Trevor's Blog

Sunday, November 19, 2006

 

wiggly wireless

The thought of two conferences in a week wasn't exactly thrilling but the contrast between NAB Europe and PodcastCon 2006 couldn't have been greater, or more inspiring. Rome was a more elegant venue than Smithfield Market but while the big boys at NAB (and they were all boys - I think Rachel Jones from Radio 1 was the only woman on any panel) fretted about regulation and digital migration and monetising audiences, the free spirits of podcasting crackled with enthusiasm about their new medium.

Now I don't think it's a new medium at all. I think they're making 'radio'. It's just that their programmes don't get heard on 'a radio'. But by by-passing the traditional gatekeepers of broadcasting they're about to give some of the big players a bloody nose. Take Heather Gorringe from the sustainable gardening company Wiggly Wigglers. No, bear with me. Last year at the first PodcastCon she was inspired to go back to her farm in Herefordshire and start waffling into a microphone with her husband Phil and an assortment of real-life Archers. One year later she has over 20,000 subscribers via iTunes alone! And her mail order business is thriving. I asked her if she'd ever considered advertising on radio. Her response was chilling: "no I haven't," she said, "people don't listen to it." But what about the gardening programmes? "They're all rubbish." Heather knows a thing or two about rubbish and recycling and it seems she knows a thing or two about how audiences are fragmenting, how to reach disenfranchised listeners and how to make money from audio. We'll get her along to a Radio Academy event soon.

I also met Brian Fielding this week, the founder of audible.com, who's taken his spoken word business from zero to $64 million US dollars a year in just 4 years. He's persuading a large number of Americans to part with a few cents to enjoy time-shifted NPR programmes like All Things Considered. And he's desperate to sign up BBC brands like From Our Own Correspondent. Mmmmm, once upon a time we all said we wouldn't pay for television didn't we?

See you at Radio At The Edge.

Comments:
"...the free spirits of podcasting crackled with enthusiasm about their new medium.

Now I don't think it's a new medium at all. I think they're making 'radio'. It's just that their programmes don't get heard on 'a radio'."

Some do - see http://www.kyouradio.com/

It's a radio station in San Francisco that invites users to submit podcasts, and the best get played. It has a brilliantly eclectic schedule, as you can probably imagine.
 
"I also met Brian Fielding this week, the founder of audible.com, who's taken his spoken word business from zero to $64 US dollars a year in just 4 years."

I think the word 'million' is missing from there, somewhere...
 
PodcastCon 2006 was a really interesting day, wasn't it? But podcasting isn't only radio - it's a genuinely new hybrid form. It has a lot in common with traditional media - podcasters are program-makers - but it can do things, like include a video episode if it wants, which even Digital Radio can't yet do... the cross fertilisation can only be good for both.
 
Thank you for the mention Trevor. My problem with most "Gardening" programmes on the radio is they are inevitably either the "Top Tips" or "Q and A's". Well to my mind first of all this has been done but second of all if you want to know the answers to most factual questions why wait until next Saturday morning Gardening Show - you dont do you, you google it. Our show is based on the premis that if the conversation is worthwhile having between us as a company, then other people will no doubt find it useful and entertaining. We constantly think about the take home the listener will get and pack as much useful info as well as having lots of fun.
I was interested in Brad Gibson of MacFormat This Week podcast who thought that radio rules should be applied to podcasts - in terms of length/segments/content etc. I agree that the quality needs to be good but there are definitely no rules needed. This medium is just getting started on the creative front in my opinion.
 
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