«(...) Media futurist Gerd Leonhard, while addressing delegates at the RadioAsia2006 conference in Singapore last week, said that audience growth now lies in interactive services and broadcasters had to be quick to capitalise on this phenomenon.

He said technological advancements allowed users to create and even send their own content through the Internet, which has become more of a social medium and a cheap and effective means for them to find new music and content.

Mr Leonhard emphasised this point by saying that in just a few years, podcasting had outgrown the number of radio stations globally, as there were currently only some 30,000 radio stations in the world as compared with about 47,500 radio station podcasts.

“The people formerly known as listeners are getting involved and even co-creating content. They once were just receivers. Now, they are senders. They can now interact with you and make their own contributions,” he said.

Mr Leonhard also warned radio broadcasters if they did not provide on-demand content that can be recorded and stored by users, they risked losing 50 percent of their market share. (...)»

fonte: «Media futurist: Radio broadcasters must go digital and interactive, Unesco website, 30-06-2006