I hinted in my most recent podcast that this might happen.
Podcasting is catching the attention of mainstream media, commercial radio and software vendors, like Apple. Their next version is rumored to sport an RSS podcast client - with content accessible via the iTunes music stores, as well as via the usual RSS feed process.
Slashdot is current carrying the following post:
iPod to Podcast Sirius Satellite Radio Content?
“The last time Apple and Sirius met up to discuss the possibilities of integrating satellite radio into the iPod, Steve Jobs turned down the offer. However, new reports show that the two companies are talking again. Kelly McNeill submitted the following editorial to osOpinion/osViews, which suggests the partnership is not to integrate satellite into the iPod but rather to make Sirius’s original content for the future version of iTunes that will sport new podcasting capabilities.”
Original content!? Reality check - they already have a 4 hour daily podcasting show - it’s original alright, just not original to Sirius!
So, podcasters who sign up for a Sirius radio deal, might well end up being re-broadcast via a podcast, effectively radio rolling full circle - with the wonderful bonus that any individual podcaster is going to be swallowed up as though Sirius came up with the podcasting idea all along. Were I to involve myself in Radio, the last thing I’d be overjoyed about would be losing some creative control to simply gain radio exposure, only to see the likes of Sirius move to where the real action is - back to grass roots podcasting.
What does this signal? Podcasting is about to go prime time - big time. For the naysayers, the ivory tower folk who have decreed that podcasting is a passing fad, it won’t last and is already dead - I present to you at least one commercial radio station combined with a big portable hardware, media and software vendor that can see where the real action is.
Don’t get me wrong, this is in actual fact fantastic news.
It strengthens the position that podcasters who remain independent can still potentially tap into a massive growth market - one that doesn’t require commercial stations to dictate what we listen to, or how podcasters create that content. The irony does not escape me however - those who have chosen to take podcasting content to radio should read this and understand what it means - before signing up with a commercial radio station like KYOU or Siruis.
Podcasting is about to get a whole heap more interesting.
≡ This is a journal entry relating to the topics of audio, podcast, rants.
Brendan Borlase is a Systems and Network Administrator living in Adelaide, Australia, having lived, worked and breathed Information Technology for over 12 years. Learn more.
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