5.4.1 podcasting

Quatro ideias (mais ou menos) novas sobre o podcasting

20% da população da GB ouve podcasts? «"Os podcasts fazem parte da paisagem mediática", considera John Hirst, director da Creation, companhia de produção do grupo de media inglês Gcap. Segundo dados apresentados ontem na European Radio Conference, organizada pela National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) pelo responsável pela produção de podcasts, 20% da população britânica faz downloads de podcasts.
PODCASTS A PAGAR: ‘Podcasts and Vodcasts - From Geek to Chic' foi o tema que reuniu o responsável da Creative a Trevor Dan, director da Radio Academy, e Henrik Heide, commissioning editor do website da Danish Broadcast Cooperation, que trouxeram algumas das práticas dos seus países neste campo. Algumas conclusões parecem ser transversais aos mercados: podcasting é essencialmente dirigido a um target de nicho, mas imensamente motivado; actualmente fazer um download é gratuito, contudo algumas experiências já dão mostras de que poderá ser feita uma cobrança por este tipo de conteúdos, caso do All Day Breakfast Show de Dan Baker, onde, segundo Trevor Dan, cerca de 15 mil pessoas estão dispostas a pagar duas libras por semana para aceder ao programa.

SIMPLIFICAR  A FORMA DE ACESSO/RECEPÇÃO: De acordo, com a experiência trazida por Henrik Heide, que viu os downloads das sinfonias de Mozart subirem de 400 mil downloads para mais de 1,5 milhões quando o buzz nos sites comunitários começou a criar apetência pelo conteúdo o viral marketing parece ser uma ferramenta eficaz. É ainda necessário, no sentido de potenciar a utilização de podcasts, dar especial atenção ao utilizador menos familiarizado com a tecnologia. Na Dinamarca, por exemplo, é dada a oportunidade de ouvir o podcast através de um e-mail que é enviado com o link para efectuar o download.

MUDAR O NOME: Trevor Dan, por seu turno, considera mesmo contraproducente a palavra podcast - diz afasta potenciais utilizadores - porque não falar apenas em download grátis?»

fonte: «NAB: Como fazer um podcast de sucesso», Meios & Publicidade, 7 de Novembro de 2007, por Ana Marcela

O podcasting está a arrefecer? OU só os podcasts?

De acordo com este texto parece que sim («It appears that podcasts are not picking up steam, and rather, podcasting is actually slowing down. There is not enough incentive for people to jump exclusively into podcasting because of tight competition from video, blogs, big media and a lack of clear monetization methods. However, it does not mean that podcasts are not here to stay. One great thing that we already received from the podcasting revolution is choice. Media companies were forced to micro chunk and give us their content on our terms. We now can consume it in whatever way that we prefer, whenever we want it», via Clube de jornalistas).

A mim, que há muito defendo a ideia do podcasting, como ferramenta de distribuição de programas/notícias da rádio convencional, não me surpreende (por oposição aos podcasts feitos mais ou menos amadoristicamente e que têm poucas oportunidades face à concorrência):

«E então teremos podcasting não apenas de programas mas também de notícias, de modo a que se concretizará o sonho de Bertold Brecht: o receptor não será mais o sujeito passivo da comunicação, mas aquele que escolhe o que quer ver e ouvir, o que constrói o seu próprio noticiário, o que intervém.
Com o podcasting, com este ou outro nome, com esta ou outra forma de eu poder escolher o que quero ver e ouvir»

A ideia de que o podcasting é uma oportunidade para a rádio

«The iPod Revolution has fueled the upstart podcasting phenomenon.  As more and more consumers add an iPod or similar device to their arsenal of media gadgets, the potential for content creation - and profit - become greater and greater.Jason Calacanis outlined the potential and the reality very nicely at Summit 11 last fall.  He reasoned that radio had the reach, the production values, and the sales skills necessary to create winning podcasts, and to eventually monetize them.To that end, around 15 companies - including NPR and Apple - have formed a new industry group, the Association for Downloadable Media.  The idea behind this coalition is to find ways to better produce, distribute, and market podcasts.  As we've seen in our own Tech Polls, those who have downloaded podcasts overwhelmingly say they'd be very or somewhat likely to endure a commercial in order to receive the content.  Ken Stern, NPR's CEO, has been a visionary in this area, vaulting their podcasts to industry-leading levels.»

