Podcasts threaten satellite radio

A funny thing's happened to me on the way to work this week. I've not been listening to CNBC or CNN on my XM Radio.  Instead, I've been hearing Adam Curry's Source Notes and Web Talk Radio and MP3s from Bloggercon.com, which I downloaded to my IPod.  I've not turned on XM in two days.

Now maybe it's because the election's old news, and Iraq no longer leads every hourly newscast.  But it occurred to me that I'm listening to stuff I really want to hear. Is my XM subscription fated to lapse?

Tom Carhart, the chief executive officer at AudioFeast.com, calls satellite radio "a good first step" to helping people use radio the way they want.  His company is trying to build a paid-Podcast kind of service.  Hundreds of audio program suppliers, with big names and little names, license programming to AudioFeast, which sells subscriptions for access to download the shows to a portable player.  He thinks satellite radio is already history.  He faults it for not having great fidelity, costing too much, and not offering the kind of Tivo-like time shifting consumers want.

One idea Curry (the father of Podcasting) has is that XM Radio can be more Internet friendly.  Instead of Podcasts being delivered via the Net, XM could devote a channel to either playing the home-made programs or, preferably, delivering them as digital files for download to your hard drive. XM may be listening.  Just yesterday, we learned the satellite broadcaster has introduced Net-only channels featuring gospel, "retro-lounge" and hits.

Comments

[Podcast user]

How can Adam Curry be the father of Podcasting? His site, iPodder.org, was only registered September 4, 2004. There were podcasts from before then and I think AudioFeast existed before then too.