Ever wonder about the evolution that has led to the podcast? While it's a new technology, it has an interesting, albeit short background. The story behind the word, "podcast" is quite interesting and reflects how dynamic is the Internet community.

Podcasting is a term that was first coined in 2004, and it combines two terms: iPod and broadcasting. This definition, however, is somewhat of a misnomer since neither component is completely exact. Listening to or podcasting podcasts requires an iPod or other portable player. In actual fact, podcasts can be listened to via any MP3-enabled device, such as a desktop computer. The reason for the name was simply because Apple Computer's iPod was the highest-selling portable digital audio player before podcasting began. Additionally, no over-the air broadcasting is also required.

The editors at the New Oxford American Dictionary jumped onto the bandwagon of podcasting by declaring "podcasting" phrase of 2005. in 2005. The word is defined as "a audio recording made digitally of an audio broadcast or similar programthat is made available via the Internet to download to an individual audio player." The word could be added in the online dictionary at the time of their next update.

The term, podcasting is a term coined by journalist Ben Hammersley, and then was popularized by the former MTV VJ as well as media business entrepreneur, Adam Curry. Adam. Curry created an Applescript application that automatized the process of the downloading and sync of audio files to iPods.

Alternative names or definitions to the letters "P-O-D" were proposed, the most popular of which was "Personal on Demand". Technology writer, Doc Searls came up with the phrase in Septemberof 2004. Terms such as "audio-blogging", podcasts" and "web-casting" have been described to describe this distinct form of media distribution.

Other "pod"-derived terms include "podcasters" (those with the ability to create podcasts) in addition to "podcatchers" - the special RSS aggregators which periodically check for new content and download it automatically. Podcatching software allows the user to copy podcasts on portable devices such as music and video players.

Popularity of the podcast is growing like wildfire because of the rapid expansion of MP3 players and the demand of consumers to be able to access new and exciting content. The popularity of podcasting is due to the fact that it allows users to take more control over what they listen to, as well as the ability to take their podcasts on the go.


The blogging technology been so unpredicted and been so quickly and widely adopted as the podcast ing. The growth of this emerging industry is anticipated to increase rapidly due to the rapid acceptance of podcasting by the radio broadcast industry in 2005 as well as Apple's iTunes distribution. The increasing popularity of podcasts is challenging conventional the broadcast model of radio.

While iTunes is only two years old. 4.8 million listeners downloaded podcasts podcast for 2005 as compared with just over 800,000 in 2004. Furthermore, 11.4 million users are expected this year, according to research from The Diffusion Group. The Apple iTunes service offers 15,000 podcasts and users have been signed up for seven million or more subscriptions.

A study by Bridge Ratings in November 2005 featuring radio listeners from 10 major markets in the United States discovered that about 20% of users who have downloaded and heard a podcast listen to them on a regular basis. The group downloads on average six podcasts per week and spends about four hours per month listening to podcasts the download.

This study projected even more rapid growth for the industry to come in the near future. According to Bridge Ratings, by 2010, podcast audience growth is estimated to be around 45 million viewers who have heard of an podcast. The most optimistic estimates put this number at around 75 million by this time.

How does this affect you?

With podcast listeners increasing in frequency, podcasts offer you a very powerful tool for promoting your products or services. The best part about podcasts is that they're extremely simple and inexpensive to develop. Podcasting can facilitate the connection of your target audiences by offering them engaging frequently updated, relevant and timely information about happenings in your field. If you've got a site, then there's no reason why you can't make an online podcast accessible as it's not difficult to establish and could result in a substantial increase in the number of visitors to your website. Thus, it's clear that podcasting can be an essential part of any online marketing strategy.