Fred Jacobs, Podcasting (for Fun) and Profit, 3/08/07

Mais podcasting mas menos podcasts?

«Há muita gente desiludida com o podcasting, como que dando razão aos que, mal a técnica surgiu, prenunciaram a sua morte. Os que estão desiludidos convocam estudos, relatórios e a própria experiência para dizer que o podcasting não descola e que continua minoritário, que não encontrou uma forma de se viabilizar comercialmente, que a qualidade dos programas não aumentou e não se registaram significativas evoluções técnicas.
A desilusão será provavelmente proporcional ao entusiasmo inicial, o que só mostra que quando falamos de novas técnicas e de novas tecnologias é prudente alguma ponderação e que alguma reserva nas previsões é uma regra de bom senso.
De qualquer forma, a existir desilusão será quando muito com os podcasts e não ao podcasting.
(...)
Em contrapartida o podcasting é uma técnica claramente de futuro. O podcasting como técnica de redistribuição de conteúdos (áudio ou vídeo) que não podemos ou não temos de ouvir no momento em que são disponibilizados. E rádios e televisões já começaram a perceber isso mesmo.
(...)
E então teremos podcasting não apenas de programas mas também de notícias, de modo a que se concretizará o sonho de Bertold Brecht: o receptor não será mais o sujeito passivo da comunicação, mas aquele que escolhe o que quer ver e ouvir, o que constrói o seu próprio noticiário, o que intervém.
Com o podcasting, com este ou outro nome, com esta ou outra forma de eu poder escolher o que quero ver e ouvir»

Excertos do texto «Podcasting sem podcasts?», do catálogo do Festival Black & White, Porto, Abril 2007 (excertos on line aqui).

Do debate que lá se realizou algumas ideias, sistematizadas por Francisco Mateus (e desenvolvidas no seu blogue):

« 01. Regularidade

02. Facilidade
03. Quantidade
04. Qualidade
05. Conhecimento
06. Reconhecimento
07. Financiamento
08. Acesso
09. Concorrência
10. Futuro

Bons resultados para o podcasting

(as respostas demonstram um grau de fidelização ao podcasting muito interessante)

«Among our podcasting panelists who have downloaded audio or video content to listen to at a later time, 62% indicated in this study that they had listened to or viewed a podcast in the 30 days prior to the survey. This is up slightly from the February study with the same panel.

(Sample size: 5102 persons 12+ Survey dates: 02/15/2007 - 04/10/2007; Markets included: Los Angeles, Portland OR, Dallas, Phoenix, New York, Boston, Washington DC, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Denver; Methodology: Random digit phone dialing, mall intercepts; Population estimates courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau)

fonte : «Digital Media Growth Projections - Updated 04/25/2007», Bridge Ratings

O que é o podcasting (convergência)

«Podcasting is not only a converged medium (bringing together audio, the web and portable media devices) but also a disruptive technology and one that has already forced some in the radio business to reconsider some established practices and preconceptions about audiences, consumption, production and distribution. Whilst Audible was established to provide speech content for these devices, the automation, free access and the radio-like nature of Podcasts contribute to the disruptive nature of the new medium. It is an application of technology that was not developed, planned or marketed and yet its arrival does challenge established practices in a way that is not only unprecedented but also unpredictable.»

fonte: Will the iPod Kill the Radio Star?, Richard Berry, Convergence 2006; 12; 144

«Podcaster and author of one of the many ‘how to’ books on the topic, Todd Cochrane, describes Podcasting as ‘Walkaway Content’ which is a neat and vivid way of describing it (Cochrane, 2004)» (Berry, 145).

Podcast e a rádio

«But music is not the only thing the iPod, and its retail-business brother, the iTunes Music Store, shuffles. Downloading podcasts- of commercial and public radio shows or home-brew audio concoctions - adds the intimacy of old fashioned radio to the mix.» (Levy, 2006: xi) 

A rádio está a tirar partido do podcasting?

O que é que significa que, na loja iTunes dos EUA, o podcast mais ouvido seja o de um programa da NPR, «This AMerican Life», de Ira Glass? que a rádio está a aproveitar o podcasting? que os ouvintes querem bons conteúdos e que os melhores conteúdos podem ser os da rádio? que os ouvintes da rádio estão a aproveitar as novas tecnlogias?

