Datasheet

FIGURE 1.3
Karl Pilkington: genius stupidity as performance art
Gervais broke new ground when he partnered with Audible Inc. to offer the first subscription pod-
cast, The Ricky Gervais Show, charging $6.95 for six shows, which is now in its third “season.” The
podcast also reinforces his relationship with fans and is just part of the total Gervais package.
Journalists, too, have made the transition to podcasting. Since the podcasting world began in and
amidst technology, it was natural that some of the most successful podcasts would be about tech-
nology. This Week in Technology, or TWiT, hosted by Leo LaPorte, a radio and television host for
many years, is a well-sponsored program that provides technology news and reviews, often in front
of a live audience at retail locations and conferences, a kind of Tonight Show that makes obsoles-
cence fun (finding new stuff to buy is entertainment). LaPorte manages to turn almost everything
he does into a podcast, offering a variety of specialized programs, such as Inside the Net, that serve
parts of his audience.
A news background trains the mind to make use of so many parts of every recording and experience,
because news is made on a strict budget — now more than ever.
The last area where podcasting has just started to take hold is in business, where a budget is appre-
ciated too. As a medium, podcasts enjoy a special quality of taking little time to produce. Podcasts
are a natural for marketing and engaging customers in discussion about a company’s products and
services. With less than two years behind it, podcasting hasn’t provided the business world enough
examples of success to make it a major movement, but like the Web, television, and radio before, it
will happen.
Corporate podcasts might be marketing vehicles, and companies certainly will find a way to spon-
sor audio delivered via RSS and download. Advertisers have begun making noise about the millions,
even billions, they want to put behind new programs. Think, though, about how simple it is today
to start your relationship with customers. From a local nursery that prints the URL for its podcast
about gardening on its sales receipts to chains that distribute fliers at retail outlets advertising a
contest that, like American Idol, brings the voice of the customer to the world through a podcast,
the possibilities for programming are endless.
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Podcasting: Where It Came From and Where It’s Going
Part I
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