Today, Howard Stern announced he’s signed an exclusive contract to move his show to Sirius Satellite Radio, staring in January ’06.
But instead, let’s talk about another threat and/or savior to the audio medium.
Internet radio, in both “live” and prerecorded formats, has been with us ever since that first, ultra-lo-fi version of RealAudio.
But those of us who’ve dreamed for a viable alternative to the corporate airwaves have been disappointed. The big broadcasters and the big record companies failed to get net-radio legally quashed. But the dot-com crash, and the decline in ad volume on indie websites, have limited the medium’s viability.
A bigger hindrance was net-raido’s deskbound status. You couldn’t take it with you. You had to be connected to an Internet line, or within the ultra-short range of a WiFi transmitter, unless you wanted to record a stream and burn it to a CD.
But now, the increasing ubiquity of MP3 players has spawned a new concept (or at least a new buzzword)—“Podcasting.”
The podcasting premise: Recorded programs are made available for download, either from a regular website or an RSS syndication feed. You can then hear the stuff on your computer or your portable MP3 machine. Using easy audio-mixing software, anyone with a little money and a little talent can make and distribute their own podcasts.
Early weblog proponent (and recent Seattle resident) Dave Winer has embraced the podcasting concept. So has Holland’s biggest gift to MTV, Adam Curry. Curry’s got a daily hour-long show, during which his experience in regular broadcasting shines through. He’s also got a link list about the topic, iPodder.org.
Most podcasts thus far, including Curry’s and Winer’s, are rambling, leisurely-paced talk shows and panel discussions. Their topics are usually tech- or web-related, with brief sidebars about politics. Yet already, some producers are exploring the infant medium’s broader possibilities. One of these is Portland’s Tim Germer, with his regional-music show Northwest Noise.
Canadian blogger Jason Clarke calls podcasting “traditional radio broadcasting’s worst nightmare.” He claims that “traditional over-the-air radio is broken in many ways even more than television is.” He thinks podcasting, as the final set of ingredients making DIY net-radio feasible, just might free the masses from the minions of Clear Channel.
On the reverse, CBC staff producer-announcer Tod Maffin claims “podcasting will save radio.” Maffin believes podcasting could become “appointment listening,” overthrow the tyranny of the corporate playlist, and even generate revenue from subscriptions or pay-per-listen schemes.
I don’t know if podcasting can get that far. But it’s got possibilities. Abundant possibilities.
