How Podcasting and Satellite Changed Radio 139
prostoalex writes "Business Week magazine discusses how podcasting changes the radio industry: "Consider the basics: With no licenses, no frequencies, and no towers, ordinary people are busy creating audio programming for thousands of others. They're bypassing an entire industry."
The article notes about some advertising deals that podcasters managed to procure, but it also notes that another industry, satellite radio, represented by Sirius and XM Satellite radio, is already changing the radio landscape."
All this hype about 'podcasting' (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:All this hype about 'podcasting' (Score:3, Informative)
1. It is different in that the low-speed delayed delivery makes publishing (read: bandwidth) costs much cheaper, and it stacks with BitTorrent.
2. It is different in that the listener doesn't have to schedule their listening around a broadcaster. The TiVo metaphor is apt.
3. It is different in that it is built around mobile. Shoutcast is great, unless you are in your car on an hour and a half commute on 285.
Person
Re:All this hype about 'podcasting' (Score:2)
Once 3G-ish technologies roll out widely enough, shout/icecast will kill satellite radio dead. I mean, why have this extra box and another subscription service when you already have a cell phone and an iPod?
Assuming carriers manage to deliver devices that actually allow you to take advantage of streaming media and don't cripple their EV-DO and etc. networks with poorly implemented gateways that break streaming. I'm not optimistic.
primitive? No boat, no moter car (Score:2)
Uh yeah but there's billions of miles of internet cables, all sorts of frequencies, amplifiers, ....
radio can be picked up and amplified by a couple transistors and a coat hanger.
Radio is the simpler of the two.
Re:All this hype about 'podcasting' (Score:2)
The two are different enough that -- for traveling and other uses -- Podcasts tend to be more practical.
1. Blog/show format vs. radio. While podcasting is referred to as a type of radio...it's not. It's an audio blog. If you don't like blogs, and could care less about talk radio or public radio, podcasting is a waste
Re:All this hype about 'podcasting' (Score:2)
However, I believe the reason podcasting is getting press as opposed to its predecessor, shoutcasting, is because the iPod is the new hip mainstream consumer electronic device. So that means that readers are more likely to read about something involving the iPod than just Winamp for example. Plus, it combines the coolness of the iPod with the "coolness" of
Re:All this hype about 'podcasting' (Score:1)
Digital Radio Obsolete? (Score:1)
Re:Digital Radio Obsolete? (Score:2, Interesting)
The BBC have the power (Score:2, Interesting)
As for podcasting ever killing commercial radio, you might as well expect amateur movies filmed by bloggers to destroy Hollywood and music on Creative Commons to kill EMI.
Podcasting really needs a better name. The 'pod' bit, is just another commercial plug for Apple. It wouldn't be acceptable to call all PCs 'Wind
Re:The BBC have the power (Score:2, Insightful)
You might as well call Kleenex "tissues", call a Xerox machine a "photocopier", or a Band-aid a "bandage". The iPod has the vast majority of the market share and mind share for digital music players, and it's not going away.
Re:The BBC have the power (Score:1)
Re:The BBC have the power (Score:2)
It'll probably always be a US thing... having a private radio transmitter is illegal in the UK and most of Europe, which is why the podcast devices aren't sold here.
Re:The BBC have the power (Score:1)
Re:Digital Radio Obsolete? (Score:2)
Satellite (and DTT) radio is a free addon to satellite TV and everyone who has satellite already has it... it's not particularly mobile though.
Re:Digital Radio Obsolete? (Score:1)
XM Price Hike (Score:2)
Re:XM Price Hike (Score:1)
They just rolled out the DVR box for an additional $10 a month; optional service of course.
Because it's so sweet and easy to use, people are adopting like crazy. Then Charter will see how willing people are to pay for it and before you know it, bam, the DVR is your cable box and it's no longer optional, but is simply "included" now. Oh, and instead of being $10 a month, now it's 16.99.
That's a look at 18 months from now.
Link here (Score:2)
Podcasting? (Score:5, Interesting)
I personally would much rather go for a personal selection of mp3s.
