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

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»

«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

«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

(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

«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).

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

Etiquetas: iPod, podcasting

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

Etiquetas: audio, video

«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

Etiquetas: internet, EUA

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)

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 0 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 0,000 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

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»

«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.)

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

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 million this year to 0 million by 2010. Venture capitalists at Sequoia Capital -- which participated in the .85 million funding of podcasting pioneer PodShow--say the market could grow to as much as 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»

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 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 million this year to 0 million by 2010. Venture capitalists at Sequoia Capital—which participated in the .85 million funding of podcasting pioneer PodShow—say the market could grow to as much as 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.»

«According to a recent consumer survey conducted by Bridge Data, the relevance of portability to podcast usage has been vastly overstated. In fact, more 80% of podcast downloads never make it to a portable player or another device - they are consumed on the PC (or, worse, never listened or deleted)»

(fonte: «Recasting the Concept of Podcasting: Part I», TDG ResearchMarch 23rd, 2006

«National Public Radio has begun delivering 45 of its podcast programs to mobile phones using a service called Mobilcast. The Mobilcast service, run by Melodeo, offers various podcast channels that users can choose to stream their preferred program. No downloading is involved»

(fonte: Billboard Radio Monitor, Mobile Podcasting Gains Momentum, March 28, 2006, By Antony Bruno)

«About the same time the internet gained measurable use audiences seemed to tune out traditional “one-to-all” programming. Narrow-casting to tightly defined audiences was a distribution problem, among other stressful issues. Broadcasters, public and private, depended on big audiences. Narrow-casting meant finding more distribution points. Digital services, from the internet to DAB (et alii digitalis), seemed to be the answer. The worst for the broadcasters, now narrow-casters, would be that audiences in aggregate might carry the same weight (...).

It was idyllic when TV was offered a bit on cable and a bit free-to-air or when radio was offered on FM and AM. Of course, now everything is everywhere. And, to confound anybody trying to pin down the one, perfect distribution point, thousands of clever techies – some with a lot of money – are creating new possibilities every day (...)

Broadcasters now offer podcasts by the thousands. Most downloads are previously aired programs. Marks believes that simply offering archive material for retrieval misses the plot. Broadcasters have, he says, succumbed to the popular assumption that listeners want to interact with the station. “No,” he says emphatically. “They want to interact with their friends.” (...)»

(fonte: Podcasters (And Broadcasters) Are Losing the Plot, Follow The Media, Michael Hedges March 27, 2006)

Mais um sinal - se era preciso - das potencialidades do podcasting: Redbarradio [um programa de conversa, de duas horas, a partir de Chigado] é o primeiro podcast que passa a ser retransmitido a nível nacional nos EUA.

«Mike David and Ron Galperin created the show in 2003 with no previous radio experience. They ran it from Galperin's basement, funding the daily two-minute audio clip show with funds garnered from side jobs as film editors and graphic designers. With syndication from the Genesis Communications Network, the show gets a new night and time, Saturdays 9-11p.m. central.»

As contas são (penso) muito falíveis (porque não têm valor científico) e a afirmação só pode ser tida em conta como simbólica, mas não deixa de ter piada que, somados alguns números, haja mais podcasts registados no iTunes do que estações de rádio a emitir em todo o mundo.

Rádios hertzianas serão 36 mil; podcasts registados 38 mil! Alguma coisa isto quer dizer...

Os pormenores aqui e o autor da contabilização é este Brian Greene.

(fonte: breve na última página do Jornal de Notícias de hoje a partir das fontes citadas)

«Podcasting has a long ways to go before it becomes a mainstream medium, but is poised to grow exponentially through the end of the current decade and will increasingly become an attractive outlet for advertisers, says a new report from eMarketer.

By 2008, podcast advertising should reach 0 million, approaching 0 million by 2010, according to the report.

Currently, despite all the hype surrounding the nascent medium, eMarketer estimates that just 3 million Americans are active podcast listeners, and a total of 10 million people have ever downloaded a podcast to date.

And advertising on podcasts, "is in its infancy to put it mildly," says Mike Chapman, eMarketer editorial director, who authored the report. "Podcasting is not set to become a new mass-market venue, at least for the next half decade. By way of comparison, US broadcast radio still reaches close to 200 million Americans," he said.

However, the number of podcast listeners is expected to skyrocket over the next four years, reaching 50 million total listeners by 2010, with 15 million or so listeners being described as active - i.e. downloading podcasts on a weekly basis.

