This is a guest post by Aseem Kishore, a technology enthusiast and lead blogger for Online-Tech-Tips.
The US podcasting market has steadily been increasing in size over the last couple of years and is expected to double within the next two years to almost 38 million people, according to eMarketer. With these kinds of numbers, podcasters and advertisers are starting to look into ways to generate more revenue through video ads.
It is estimated that the total US podcast audience for 2007 is 18.5 million with an active podcast audience of 6.5 million. The 18.5 million number refers to individuals who have ever downloaded a podcast from anywhere. The "active" user base refers to individuals who have downloaded an average of one or more podcasts per week.
The active podcast audience is expected to grow to an impressive 25 million listeners by 2012 and advertisers are expected to spend close to $450 million by 2012.
There are many reasons why podcasting is becoming more popular in the US at such a fast rate. Firstly, podcast content is easy to digest. Most podcasts that are downloaded are usually short and focus on specific topics or genres, making it easy for people to listen to exactly what they are interested in and skip the fluff. With professional high-quality content and no commercials, it's easy to see why people may prefer to view a podcast over a TV show.
Also, there is a much greater awareness and much more promotion for podcasting via large online news and media networks such as CNET, New York Times, and well-respected blogs [Ed: see our own ReadWriteTalk for example]. Podcasts have also become part of many people's daily lives thanks to Apple's iPod and iTunes. With iTunes and the vast numbers of iPods, users are able to instantly and easily download podcasts onto their PC's or iPods, making watching a podcast almost as normal as listening to an MP3.
Following the success of Apple's iTunes, other major players have released portable media players that can play podcasts - such as Microsoft's Zune player and the Zune Marketplace - thereby increasing the podcast audience.
On top of that, there has a been a prediction that within four years 40% of all video viewed will be outside of the television set. That's coming from a poll carried out by Jack Meyers and tracked by the firm Teletrax of 300 media executives.
The key questions will be whether the growth of the podcast audience will continue to increase at the current rate and will it be enough to attract large amounts of ad spending. Most podcasters make money through advertising on the pages/feeds that distribute the podcast, as well as embedding ads into the podcast itself. Sponsorships and subscription services are not as popular, but will grow as the podcasting market increases.
Comments
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I agree that podcasting is increasing in popularity, and we are seeing it as more companies produce video podcasts. I think that just as corporate blogs have hit the mainstream, most companies will eventually see the value of publishing well produced video content.
However, I do think that the relationship between podcasters and advertisers will be rocky for a while. Podcasters have to balance the need for money against the general negative feeling that listers have for ads. I think that simply putting ads at the beginning and end of each episode is the best way to strike this balance.
Posted by: Anjuan | February 5, 2008 6:05 AMI'm a HUGE podcast fan, although this article seems to be focusing on video podcasts and the tie-in to (potentially) more lucrative video ads. I know for myself, the vast majority of podcasts I consume are audio. I find it far easier to work audio podcasts into the mix as I can listen to them while on the computer (leaving me free to work on other things simultaneously) or especially during commutes where they have largely taken over (but not entirely replaced) my love of sports/talk radio. Video podcasts have to compete against much higher quality content on television which will make it tougher to gain traction.
I do think the podcast model of feed/subscription distribution is going to rapidly gain traction over the coming years in other areas. We're already seeing major TV networks taking their first tentative steps into this area (NBC Direct) and I expect it will continue to gain traction as ad models fall into place allowing for easier integration with advertisers. The biggest question will be whether 'user'-generated podcasts buildup larger followings or if larger media productions eventually come into the space and get the lions share of followers. If the Itunes podcast rankings are any indication I'd bet heavily on the latter (although low-budget productions will always have passionate followers.)
Posted by: RS | February 5, 2008 12:07 PM