Re:Podcasting? (Score:2, Interesting)
It's not just you. (Score:3, Insightful)
But then, I stopped listening to radio years ago- I pull my weather from the *.gov, and get everything else through iTunes and the internets. I once heard podcasting described as "an audio blog"- my response was something along the lines of "just what I want to hear- more talk radio."
Blogs have given us a few million Spider Jerusalem wannabes- podcasting and cheap cams will give us a few million Edison Carter wannabes. While technology has decimated the entry barrier and give
Re:It's not just you. (Score:2)
Other than that I feel pretty much the same way you do. I'm all for t
Re:It's not just you. (Score:1, Flamebait)
Yep, me too, only without the sarcastic overtones. I'm tired of being stuck with ultra-conservatives as my only sources of good talk radio. NPR is OK, but they are more entertainment and liberal news and I prefer issue-based discussions. Most of the podcasters I listen to seem to be more open and honest and have a down to earth feel, but that's typical with independent broadcasters vs. those who answer to the under
Re:Podcasting? (Score:3, Insightful)
Podcasting and satellite radio are ways to deliver topical content and new music to your ears without too much work.
Satellite radio has general news, talk, and live sports covered. The music channels give you essentially a self-updating playlist in a huge number of genres you'd never have time to keep up with on your own.
Podcasting offers the promise of very specialized topical content. Think of a talk show that covers very narrow areas of interest. Things much too specialized to ever be "broadcast".
Re:Podcasting? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Podcasting? (Score:2)
at work, i tend to be in very tight control over what music is being played, both to control my mood (and ease frustrations when windows sucks) and to keep thing
XM, or why I hardly ever listen to MP3s anymore (Score:2)
For one, the enclosure for the hard drive most of my MP3s are on is not working and I haven't gotten around to replacing/fixing it (I'm pretty sure the HD itself is fine.) One of the reasons I've been lazy about replacing/fixing the HD is because I don't need the MP3s as much.
XM gives me a huge variety of music with an amazing selection, and exposes me to new music I'd NEVER have found on my own, and it's so damn convenient too.
Re:XM, or why I hardly ever listen to MP3s anymore (Score:1)
as Fripp would say, the reviewer reviews himself far more than the target of his review.
the myfi isn't really my thing (the main time i listen with headphones is on the subway, where xm wouldn't reach. but one thing that will likely reduce my mp3-playing @ work would be listen.xmradio.com's online service.
MyFi (Score:2)
Too expensive for me though. My Roady (not Roady2 even, the original Roady) is more than enough for me.
Re:Podcasting? (Score:2)
it takes first steps into something, actually having somebody do it at all, before the tools come out to make it easier to do.
already the tools are coming out to simplify the process by allowing you to edit mp3s (cuts, appending, etc) without having to turn everything into a wav (and go through a lossy re-encoding phase back to mp3). those tools weren't around 2 years ago.
in the end, it really is no more ted
Re:Podcasting? (Score:1)
if you're blowing podcast off on the basis of 'bleh', you're missing the beginning of something big.
the era of Brand Is Your Master is OVER. The People have killed it.
Re:Podcasting? (Score:2)
Re:Podcasting? (Score:1)
Re:Podcasting? (Score:2)
Re:Podcasting? (Score:1)
Podcasting News [podcastingnews.com] is a good place to find out more info, from the perspective of the podcasting community.
Re:Podcasting? (Score:2)
I think you're missing the point of why PodCasting is so cool. It's not interesting because it's hard technology, it's interesting because it's trivial technology that is trivial to implement, thus has been widely implemented, and has (and will have) a huge impact on people's lives.
Radio's Advatages Over Podcasting (Score:4, Interesting)
For example, 3 FM stations exists within 25 miles of me that have 24/7 jazz formats. I'm a jazz fan, so that makes me happy.
I'm not aware of any podcast sources that provide comparable services. Podcasts require that I go out and find digital files I want and then set them up for play. I don't have the time to do that to build up a podcast playlist as lengthy as the one I can get just be turning on my radio.
There's no reason why someone couldn't hire a staff, pay them to create and collect podcasts and then broadcast them over AM or FM on a 24/7 format, but that would be very much the same as radio anyway.
