Podcast is a word coined by British journalist Ben Hammershey by combining iPod and broadcast. It gained popularity in the West around 2004. These are the audio files which can be streamed or downloaded over the Internet. It fulfills the need for fresh fanny and informative content. It should keep the audience engaged.
IVM podcast in India started in 2015. It targets 18-50 age group. There is Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts and Headfone.
Podcast content is unregulated. It encourages taboo topics, stigmatised issues and uncomfortable conversations. As against this radio content is highly regulated. Podcast fills the gap. Radio is capital intensive business. Producing a podcast requires a portable recorder, a good mike and some editing software. Podcasts are easy to make and economical.
In podcast eco-system, a listener can easily become a creator of content. There are online recording facilities made available.
Podcasts are meant for off-screen consumption. The content moves with you. You can tune in and tune out. You can multi-task.
Since content of podcasts in India is free, it funds itself through ads and brand sponsorships. It is a good medium for targeted advertising.
To stream a podcast, you need a smartphone and specific applications that can be downloaded. In iPhone, podcast is an in-built feature.
Podcasts are mostly in English but are also available in other Indian languages.
Digital Publishing : Podcasting
When you listen to a friction series, an article, interview, a research paper or a piece of music online, it is called podcasting. It is the best way to increase the time spent or what is called engagement. There are hosts who distribute and monetise podcasts. In video dominated world podcasting has immense possibilities in digital publishing.
Apart from podcasting, in digital publishing, there is role too for AI and advertising.
Podcasts Abroad
During the road trips in the USA, you come across podcasts. In fact, podcasting started in the US. The tipping point was Serial in 2014 which traced real life crime cases. It has been extensively downloaded.
Internationally, there are more than 5-lac podcasts. Almost 64 percent plus Americans have listened to at least one podcast. In India too, podcasts have been gaining ground. National Public Radio (NPR) podcasts have been downloaded in 2018 in India by 3-lac plus people. Indian language podcasts are yet to explode.
Revenue models could be multiple sources such as advertising, subscriptions and content marketing.
Podcast listenership is increasing. The FM fare is standard, and hence boring. There is an opportunity here for podcasting. Podcasts are making smartphones smart really.
Podcasts Wave in India
There is a podcast wave in India — NDTV, Network 18, BCCL, Quint and IE are launching podcast services. Podcast audience consists of young influencers. Advertisers are flirting with the medium by setting aside ‘experimental budgets.’ Listening to a podcast is like listening to a person across the table. How to monetise podcasts? Ads could be inserted dynamically as on YouTube. Another way is where the host reads out the ad adding his or her flavour. Third is to use branded conent.
Podcasts are used mainly to build brands and not necessarily for conversions. Dynamic insertions of 15-20 seconds for a month in 150 episodes could cost around Rs. 9 lac. Individual show rates range from Rs 32000 to Rs. 4 lac. Content creators work on ad sharing basis, usually 50:50 with podcast networks.
There are 18 podcast aggrerators, and the medium is fragmented.
There is lack of awareness about the medium, and hence it is difficult to scale up. There are efforts to start regional podcasts. The measurement system for podcasts has not been standardised. These are audio ads and collecting data from aggregators is a manual process.