Podcast

The Postcast Serial being reproduced through the application Pocket Casts on an iPhone.

A podcast is an episodic series of digital media files that a user can download to a personal device. or listen online. Streaming apps and podcast services provide a convenient and integrated way to manage personal consumption across many podcast sources, devices, and streaming apps, including apps dedicated to receiving, managing, and listening or viewing podcasts.

A podcast series includes one or more recurring hosts involved in a discussion about a particular topic or current event. The discussion and content within a podcast can range from a carefully written script to something completely improvised. The podcasts combine elaborate and artistic sound production with thematic objectives ranging from scientific research to journalism, in the realm of everyday life. Many podcast series provide an associated website with links and show notes, guest biographies, transcripts, additional resources, commentary, and even a community forum dedicated to discussing the show's content.^{[citation needed]}

The cost to the consumer is low or free, although many corporate-backed or sponsored podcasts include commercials. In general, their broadcast is often classified as a disruptive medium, unrelated to maintaining traditional revenue models.^{[citation needed]} Long-form podcasts with a substantial back catalog are likely to be played in a marathon.

Etymology

The English term podcast derives from the union of the words iPod and broadcasting. It was coined for the first time on February 12 in 2004 by the journalist from the English newspaper The Guardian Ben Hammersley, who in an article published in February of that year emphasized the cheapness of the tools to produce an online radio program and what constitutes an ideal platform to increase feedback between sender and receiver due to the possibility of accessing the contents whenever desired.

Hammersley also highlighted the advantage of becoming a subscriber (as opposed to conventional radio programs), and the consequent universalization of journalism, since many more citizens would have the possibility of addressing a broad sector of the public. For his part, Adam Curry, in August of that same year 2004, put into play a specification of Dave Winer's RSS format to include attachments. With the tag ‹enclosure› added audio files to an RSS file and created a program to manage those files: iPodder, related to the iPod music player Curry owned. In this way, the use of the large storage capacity of Apple devices was multiplied. Eventually, he convinced several software developers to create a platform where anyone could upload their own radio shows.

History

At the end of 1996, the Andalusian public radio channel, Canal Sur Radio began streaming broadcasts of both live programs and recorded content classified by programs, dates and topics. It used Real Audio coding, from Realnetwoks, and the services of the Sevillian internet provider Arrakis.

In February 1999, the site CanalTrans.com began broadcasting the podcasts In Case the World Disintegrates and Rust, on a completely digital platform through its website, constituting the first podcast in history, despite the fact that the term had not yet been created. Although Rust had a short life, In Case the World Disintegrates continues to be broadcast to this day, making it the podcast with the highest number of editions.

Before the term podcast was coined, there were already radio programs that posted their content on the Internet, but it was with the birth of RSS that the podcast broadcast was invented. On August 13, 2004, the aforementioned Adam Curry, a famous MTV video jockey, used the RSS specification to be able to add files to it.

The creation of the podcast was a process that began in 2000 when the idea of syndication arose within the Yahoo group. In that same year, Dave Winer released version 0.92 of RSS , and between 2001 and 2002 he put into play the concept of what would be the podcast with an MP3 from the Grateful Dead; later Adam Curry did another test on his blog on Radio Userland, although there were already previous exercises.

Other sources state that the first podcast program in Spanish was entitled Comunicando, a space on technology, the internet, cyberculture and videogames, created and hosted by the Valencian journalist José Antonio Gelado.

In 2018 -according to Apple data-, 550,000 podcasts and 18.5 million episodes were produced worldwide. Google reported that it had indexed more than 2 million podcasts.

In 2020, 40% of Spaniards had listened to podcasts every month, and 60% of podcast audiences were young people between the ages of 18 and 24. In the United States, 25% of Spanish-speaking Americans listened to podcast every month.

In May 2020, one of the largest deals in the history of the podcast universe was signed, when Joe Rogan's podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, was licensed by Spotify for a value of of around 100 million dollars, becoming available exclusively on Spotify from January 2021.

At that time, there were more than 1,800,000 active podcasts available worldwide with more than 45 million episodes. The greatest growth time occurred in Chile, Argentina, Peru and Mexico. Spain was the second country in the world listening to podcasts.

Applications

Podcasts were initially intended as audio blogs, but this is no longer the case. Websites such as ESPN, the BBC, Newsweek or newscasters have podcasts available to be downloaded and listened to. This has implied the birth of virtual communities intended as warehouses, as well as the development of multiple tools that allow access to this content from any electronic device: iPhone, iPod, Android, etc. This expansion of the podcast takes it to contain everything from talks or tutorials to music and concerts.