Re:Radio's Advatages Over Podcasting (Score:1)
Re:Radio's Advatages Over Podcasting (Score:2)
Re:Radio's Advatages Over Podcasting (Score:1)
Re:Radio's Advatages Over Podcasting (Score:1)
Re:Radio's Advatages Over Podcasting (Score:2)
I don't buy satellite radio for the same reason I don't buy anything more than basic cable: I looked at the programming and saw nothing I'd watch or listen.
Satellite radio couold carry a thousand formats and I wouldn't buy it if I didn'y want to listen to those 1000 formats.
The problem with that... (Score:5, Insightful)
I listened to the local Clear Channel Alternapop Earcock a couple of days ago for the first time in months... in a thirty minute span, I didn't hear anything I haven't heard a few hundred times before, and years previously. Last I checked, Radiohead has written more songs than "Creep"- but you wouldn't know it to listen to these asshats.
When I got to this town (Pittsburgh) in 1997, there was a Jazz station parked at 104.{5|7}. It was nice and I listened to it quite a bit... until one day it magically Changed Format to hiphop/r&b. Just like that. A few years later and that frequency is a black hole of Rod Stewart / Michael Bolton-esque soft rock.
Radio's great when you're in the serviced demographic- if you're noti, it's a vast, staticy wasteland.
Re:The problem with that... (Score:2)
Agree, but the same applies to any medium. If someone doesn't make podcasts I want to listen to, I'm not going to listen.
Re:Radio's Advatages Over Podcasting (Score:2)
You aren't willing to go out and find digital files and set them up for play? So you've never downloaded music off of the internet, ever?
Podcasts are also usually quite long. One podcast can last anywhere between 15 and 45 minutes. There is plenty of free podcasti
Re:Radio's Advatages Over Podcasting (Score:2)
Podcasts require me to buy an mp3 player, carry it with me wherever I go or buy several players to put in the car and in differnet places around the house, and then locate and collect the programming I want.
So far, I much prefer just turning on the radio to listen to the kind of music I know is going to be there.
I'm not questioning the validity of podcasting, just suggesting that programming
Re:Radio's Advatages Over Podcasting (Score:2)
If I already have an iPod and is has several days of my music on it, then podcasts make a great addition, giving me things like some talk content like NPR's On The Media podcast or the opportunity to discover new music like with the Insomnia Radio podcast.
Buying an MP3 player just for podcasts might be a bit too much at this point unless you already know there's content you want, but if you already have an MP3 player experimenting with some podc
Re:You live in Utopia (Score:2)
Re:You live in Utopia (Score:2)
Re:Radio's Advatages Over Podcasting (Score:1)
Consider yourself lucky, the only jazz station close to me turned into TALK RADIO, 96.9 in Boston. Grr.
It sounds like you're looking for Shoutcast. (Score:2)
Re:It sounds like you're looking for Shoutcast. (Score:2)
also, though broadcasting, i wasn't "advertising" per-se. i was using i
Inveitable (Score:3, Interesting)
So - why not broadcast cue information about which stations are playing what so my (yet to be invented) intelligent radio/player can dash seamlessly between stations and canned tracks whilst avoiding the blaring Ads with tivo-like grace. We do it with the remote on television to avoid the chaff, why not with radio?
Re:Inveitable (Score:2)
1. There's no 'standard' for naming tracks - some may spell things differently
2. They'd lose their income stream - advertising!
Unfortunate, but it's the way things are.
Re:Inveitable (Score:1)
If radio stations were supportive of such an idea they could send the data on a subcarrier of the main freq, However your main intention is to skip their advertiser so why would they want to go to the expense of providing you with all this data?