Part of the rationale behind these growth estimates is rapid adoption seen for the medium just in the past couple of years - as total listening levels rise by 400 percent since 2004.

"The total audience for podcasts has shown meteoric growth, particularly in the US," said Chapman. "The active listening audience is much smaller, but it is still set to grow rapidly".

(fonte: Study: Podcasting to Grow Ads, Mike Shields, FEBRUARY 28, 2006)

«Podcasting is an exciting format, though industry-watchers may have difficulty separating the hype from the actual long-term potential. For the radio industry – including terrestrial, online, and satellite sectors – the format offers a powerful time-shifting component, but can it ever drain away listeners en masse? Recent data shows conflicting trends. "The total audience for podcasts has shown meteoric growth, particularly in the US," eMarketer director Mike Chapman commented, while noting that "the active listening audience is much smaller". eMarketer’s latest research predicts that the total podcast audience will grow to 10 million listeners by the end of this year, and to 25 million listeners over the next two years. That’s impressive growth, though most will only be one-time users. Chapman sees repeat listeners as the key to advertising growth for the medium, though so far they are in the minority. Looking ahead, active podcasters are expected to reach 3 million this year, rising to 7.5 million in 2008 and 15 million in 2010. Those are solid numbers given the immaturity of the format, though they still pale in comparison to the 200 million Americans broadcast radio reaches»

fonte: Podcasting Growth Continues, Mass Market Potential Uncertain, Richard Menta, Digital Music News

Os realizadores de podcasts estão a perder o entusiasmo e a cansar-se? Ou seja, estão a desaparecer tão rapidamente quando apareceram?

A Radio and Internet Newsletter diz que sim:" The podcasting explosion appears to be experiencing some "adjusting factors", as a phenomenon known as "podfading" is claiming victims from all levels of the medium, including some corporate podcast efforts".

"(...) at least a fifth of podcasters don’t make it to their 10th show; he expects the podcast graveyard to become even more crowded as podcasting becomes easier..."

A Wired desenvolve o assunto.

Mas a mesma newsletter RAIN lembra que "NPR shows no signs of slowing its podcast operation, announcing the launch of their third wave of podcasts and podcast features online".

Desenvolvimentos do Público de 19/2, As baixas do podcasting (a partir do artigo da Wired)

"The Weather Channel Radio Network Passes 1 Million Mark For Podcasts

The Weather Channel has passed the 1 million threshold for the number of audio podcasts downloaded by users of MP3 players. The free podcasts are made possible through a partnership between The Weather Channel Radio Network and The Weather Channel Interactive.

The TWC radio broadcast meteorology staff produces content for 16 different products available through Apple iTunes music store and other interfaces. Other podcast directories include Yahoo podcast, podcastalley.com, and digitalpodcast.com."

Há quem diga que sim:

"While podcasting was originally embraced by radio as simply a convenience to listeners, the medium is proving itself to be a new, incremental revenue stream, Mediaweek writes. For example, Premiere Radio Networks, which offers subscription podcasts of high-profile radio personalities such as Jim Rome and Rush Limbaugh at - a year, has landed an advertising deal with Starburst. The deal will see Starburst paying six figures to sponsor a three-minute, customized podcast based on the Ryan Seacrest American Top 40 show.

Premiere is also the first major radio broadcaster to embrace direct delivery of video to the new iPods, offering one-minute video segments of the Rush Limbaugh Show to subscribers.

Clear Channel is seeing local radio podcasts catch on with advertisers, with companies like Virgin Mobile in New York, the Apple Store in Dayton, and a Mercedes-Benz dealer in Phoenix purchasing 15-second spots before the airing of the content."

(28/11/05 Radio Embracing Podcasts as Revenue Stream)

Através de um texto (postal?) de Rogério Santos cheguei a um artigo da edição de domingo do La Vanguardia, chamado "La radio, reinventada" (que, já agora, adquiri por 3 euros, via net).

O que é que este texto tem de interessante? Basicamente fala dos podcasts e dos conteúdos audio em mp3. Mas - sobretudo através do feliz título - reforça uma ideia que também aqui tem andado a ser tratada: os podcasts, com este ou com outro nome (num depoimento que dei ao DN defendi a lógica de microcasting), vão mudar a rádio.

