d always be telling you what to do. But these people are the ones who failed at the same job you’re doing. It makes no sense. Now, nobody tells me what to do, and I’ve never been more proud of my work.”
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