«Although iPod remains a four-letter word to many in the radio business, the top podcast on the iTunes chart, week after week, is a radio show: "This American Life," the weekly syndicated public radio show hosted by Ira Glass. It's a sign that radio, instead of fighting the competition from online and satellite radio, is adopting the same tools to serve -- and keep -- its listeners. It wasn't so long ago that terrestrial radio was just called radio, a business ruled by revenues, formula and conventional wisdom. But now it's exploring new ways to reach listeners. That strategy includes inventing new or hybrid formats, running multiple formats via HD Radio and stepping away from a nuts-and-bolts radio altogether -- by offering programming on-demand through online podcasts and even featuring video content on stations' Web sites. High Definition Radio's digital broadcasts may be terrestrial radio's most effective weapon as it rallies to maintain its relevance in the face of downloads, file-sharing and satellite radio. These receivers give FM signals CD-quality sound and convert AM signals to a clearer, FM-like signal. The technology also enables broadcasters to air more than one channel on the same frequency, opening the door to new formats and more choices for listeners. (...) "Terrestrial radio remains a medium of choice for millions of Americans," says Jeff Pollack, chairman and CEO of Pollack Media Group, a Pacific Palisades, Calif.-based music and programming media advisory firm that works with TV and new media companies as well as radio stations.  Pollack notes that a large majority of Americans -- 93 percent -- listen to radio at least once a week. "That is not going to change in the near future. During 2007, we expect that more and more U.S. stations will be streaming their signals, as well as offering their broadcasts in digital form. Some will also create new sub-channels of specialty formats, which will be available to those with HD radio receivers and also on the Web."»

fonte: «Radio competes against downloads, file-sharing, satellite broadcasts», Wednesday, January 10, 2007, Adrian McCoy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

O podcasting não é inimigo da rádio; pelo contrário

Mark Ramsey lembra que desde o início defendeu que:

«First, that abundance of podcasts was not the same as interest in podcasts. Second, an unfair proportion of the most popular podcasts - the "hits" if you will - will be from the same big media players that podcasting was supposed to put six feet under. Third, podcasting was radio's friend, not its enemy»

Agora tem mais certezas ainda:

«Some 12% of internet users say they have downloaded a podcast so they can listen to it or view it at a later time. However, few internet users are downloading podcasts with great frequency; just 1% report downloading a podcast on a typical day»

alèm disso:

«About half of iTunes' top 100 podcasts are from existing media companies. That's in spite of the fact that the vast majority of podcasts are produced by independent podcasters, says [PodTrac co-founder Mark] McCrery. "In comparison to the overall podcasting universe, there is a disproportionate number of podcasts produced by existing media companies in the top 100."»

coinclui:

«The fact is that people don't consume audio the way they consume video. Audio is not "grazed" the way video is. It takes a thousand words to equal one picture and a lot of time for that audio "picture" to be rendered. And time means trade-offs between the time-consuming task and the tasks which take less time but promise a quicker hit of entertainment. Just ask yourself how many viral videos you've seen. Now, how many viral audios have you heard? This is not to suggest that podcasting is "bad." I happen to think podcasting is terrific. In fact, I'm in that scarce 1%. But so what? The bulk of the audience is not. For radio this means what it always has meant. Podcasting is a terrific way to promote program highlights, introduce listeners to shows they haven't heard yet, and facilitate time-shifting for fans crazed enough to value it.»

fonte: «The Podcasting Revolution will not be televised» Hear2.0 29/11/06

 

Utilização de podcasts aumenta

«The survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found 12% of US people online had downloaded a podcast. Earlier this year, a survey by the same research group found that just 7% of online Americans had downloaded a show. But despite the growth, just 1% of respondents said that they would download a podcast on a typical day. This figure remains unchanged from the February survey. Research firm Nielsen NetRatings estimates that there are 207,161,706 internet users in the US.»

fonte: «Podcast numbers show 'few hooked'», BBC news, Thursday, 23 November 2006, 11:26 GMT

 

Até que ponto as receitas do podcasting abalam a rádio?