Ela deixa de ser instantânea, irrepetível, em corrente contínua ("streaming"), para passar a ser audível onde e quando se quiser. Mais: é possível personalizá-la ao ponto de, com conteúdos de diversas origens/rádios, eu poder construir a minha rádio. A minha rádio já não será aquilo que um director de programa quis que fosse, mas aquilo que eu quero ouvir no meu computador ou leitor de audio digital (e não no receptor transistorado).

Quer isto dizer que a rádio convencionar acabará? Não necessariamente, o fluxo hertziano poderá manter-se como elemento gerador de conteúdos, aproveitando o carácter instântaneo e imediato da actualidade informtiva (o directo...), mas sem carácter exclusivo do ponto de vista dos ouvintes. (tenho a certeza de que voltarei a este tema muitas vezes nos próximos anos...).

«Depois de muitos pedidos, a NPR começou a apresentar alguns dos seus programas em serviço de podcasting a partir de 31 de Agosto de 2005.

E o sucesso foi imediato: seis dias depois, o programa "Story of the Day" em podcast atingiu o primeiro lugar na lista dos programas mais descarregados do iTunes. Em 21 de Novembro, havia 11 programas na NP no top 100 do iTunes “mais do que qualquer outra empresa de media”.

Acontece que a NPR não se limitou a disponibilizar o seu material como podcasting. Está também a alojar programas de estações associadas e a vender e a partilhar as receitas [«underwritings»] com elas. “Mais, lançou três podcasts originais sob a marca alt.NPR , como uma incubadora para futuros conteúdos”.

Maria Thomas, vice-presidente e directora geral da NPR Online explicou o modelo de negócio: “É um modelo diferente daquele que temos na rádio. Todo o princípio baseia-se na ideia de que temos de agir de uma forma diferente relativamente a estas plataformas porque o modelo clássico pode não funcionar neste novo mundo – mas temos de estar neste mundo. Para começar, a NPR vendeu os direitos à Acura, como primeiro patrocinador de podcasts”.»

O texto continua aqui. 

(o texto em causa traduz, em 01/12/05, as partes mais significativas do artigo “Will NPR's podcasts birth a new business model for public radio?”, publicado a 5/11/05 na Online Journalism Review, com este endereço http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/051129glaser/; a tradução nem sempre é literal, mas as maiores dúvidas relativamente ao texto original são colocadas junto da minha tradução; dica Ponto Media)

com uma particularidade: não se limita a reproduzir, em podcast, conteúdos já passados na rádio, mas está a criar novos conteúdos, propositadamente. Criou,para isso, um site que chamou alt.NPR

"The popular NPR Podcasts increase by nearly 100 percent with the addition today of a wide-ranging slate of 16 new titles, including a variety of original-to-podcast features; a major expansion of the successful thematic podcast format culled from NPR programming; and content taken from NPR’s archives. Also among the new offerings are three entries from NPR member stations and respected program producers WAMU and KCRW"

A palavra podcasting sempre teve alguns inimigos, que defendem que se está a promover o iPod da Apple. Tentaram algumas alternativas (audiocasting até me parece uma boa solução) mas eis que chega uma alternativa, baseada já não na ligação ao aparelho branco mas à evolução do próprio conceito de podcasting quer em termos técnicos quer conceptuais:

"On the technical side, Microcasting by definition includes; all ‘rich’ media (audio, video and applications) syndicated across any device and platform; whether it be a PC, PDA or cell-phone. And although Ipods are still the most popular form of portable digital audio players, Microcasts are compatible with ANY digital audio player, as well as a growing range of portable video players now entering the market.

From the conceptual side, Microcasting is the ability to provide a more finely-tuned specialization of content on a program-by-program basis rather than a channel-by-channel basis. The program is delivered ‘one-to-one’ rather than ‘one-to-many’ which is the foundation of broadcasting or narrowcasting. It uses one of the primary benefits of IP communications … the ability to succinctly communicate from one device to another.”

Falta saber se é uma tentativa ou a palavra pega.