At a general level, podcasts have diverse and numerous uses. Especially since 2010 with the rise of various programs that have facilitated the creation and distribution of podcasts over the Internet. Some notable uses of podcasting are:

• Music recordings: there are artists who have their own podcastin which the news of your works or news rises.
• Scientific dissemination: programmes on scientific development and research can be transmitted.
• Congresses: possibility of transmitting through the podcasting communications, presentations and round tables to attendees.
• Educational applications: students can receive the lessons they want, as well as study when students create it convenient. They are an excellent opportunity for students with visual and also care disabilities to get class materials in a more adapted format their conditions. It promotes an active role in the student in his teaching-learning process and empowers innovative educational and pedagogical models, that is, it leads to the use of ICTs. It establishes a link that enriches student learning and stimulates critical thinking.
• Open and distance training: possibility to study at any time and anywhere.
• Interviews: possibility of receiving full interviews in the podcasting of the program.
• Television and radio: the majority of radio programs broadcast all of their contents and increasingly television programs broadcast on their channel podcasting their most influential parts in the audience.
• Guided tours to museums: the possibility of listening to the guides of various museums, cities or other places.
• Conferences: Conferences can be heard without assistance to the places in which they are taught.

Variants and types of podcasts

The variants of podcasts according to their reproduction can be audio, video, enhanced or screencasts.

Audio podcast

They are audio only, usually in MP3 format (can also be AAC). Audio podcasts (in mp3 format) are most compatible with all computers and portable media devices. The positive aspects of audio podcasts include their relatively small file size, typically less than 15MB, and that they are relatively easy to create and download.

A 2-hour downloaded show from Ivoox tends to be around 55MB as they are compressed to 64kbps in most cases, except for some monetized accounts that support higher quality.

Video podcast

The video podcast, also known as Vodcast or videocast, is a multimedia technique that allows audio and video information to be broadcast through a digital transmission usually done over the internet. Unlike an audio podcast, creating a video podcast is like any other video production project and requires more production and planning time. To carry it out, you need a streaming server, a communication channel and a client that can be a computer, mobile device or any terminal connected to the Internet with the capacity to reproduce and dispose of the broadcast. at the time it is needed. In terms of file size, downloading a video podcast requires a high-bandwidth connection. This is because they are large files, usually more than 100MB each. The preferred format for video podcasts is M4V or MP4, and they can be created or downloaded by users.

Enhanced Podcasts

They are a unique type in that they combine audio podcast with synchronized images, similar to a narrated presentation. They often contain multiple still images that change throughout playback, and you can add live links to web pages as well as chapter skip markers within the podcast. In fact, the audio is divided into chapters and you can navigate between them. One of their biggest advantages is that they present the visual and audio content while keeping the file size almost the same as audio podcasts, much smaller than an audio podcast. video.

Screencast Podcast

A screencast is a digital recording of a computer screen, also known as a video screenshot with audio narration. It's like a long screenshot. A screencast may or may not include sound, and it's the easiest, most efficient, and fastest way to share what you're seeing. It is the most appropriate resource in all cases where it can help to teach a process or concept visible through any screen. Newer products support more compact file formats, such as Adobe Flash and Mp4. These have more sophisticated editing features, allowing changes to sequence, mouse movement, and audio.

On the other hand, there are many types of podcasts depending on the content they provide or the intention on the viewer.

Entertainment podcast

It's one of the most common types of podcasts out there. People who make people laugh, who tell curiosities or real cases of mystery. It is the ideal format to disconnect from work life, to think about other things or simply have a fun time.

Information podcast

Like entertainment podcasts, information podcasts are also highlighted by catalogues, especially those related to technology. It is a format that should not necessarily deal with news, or contain exclusives, but rather its main objective should be and is to provide information or news on a specific subject, yes, on a regular basis.

Training podcast

They are podcasts that generally give timeless information, that deal with a certain topic, which empowers those who listen to it. In its nature it has a pedagogical approach, resolving concerns and offering clarity on this specific topic. In summary, they have the objective of educating or providing a specific type of information whose function is to teach the reader new characteristics about something, thus expanding the field of information of this.

