Media Updates

Podcasting

Paul Attallah
October 15 2005

Podcasting is a combination of the terms iPod and broadcasting, podcasting refers to the method by which audio programs can be distributed via the internet for download to portable media players for time-shifted listening. It alters the traditional patterns of radio broadcasting and music distribution and is dependent upon the widespread use of portable media players and the ubiquity of the internet.
    The iPod, the best-known and most successful of the media players, was released by Apple Computers in October 2001. It is a music playback device built around a hard drive and bundled with iTunes software. The software organizes the downloaded material and connects to the online iTunes Music Store from which users can download songs for 99¢ each. The iPod and its variants (mini, nano, shuffle) sold extremely well and contributed significantly to Apple’s overall financial health. Numerous competing manufacturers offer similar products.
    The iTunes Music Store transformed the business model for music distribution. Previously, recorded music had been distributed on CDs or vinyl discs which were centrally manufactured, packaged and shipped to specialized music stores faced with advertising, storage, and inventory costs. iTunes effectively eliminated many of these costs by allowing users to download individual songs directly to their computers. This also created a revenue stream in which the music companies could share. By September 2005, iTunes had registered 500 million downloads and the number grows daily.
    The iPod and iTunes had a similar impact on radio broadcasting. Radio content had long been streamed over the internet and radio shows, either old or new, could be downloaded as MP3 files. Indeed, the CBC was the first broadcaster in the world to make some of its radio broadcasts available for download. Other broadcasters soon joined it. More significantly, though, was the fact that the internet dramatically reduced entry costs to radio broadcasting. Prior to the internet, radio broadcasting required, at a minimum, a broadcast studio and a fairly significant technical infrastructure. The cost and size of each increased with the reach of the broadcast. After the internet, virtually anyone with a connection could become a broadcaster of global reach. Individual, non-professional ‘broadcasting’ exploded as a result.
    The iPod made it convenient to download these ‘broadcasts’ for later or time-shifted listening. This in turn created an audience of iPod owners for whom various ‘podcasts’ could be manufactured. Podcats are typically individually-produced niche offerings appealing to specialized interests and highlighting unique personalities and talents. Cheaply available software makes it easy to record and post podcasts. Podcasts are listed for easy retrieval in iTunes and via several podcast websites.
    In October 2005, Apple released an iPod capable of playing music videos and television shows.