 Strategic Consulting for Broadcasters |
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Newsletter for Broadcasters
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Something completely different – PodcastingYou’ve probably heard the term, but what’s this all about? The basic technology is MP3 recording. That is old, as Internet-related things go. It’s been around for years, but it was only recently “discovered” as a medium for material other than pirated musical recordings. The technology is simple. All you need is a microphone and a computer. You record your material onto an MP3 file, post it to a website, and provide a link to it. And now you have created a podcast. Anybody who visits the website can download it and listen on their computer. A new service from Apple, built into ITunes, provides a worldwide no-cost index to podcasts, which can help new listeners who are not familiar with your website to find your podcasts. What makes this really compelling is the ability to copy it from the computer to an IPod or similar portable MP3 player and listen in the car, on the beach, or wherever. This allows the consumers of your material to listen when it is convenient for them. It also allows you to extend your audience by creating programs that you would not air. As an example, let’s say you run a country station, and like many country stations, a lot of the older members of your audience were raised on rock and roll. You might do an hour-long oldies show each week, sponsored by a forward-thinking advertiser and promoted on the air. And unlike a broadcast, you will know precisely how many people downloaded the show. Because of the “make a file and download it” nature of the thing, it is not particularly well suited for current events, and it is impossible at present to use it for live programming. Major changes are coming, however. Once the new Wi-Max wireless Internet technology is available and I-Pod type devices can access the Internet via that medium, countless live streaming Internet channels will be available for portable listening. This opens up a huge opportunity for you to extend your reach by programming ten channels or a hundred. There will be huge new competition for your listeners’ ears, the same old rules apply: People will listen to good programming when there is local content, and they will tune out what isn’t local and therefore doesn’t apply to them. How many people in Nashville are going to listen to a station that provides news, sports, weather forecasts and advertising for Denver? Regardless of whether they get the programming via an AM or FM transmitter or the Internet, they will seek it out if you help them find it. And the Internet gives you a clear advantage that a radio transmitter does not: You can count the listeners exactly. Give some thought to launching a regular series of Podcasts, even if you cannot get a sponsor just yet. Get your audience familiar with the fact that you are providing this technology. Then when the day comes that they can get their IPods connected to Wi-Max they will go to you first for the programming. |
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