Fictional podcast

They are reproductions in which the presence of voice actors, words, sound tracks and music are combined to tell a fantastic, horror, science fiction or adventure story. It is one of the podcast formats that has managed to attract followers the most, since it could be said that it is similar to an "audiobook", therefore it attracts the entire reading public at times of housework or travel in the car. In addition, it is important to have a good script and a solid technical team in order to create a good environment for the comic.

Journalistic or investigative podcast

The podcast is an authentic and very valid format for carrying out journalistic or investigative work that, in many cases, does not have space in other media due to its length or duration. For this reason, they choose the space on the radio in which they can express themselves freely without a time limit. An example of an investigative podcast is "Red Night Chronicles".

Differences with radio on demand and audioblog

Although the broadcast of podcasts, understood as an online grouping system for audio files, serves as the basis for the so-called «radio a la carte» and «audioblogs», these concepts must be distinguished.

On-demand radio is the result of dumping the radio content broadcast on conventional stations, normally fragmented not by the topics covered or the different programs but by pre-set time slots (every half hour, from hour to hour o'clock, etc.). Although the listener has radio content available on the Internet, such as a podcast, radio on demand does not allow him to select specific programs or specific parts of programs.

An audioblog is a variant of a blog that consists of a gallery of audio files in different formats, regularly published by one or more authors that usually include a text, usually a brief introduction. The author can authorize other users to add comments or other audio files within the same gallery, in such a way that it allows the initially published content to be complemented.

As far as audioblogs are concerned, the hypertext format of blogs has evolved to the point of integrating multimedia elements capable of being distributed on the Internet and of being consumed on any physical support. An audioblog is conceived as a blog whose entries are audio files, either recorded by its creator or shared by syndication or an aggregator, for which the podcast broadcasting technique is used.

Top Podcast Hosts

There are many and varied audio storage servers, both paid and free. There are several differences between them, such as the supported storage size, the offer of free services or the possibility of listening to live audio. Servers such as Dropbox, ClickCaster, Podbean, Poderato, Youmicro, Podomatic, Podcast Go, The Podcast App, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, emisorpodcasting.com or Blueberry allow access to a multitude of audio content. The best known and most used are:

SoundCloud

SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform. It allows the distribution, promotion and audio recording of its users. It has become an audio server aimed at both new artists and more established ones, aimed at all users who want to expand their range of musical tastes. Created in 2007 by Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, the project originated in Stockholm, but its headquarters were moved to Berlin that same year. Originally it was a platform for sharing music and recordings among artists, but later it became a distribution element. In a few months, it put Myspace, the main music distribution server, in check. It won the Schroders Innovation Award at the 2011 European Tech Tour Awards Dinner.

Ivoox

Ivoox is a digital platform with space to store (publish, listen, share on social networks and download audios), after which a community of listeners can recommend or collaborate for a joint discovery of new programs, audios or podcasts on all kinds of topics, on demand and without the need for subscriptions. It is a server that offers mostly Spanish-speaking content and its users reside in a large proportion in Spain. It emerges as a time-saving service, by having its categories classified. In 2014 it made the leap to mobile applications, both for Android and iOS. A great advantage that Ivoox offers content creators is based on the agreement reached with the SGAE (General Society of Authors and Publishers) by which so-called commercial music can be included in the audios that are hosted on their servers, which are covered by a radio programming license on networks digital.

In September 2020, iVoox Plus was launched, a podcast subscription service that offers more than 10,000 exclusive episodes, for a price of 9.99 euros per month., in order to obtain income, they profit from advertising.

Spreaker

With an operation similar to that of Ivoox, this server offers continuous reproduction of podcasts organized by channels, with different programs. It presents a section of the highlights, organized by theme. With a simple click of "like" on a podcast, you access your follow-up without the need for the subscription required by other servers. It also offers the option of creating playlists to organize the podcasts of interest in a similar way to what RadioCut proposes.

Spotify

Spotify is a platform for distributing music, podcasts and videos that are available for computers, tablets, Smart TVs or smartphones. This company has a podcast service, which is consulted by people through this digital platform on a very regular basis. In February 2019, the company acquired the production and distribution tool Anchor, and the American digital production company Gimlet Media, for an estimated figure of 340 million dollars.

Central Podcastera

The rise of podcasts begins to emerge in the Hispanic world, that is, this portal seeks to centralize Latin-speaking podcasts. They not only produce original content, but also affiliate third-party podcasts like the platforms mentioned above. The site provides its associated producers with the possibility of monetizing their content. The targeted audience and niche is Spanish-speaking, but they present all kinds of content curated by a specialized team.