Podcast audience is piddling

UPDATE Here: Interview with Forrester analyst

That's what Forrester Research's Charlene Li says in a $249 research report titled "Podcasting Hits the Charts." 

In the document's six pages, the analyst says "mainstream consciousness" now recognizes podcasts, with a quarter of online consumers showing "interest" in downloadable programs.  But a piddling 1% of online households say they regularly download and listen to them.

And they are not listening to original podcast productions, like . "They strongly favor listening to existing content like Internet radio or broadcast radio," Li writes.  Score a few points for mainstream media.

"I think this has something to do with 1) original content just isn't as well known; and 2) existing content benefits from users that simply want to time shift it," Li opines.

So, if she were running things at media companies, she would not spend a lot of money doing new shows, unless advertisers, for instance, kind of expect you to have podcasts, because you're "cool" or innovative  - or want to be perceived as one.

Li would put her money into repurposing what's already being produced - and wait four years for more iPods and other players to get sold, to create the audience. 

Here's a promotional blog posting she did on the report.

Comments

[Russell S. Holliman]

Podcast Ready is addressing the issues of understanding and obtaining podcasts.

We have a software technology that transforms most ordinary MP3 players into independent podcast subscription managers and receivers. We've been marketing it to various player manufacturers and the first "podcast ready" devices will be in Target stores by the end of April, to be closely followed by Wal-Mart, Office Depot, Amazon, and a others.

The web services that interact with the devices provide (among other things) a browser button that allows users to subscribe to podcasts from any web page or directory with a single click. All of this is accomplished without installing any software on the user's computer so they can get their podcast from most any Internet-enable PC. It truly is an easy, ready-to-use solution right out of the box.

The site is in beta right now, and undergoing major face lift at the moment, but the main functionality is there and solid. In addition to the basic management and subscription functions, the site also allows the users to choose individual episodes to receive (rather than subscribing to the entire feed) and share individual episodes with friends in the system.

Our goal is to help bring podcasts to the mainstream public and make it as easy as possible for people to find and enjoy the content they want.

The site and the software are in open beta and we welcome any comments and feedback.

Russell S. Holliman
http://www.podcastready.com