Podcasts, the Wave of the Future
Friday, 03 March 2006
Less than a year ago, only 13% of survey participants knew for sure what “podcasting” meant, according to a Pew Internet & American Life survey conducted last July and recently reported by eMarketer.
Since that time, according to Mike Chapman, Editorial Director of eMarketer and author of the new report entitled “Podcasting, Who’s Tuning In,” the popularity of podcasts has “shown meteoric growth, particularly in the US.” Chapman went on to say that the numbers could reach between 20 million and 80 million.
Naturally, advertisers are paying attention to these projections and are eager to take advantage of a promising marketing opportunity.
Although it is still extremely early in the development of podcast advertising, Mike Chapman said, “the nature of the audience and strong growth in its numbers have already driven major brands to invest in podcast-based promotion. More advertising and sponsorship will inevitably follow, as evidenced by the sprouting up of several companies dedicated to facilitating podcast advertising and measuring its effectiveness."
According to Chapman, in late 2005, iPod introduced an improved model featuring a high quality color screen, more memory, and video playback ability. Chapman went on to predict that videocasts could take over as the preferred format in the next several years.