1) Por vezes encontram-se textos de uma simplicidade notável, tão bem informados quanto sábios. "La radio en el punto de mira del podcasting" é um deles (obrigado Manuel). Alguns excertos:

- "¿es el podcasting la muerte de la transmisión radial como la conocemos? (...) depende del tipo de radio. Adam Curry, señalado por el "padre pod" por su papel en el desarrollo del podcasting, está convencido que habrá espacio para la radio tradicional, en especial en el ámbito de las noticias. "Si aparece Osama Bin Laden no corran a su ipod para enterarse, se van a decepcionar", bromeó a la BBC. Es que las radios de noticias están aisladas en parte del fenómeno del podcasting por la necesidad de cubrir en vivo algunos grandes eventos. (...) La radio ha estado moribunda desde hace un par de décadas, el podcasting revive el arte de hacer radio".

Algumas ideias pessoais: mais do que uma ameaça, o podcasting é uma oportunidade para a rádio. A dois níveis: o podcast é uma tecnologia que permite a distribuição de conteúdos áudio (e a rádio ganhará com isso, porque uma das suas limitações era ser “irrepetível”, instantânea. Agora podemos ouvir muitos dos seus conteúdos quando e onde quisermos) e tem demonstrado que há uma grande apetência por conteúdos áudio envolvendo voz, pessoas, gente, e não apenas música (a metro). Isso também é um bom sinal para a rádio. Mas a rádio do futuro não passará essencialmente pela disponibilização de conteúdos em podcasting, mas sobretudo pela rádio em directo, feita por gente (interessante, de preferência) e menos com play lists…

Nesta altura não falta quem considere que os podcasts são nuvens passageiras, uma moda que morrerá com a próxima invenção (o videocast?).

Mas também há quem - como eu - admita que se trata mais do que uma moda. Números recentes de interesse em downloads e sobretudo o facto de haver cada vez mais áreas cobertas pela lógica do podcast, fazem-me pensar que poderá ser mais do que uma moda.

O podcast caseiro, de amador, pode estar condenado, mas a possibilidade de usar o audio para transmitir diversas mensagens tem muitas potencialidades - há cada vez mais professores a deixar as suas aulas em podcast para os alunos poderem consultar, por exemplo.

Dir-se-á: mas mal seja possível fazê-lo em video, o audio não vai perder importância? É aqui que entra uma reflexão que gostaria de partilhar: talvez o maior trunfo do podcast seja o facto de ser - como a rádio - uma mensagem secundária. Uma coisa é ter de ler uma palestra/entrevista/aula durante uma hora, outra é poder ouvi-la, enquanto faço outra coisa. Haverá circunstâncias em que tenho mesmo de a ler, mas há outras em que posso fazê-lo enquanto corro, descasco as batatas ou leio outra coisa!

É apenas uma ideia...

Em apenas dois meses, a NPR (serviço público de radiodifusão dos EUA) conseguiu que 4 milhões dos seus programas fossem descarregados via internet, para ouvir no computador ou no leitor digital (portátil) de música - os podcasts.

"According to the group, several NPR podcasts have ranked in the top 10 on both Yahoo and iTunes, helping to create the snowball effect. NPR delivers podcasts containing news, information and cultural programming, and also offers a music-based podcast called "All Songs Considered". That podcast is an extension of an online-only program that highlights artists, reviews, interviews and other music-related content"

Mais do que a vertente lúdica...

http://ciberjornalismo.com/pontomedia/?p=163 

A propósito deste texto, em que se percebe a intenção de algumas rádios dos EUA de tentar reagir ao fenómeno do iPod (em sentido geral) com um alargamento da oferta de música, penso fazer sentido esta reflexão: há obviamente podcasts musicais, mas não é pela música que o podcasting pode fazer a diferença - e se está a impor.

O podcasting, além de demonstrar uma vontade de contrariar a formatação excessiva e a necessidade de alternativas na oferta audio actual, significa um regresso à voz. Ao toque humano. Quem se predispõe a gravar conteúdos audio, para serem ouvidos via internet, não o vai fazer para replicar simplesmente uma música. Há sempre uma voz (pelo menos), mais ou menos improvisada, mais ou menos sistematizada, mais ou menos prolongada. E quem os ouve é porque quer vozes - não apenas música.

O regresso à voz, que os podcasts indiciam, é o melhor sinal para a rádio do futuro. Uma rádio com menos música (pelo menos, menos música a metro) e mais gente dentro. 

Uma empresa norte-americana consultou 35 mil utilizadores de sites de rádios na internet e concluiu que a maior parte usa essas consultas para ouvir emissão streaming e para fazer descarregamentos (podcasts). E não para ler noticias ou outras informações ou para participar em concursos.

O estudo aqui.