Are you curious about the growth and development podcast? While podcasting is a comparatively recent technology, it does have an interesting, albeit short time. The origins of the term, "podcast" is quite captivating and speaks to the rapidly changing nature of that Internet community.


Podcasting is a term which was first coined in 2004, and it combines two words: iPod and broadcasting. However, this definition is not entirely accurate as neither one of them is exact. Neither podcasting nor listening to podcasts require the use of an iPod or any other portable player. In reality, podcasts can be listened to using any MP3 compatible device such as a desktop computer. The name association came about simply because Apple Computer's iPod was the top-selling mobile digital player prior to when podcasting was first introduced. Additionally, no over-the air broadcasting is also required.

The editors from the New Oxford American Dictionary jumped onto the podcasting train with the announcement of "podcasting" as the word to watch for 2005. The definition of the word was "a recorded digitally the radio broadcast or similar programs, which is available via the Internet to download to an individual audio player." The term will be added to the online version of the dictionary at the time of the next update.

The term, podcasting was coined by journalist, Ben Hammersley, and then popularized by former MTV VJ along with media and entrepreneur Adam Curry. The late Mr. Curry created an Applescript application that automatized the process of downloading and syncing audio files onto iPods.

Other names or alternative possible interpretations of "P-O-D" were also suggested and the most well-liked of which was "Personal On Demand". Technology writer Doc Searls came up with this phrase back in September, 2004. Some terms like "audio-blogging" and audio magazines" or "web-casting" have been suggested to describe this distinctive kind of media distribution.

Other "pod"-derived phrases are "podcasters" (those who produce podcasts) along with "podcatchers" which are the specific RSS aggregators which periodically check for new content and download it automatically. Podcatching software enables the user to download podcasts into portable media & video players.

It is spreading quickly due to the rapid adoption of MP3 players, and the demand of consumers to be able to access new and exciting content. Podcasting has grown in popularity because it allows people to have more control over what they listen to and the option of taking their favorite programs along to wherever they go.

It's been a while since a technology come to light so suddenly as it has been so swiftly and widely accepted as podcasting. Podcasts of this new industry is predicted to grow rapidly due to the rapid acceptance of podcasting by the radio broadcasting industry in 2005 as well as the Apple's iTunes distribution. The rising popularity of podcasts has thrown off traditional Radio's model for broadcasting.

While iTunes is less than two years old, roughly 4.8 million people downloaded podcasts podcast for 2005 as in contrast to just over 800,000 in 2004. Furthermore, 11.4 million listeners are anticipated this year, according to research by The Diffusion Group. Already , the Apple iTunes service offers 15,000 podcasts and listeners have been signed up for more than 7 million subscriptions.

A study conducted by Bridge Ratings in November 2005 using radio listeners from ten national markets discovered that about 20% of people who have ever downloaded and listened to a podcast regularly on a weekly basis. This group downloads on average six podcasts per week and spends approximately four hours a month listening to the podcasts that they download.

This study projected even more rapid growth for the industry in the near future. According to Bridge Ratings, by 2010, podcast audience growth is expected to reach a conservative 45 million viewers who have heard of an podcast. Aggressive estimates place this number at around 75 million by the time this article is published.

What impact does this have on you?

With podcast listening rising exponentially, podcasts offer you a highly effective way to market your business or product. One of the advantages of podcasts is that they are very simple and cost-effective to develop. Podcasting is a great way to establish that you have a better relationship with the people you want to reach through providing them with interesting regular updates about the goings on in your field. If you have a website there's absolutely no reason why you can't make a podcast accessible since it's not difficult to establish and can result in a significant increase in visitors to your site. Therefore, in the end, podcasting must be an integral part of any marketing campaign online.