Good (Score:2)
Podcasting: Will it be as big as FLASH MOBS? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Podcasting (Not the worst buzzword) (Score:2)
Via one of my fav. news sites, right up there with
http://www.witchvox.com/xwrensnest.html [witchvox.com]
Re:u r dum (Score:2)
It's the automation. There's been radio shows you could download before (or more likely, stream), but it required the listener to seek it out and begin the playback or download. Which is fine for a single use, like if you want to check the NPR archives to find an All Things Considered story you only heard a fragment from the radio, but it doesn't scale well. If you want a new show each day, there's a bit of
Mobile Porn (Score:1)
Re:Mobile Porn (Score:1)
I'd say you paid too much for the installation, too - swapping a radio is a matter of minutes, and it can't be that hard to put in the antenna - I
Re:Mobile Porn (Score:1)
And if it were the RIAA being bypassed... (Score:2, Insightful)
They'd sue you, buy your congressmen to get the laws changed, and consider you a criminal for being enthusiastic about the art and the industry.
Changed? It hasn't happened yet (Score:1, Insightful)
Howard Stern proves otherwise (Score:2, Insightful)
It's Radios' Fault (Score:2, Interesting)
It is only natural that somone that isn't as beholden to advertisers can be more creative and produce a higher quality product. Public radio has been demonstrating this for a long long time (at least here in MN).
Sirius/XM is cool and is an extension of the cable/sat TV business model, but I wonder about Podcasting. It's one thing to spam your sig
Re:It's Radios' Fault (Score:2)
Re:It's Radios' Fault (Score:2)
In fact, one of the big draws is that satellite radio offers the chance for people to listen to many types of national broadcasts that you can't get with local radio. That's why ESPN Radio has done well because you can hear all of their programming 24 hours a day, and Fox Sports Radio is growing because of their association with XM. I wouldn't be surprised that once both Sirius and XM reach "critical mass" of listeners you will see a
Do they get it? (Score:2)
Naw:
"It's possible to imagine people paying monthly fees to hear programming-on-demand on the phone, PC, or in the car. Listeners could buy a song they hear on the radio with the click of a button."
Actually a pretty good overview from the 'business' viewpoint. The world it's a changing.
Anyone else see where this is going... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Anyone else see where this is going... (Score:2)
Anyway, the real point of this post is that what you describe is already happening (and has been happening for a while) in sites like iFILM [ifilm.com], Atomfilms [atomfilms.com] and Pocketmovies [pocketmovies.net], just to name a few that I can think of right now. As a 3D animator wannabe I still check them from time to time to see new animated shorts.
Lord knows Radio NEEDS it. (Score:2)
Podcasting and Satellite dead? (Score:1)
Licensing issues will burn podcasters (Score:3, Insightful)
That's why you'll start hearing about "podcast safe" music - usually by independent artists or small labels that explicitly give permission for their songs to be included in a podcast.
Hopefully podcasters will keep this under control so that the paid for leaches in congress don't start passing legislation that would hurt this.
For public radio stations and alternative news/music organizations podcasting is awesome! I could see some podcast producers being picked up by radio show distributors. Coverville, for example, would be an excellent show even on terrestrial radio.
good podcasts? (Score:2)
Can anyone recommend some good podcasts? Are there any big popular podcasters that many people like?
What ever happened to "Geeks in Space: Slashdot Radio"? Wasn' that a 'podcast'?
Good Podcasts; also, the Rapture Right (Score:2, Informative)
It's quite funny, really. There are others, as well, including a podcast of Air America's daily programming (http://www.airamericaplace.com/ [airamericaplace.com]), which you'll get a few days late, but is still entertaining (especially for those of us stuck in the Hannitized Savage Nation of Rush).
What most people here don't seem to understand is that podcasting is, currently, a purely talk format. Since most talk radio (with rare exceptions, above) is directed at
Re:good podcasts? (Score:2)
The group I listen to needs to be purged (getting borred of a couple podcasts). IT Conversations has the best content, though The Peanut Gallery looks promising for short thoughtful stories. Openpodcast quite a bit -- both the worst and best.
For what it's worth, here's my complete current list (/. mangles it a bit);
I enjoy Podcasts (Score:1)
I also recently got an iPod Mini. This part is essential. A portable media player that is. I only listen to podcasts when "travelling". On my way to work, lunch breaks, walks, etc... Listening while at the computer doesn't really work for me. Can't focus.
