Is Podcasting the Future of Radio Stations?
We have discussed podcasting and its benefits before as well. Globally podcasting has been catching on due to mobiles that are enabled for podcasts. According to Edison Media Research, more than 32 million people have listened to an audio podcast. Also in the US podcast-specific deals are becoming common as a trend that has been followed ever since National Public Radio signed up its first advertiser in Honda in 2005.
Back in India we had blogged about radio station BigFm launching podcasts version of its radio shows across different cities in India. Now MYFM which has launched its site has also introduced podcasts on the same. It seems like more and more radio stations are going the podcast way. They may not be able to execute it in the best possible manner just yet but just the fact that they are making an attempt at podcast version of their shows the potential this holds for the future.
Another important fact to consider is mobile penetration and its ability to reach over 200 milion listeners. Many high end phones like the Nokia E61 (which by the way are less that 15,000 rupees in cost) come with an inbuilt directory for podcasts to search on the web. Given that radio stations are city specific it makes sense for radio stations to put their shows online as other city audiences and maybe even NRI’s would love to log on and here the podcasts online or on their mobile.
Going forward like in the US it seems like even in India there is a strong possibility of podcasts making an impact both in reach and in revenue for radio stations and after all there is no huge license fee that they pay for radio to podcast online. So is podcasting the future of radio stations? Well in a digital world of the future it possibly could be true..
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I just wonder why these radio stations do not provide a way to listen live radio free of cost on computer via internet?
They can easily monetize it too and it will be useful to users too as they can listen to live radio through internet..
e.g. I can listen to Radio Mirchi, Mumbai even at Bangalore (or a remote area, where there is no FM station).. as Bangalore radio stations play regional songs most of the time.
On googling, you can find Live radio streaming for Radio City Dubai (though illegal)…
Well, I don’t see this happening in the near future. With broadband still not rampant and bandwidth a valuable resource, I don’t see an average Indian preferring podcasts over radios. Considering the fact that a radio reception will cost him nothing(it’s in-built even in the cheapest phones), as compared to downloading and then listening a podcast on an MP3 player (specialised hardware), it will take some time for the Podcast fever to catch in India
the major constraint i feel is access to good bandwidth for downloading and then hearing it on your music player. Broadcasting through the net (either streaming or podcast) would only open up a different net-struck audience, for most of whom the PC is an extension of their body.
The low cost involved in podcasts will certainly encourage community radios like HAM more than anyone. I run a community radio which was first covered by DNA newspaper and CNN IBN which runs on the same concept.
you may check
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1083008
Basically podcasting is a way of allocating radio shows through the web. But sometimes podcasting has been neglected by Internet abusers, while some radio stations have decided to broadcast their information as podcasts.