Mark Ramsey:

«Profit through podcasting: Several small companies are starting to pitch advertising links using their software that will search every word spoken in Web-borne video soundtracks or Internet audio programs known as podcasts. The new technology, from companies including Podzinger Inc., TVEyes Inc. and Blinkx Inc., uses voice-recognition software to translate spoken words into text or audio-wave forms that can then be searched. Identifying spoken content of audio and video clips results in more-relevant results when using a search engine to look for a particular item or topic. From there it is only a short step to also use the new technology to match related advertising with the search results -- much as Google Inc. and others do for searches of text-based material. On the audio side, this is obviously beneficial to all podcasters, not just radio. But familiar radio content will potentially have an edge in the online world based on that familiarity alone. And that can translate to more unique downloads which translates to dollars. Which radio broadcaster do you think will buy one of these companies?My guess: None»

fonte: Mark Ramsey, Hear2; (desapareceu do site)

Wired diz que podcasting está em força

«(...) The growth of the medium has been explosive ever since. Apple reported 1 million downloads of podcasts in the first 48 hours of the June 28 launch and now will only say that "millions and millions" of episodes of the 60,000-plus shows listed on the site are downloaded each month. By contrast, the largest podcast directory prior to the launch, Podcast Alley, listed just 5,400 shows as of June 28. (Podcast Alley now has more than 30,000 listings.) Six months after the iTunes 4.9 launch, the word "podcast" was named the new word of 2005 by the editors of The New Oxford American Dictionary. "Podcasts were popular around the office, so we wanted to create a better home for them," said Chris Bell, director of marketing for Apple's iTunes. "There really wasn't a truly easy-to-use experience until we created one (...).

Analysts are unfazed by the early returns. Walch said the next year will be "all about monetizing and the almighty buck," a belief the eMarketer study supported by predicting $150 million each year will be spent in advertising on podcasts by 2008. Thus far, Curry's PodShow network and another consortium, Podtrac, have each picked up a few network-wide advertisements from companies like GoDaddy.com, HBO and EarthLink, and one PodShow program, MommyCast, landed a $100,000 deal with the maker of Dixie brand paper products. Advertisers will continue to tread cautiously, Walch predicted, until someone devises a sensible means of tracking not just downloads but the portions of the files that are actually played. The only such programs out there, he said, amount to spyware, offering no incentive for listeners to allow them onto their computers."»

fonte: «Podcasting After ITunes», Wired News, Steve Friess, 02:00 AM Jun, 28, 2006

NPR tem 52 podcasts - e continua a liderar!

«NPR continues its leadership in podcasting with the introduction of 11 titles this week, growing the total of NPR Podcasts to 52. Additionally, more than 80 NPR Member stations are currently contributing to the www.NPR.org public radio podcasts directory, which now features 313 titles from around the country. The new entries mark the fourth phase of NPR's podcasting project. As of April 2006, users have downloaded 25 million NPR Podcasts since the first 16 titles were made available nine months ago. The 11 new features include: more themed collections of NPR broadcasts, additions to the ALT.NPR brand of original-to-podcasting content, a popular segment from the music series World Café and a new full program.» (RBR News 25/5/06)

Podcasts em Fátima?

Sim, mas a partir do Canadá...

«This Podcast contains special programming that can be found on Fatima Radio. This Podcast contains the Holy Rosary and Fatima News Update»

Nokia chega ao podcasting - para ganhar?

«The biggest S60 news of the week has been announcement of 3 new S60 NSeries multimedia computers by Nokia. In the Open Studio event Nokia demonstrated interesting beta version of forthcoming application. It’s a Nokia Podcasting Application! Manual, automatic and scheduled update of Podcasts is possible over 3G or WLAN. If you use it over cellular, flat rate data packet is absolutely necessary. The application itself is independent of a particular service or service provider. You can preview audio and video Podcasts while they are downloading. Search engine provides URLs as OPML files for summary and easy subscription. Also sending and receiving of Podcasts & links is possible over Bluetooth or MMS.»

(obrigado E.)

Um quarto dos utilizadores da internet vai ouvir podcasts?