Now I can get interesting programming and listen to it any time I get a few minutes fre
Podcasting didn't change anything (Score:1)
"Podcasting" is a silly media invention (Score:2)
Its a non-topic. A non-technology. Its not even widely utilised -- whatever it is.
IMHO -- P2P streaming is important. Its the next logical step up from conventional streaming technologies.
Why it gets no attention I have no idea.
Once again (Score:1)
Having witnessed the destruction of commercial radio and taken refuge in the open arms of NPR I'm so happy the established mega-stations are getting what is due them, their ultimate destruction.
For example, DAB. The cost to implement DAB is going to be hideously high. And you just know that they're not going to give it away for free. Add the fact that sat providers already have the infrastructure in place, and people wil
Variety and Passion (Score:1)
Re:Satellite will kill off AM/FM (Score:5, Interesting)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that the allure of Cable TV when it was introduced in the late 70's? I've never been much into TV, and didn't get cable til I hit my mid 30's, but I seem to remember that a lack of commercials was part of what you paid for.
Re:Satellite will kill off AM/FM (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Satellite will kill off AM/FM (Score:1)
XM is trying for a different model -- the retail/restaurant PA system, to replace those stodgy (muzak) or over-the-air (with commercials) radio in the store. having commercial-free yet still "hip" is appealing to those places that want to keep the pop-current atmosphere and yet not want the commercials (or repetition) of commerical radio, and at a cheaper pr
Re:Satellite will kill off AM/FM (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Satellite will kill off AM/FM (Score:2)
It seems that history has a funny way of repeating itself. It is very likely that the merchants will not appreciate your insightful analysis.
"There's a sucker born every minute." -- David Hannum
Re:Satellite will kill off AM/FM (Score:2)
News Corp. absorbed 82% of DirectTV. What's to stop them from "assimilating" XM or Sirius?FCC?
Once that takes place, the commercials on satellite radio won't be far behind.
Re:Satellite will kill off AM/FM (Score:1)
Re:Satellite will kill off AM/FM (Score:2)
Re:Satellite will kill off AM/FM (Score:2)
Interestingly, the radio station [wbwc.com] I listen to doesn't play commericials. Occasionally, they play promotions for upcoming programs or they'll do like 1 minute educational bits, but I hardly consider these commercials.
Then again it is a college radio station so that might have something to do with it, I'm not completely sure.
i've given up on commercial radio, too (Score:1)
a local high school has a very accomplished station [c895fm.com] that plays only PSA's and occasional news headlines.
five minutes of "normal" radio is enough to make my ears bleed.
i pledge their annual fund drive, which i guess is my "subscription" charge. but somehow, when you give it willingly instead of it being ripped from your grasp (ala cable/sat TV) it is easier and feels good.
doesn't mean there aren't times when i'd rather build my own mix on a portable/desktop player. but having people who like the same
Re:heh (Score:3, Funny)
But first came Slashdot to show the way...
Re:heh (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:heh (Score:1)
Re:where are the decent channels? (Score:3, Informative)
how about leo laporte's radio show?
i do agree, Podcasting is very close to what the web is, lots of annoying tripe. think of it this way, every time you hear a podcast with lots of soundeffects and trying to sound like a big-time DJ, that's the equliviant of the html BLINK tag or an annoying animated GIF.
Lots of the NPR shows are available as a podcast.
Right now there are only a few good outlets of quality programming for podcasts, that will continue as well as the tripe. example? su
Re:where are the decent channels? (Score:1)
Some decent podcasts (Score:1)
Coverville [coverville.com]: Nothing but covers of songs. Good commentary; takes listener requests.
Firesign Theatre [firesigntheatre.com]: Snippets of FT albums and commercials they've done. I don't know if the commercials are serious or not, but they're for real companies, and are typical FT.
On the Media [onthemedia.org]: A weekly NPR program. Since I'm rarely in the house Saturday when it's broadcast, I love the ability to listen to it during the week as I have time.
The Radio Adventure [doctorfloyd.com]
Re:Bullshit. (Score:2)
There's ways to record streaming stations to MP3 files to accomplish the same thing, but many people either don't know how to do that, or just don't consider it in the first place.