Eis um estudo que me parece muito duvidoso (muito, mesmo...). Mas mesmo assim aqui vai:

«According to a national [Inglaterra] survey from independent research agency, BMRB, latest figures suggest that over 10% of the adult population have downloaded a podcast in the last 6 months and figures will continue to grow.
Among adult internet users, 17% have downloaded a “podcast” in the last 6 months (rising to 28% among 16-24 year olds) and 24% are likely to download a podcast in the next 6 months.
“The findings suggest that up to 7.9 million adults could be downloading podcasts in the next 6 months, which represents a massive opportunity for advertisers and media owners alike,” said BMRB marketing director Steve Cooke.»

fonte: «A quarter of all adult internet users will listen to a “Podcast” in the next 6 months», BMRB, 15/3/06

Podcasting para quem não domina a técnica

Corey Deitz, do RadioAbout, promete: com este software, qualquer infoexcluído consegue fazer um podcast...

CNN aposta nos podcasts (audio)

Muito interessante a aposta da CNN nos podcasts - não, não são videocasts, mas sim peças de som, criadas de propósito para o podcasting - a partir do que chamam de «CNN radio» (e que não é mais do que o aproveitamento da produção noticiosa do canal de televisão)

(ACT) O negócio do podcast comercial

Via Washington Post (excertos de «Record labels not boarding podcast bandwagon», By Antony Bruno, Reuters, Sunday, April 2, 2006; 7:37 PM):

«A year ago podcasting was just a fad with a cool name. In recent weeks, the format has taken several steps toward becoming big business, but the major record labels are not eager to partner with the growing format. The audio blog phenomenon that began as free, grassroots rantings is being commercialized through advertising and subscription fees. (...) Media companies like National Public Radio (NPR) and Clear Channel now sell 10- to 30-second commercials for their podcasts, prompting the emergence of startups formed to insert ads into amateur podcasts whose creators are unable to sell the ads themselves. The trend has expanded into the mobile space. On March 27, Mobile podcasting service Pod2Mobile introduced an automated advertising program that inserts 20-second audio ads at the beginning of participating podcasts. The motivation is clear. A recent eMarketer report predicted that podcast advertising spending will increase from an estimated $80 million this year to $300 million by 2010. Venture capitalists at Sequoia Capital -- which participated in the $8.85 million funding of podcasting pioneer PodShow--say the market could grow to as much as $2 billion in the next five years. Of course, to reach these figures, podcasts need listeners. According to Bridge Research, there are about 9 million podcast listeners today. Conservative analyst projections peg that the audience will reach around 12 million in the United States alone by 2010»

(obrigado E.)

ACT a 7/4/06: Uma visão mais pessimista, a Kurt Hanson: «My belief is that podcasts — in the sense of short programs automatically downloaded overnight onto MP3 players — are merely a transitional phenomenon, until consumers' mobile devices are Internet-enabled. At that point, it will make sense to simply grab an on-demand stream of the program you're interested in»

Podcasts chegam à maturidade?

excerto da notícia «Podcasts Coming Of Age», March 31, 2006, Antony Bruno, Billboard

«A year ago podcasting was just a fad with a cool name. In recent weeks, the format has taken several steps toward becoming big business. The audio blog phenomenon that began as free, grass-roots rantings is being commercialized through advertising and subscription fees. In early March, for instance, the creator of the British sitcom “The Office” began charging $2 a pop for his comedy-themed podcast after generating 250,000 downloads per week from Apple’s iTunes Music Store.
Media companies like NPR and Clear Channel now sell 10- to 30-second commercials for their podcasts, prompting the emergence of startups formed to insert ads into amateur podcasts whose creators are unable to sell the ads themselves. The trend has even expanded into the mobile space. On March 27, Mobile podcasting service Pod2Mobile introduced an automated advertising program that inserts 20-second audio ads at the beginning of participating podcasts. The motivation is clear. A recent eMarketer report predicted that podcast advertising spending will increase from an estimated $80 million this year to $300 million by 2010. Venture capitalists at Sequoia Capital—which participated in the $8.85 million funding of podcasting pioneer PodShow—say the market could grow to as much as $2 billion in the next five years. Of course, to reach these figures, podcasts need listeners. According to Bridge Research, there are about 9 million podcast listeners today. Conservative analyst projections peg that the audience will reach around 12 million in the United States alone by 2010.  The “corportization” of podcasts is contributing somewhat to this growth, as the big media brands take over the format from the geek fringe. But almost every pundit agrees the biggest killer app for the format is the one most difficult to obtain—music.»