podcasting business model

Doc Searls has a good thread running on podcasting business models.

Maybe I'm really dumb but I don't get the issue here. Of COURSE podcasting will make money - when the listeners come. This business of podcasting is not even a year old people. What business have you ever been in that made good money in under 5 years? At The Podcast Network we've got 10 shows currently that are all growing quite fast. We're only a month old. A year from now, I'm coinfident that we'll have bigger listener numbers than any single radio station in Australia. And our costs are minimal. We are starting to get quality demographic information on who our listeners are. If we can't make money out of that... I'll eat Doc's shorts. By the way, we've already got a dozen or so advertisers working on deals with us.

Comments

[Shane Williamson]

"A year from now, I'm coinfident that we'll have bigger listener numbers than any single radio station in Australia"
Oh Cameron dear, want to put a "little" wager on this?
:-)

[Cameron Reilly]

Shane, I'm already wagering my business, credibility and income on it. What more do you want??

[Nicole Simon]

We want a video of those shorts being eaten. *g*
After that, we come back listening.

And hey, which Australien radio station has an Austrian print coverage. ;)

[Michael Pietsch]

Cameron - start looking for recipes that improve the flavour of Doc's shorts. There is no way that podcasting has the potential to attract anything other than niche audiences.

Why?

You don't have any star quality associated with any of your current presenters. Think TV, think radio, think movies - what attracts the mass audience? Stars.

Your presenters may be perfectly competent and entertaining, but would my wife, brother or Mother ever have heard of them or ever want to hear them speak? My bet is "no".

I like your enthusiasm, but this stuff is not mass market. Advertisers will experiment - due to low cost - and then get back to the channels that actually reach listeners in numbers.

But, good luck anyway!

[Mark Jones]

Michael - do a search for "Long Tail" under Google, do some reading, and then you'll understand a compelling counter to your argument.
Cheers.

[Cameron]

Mr Pietsch! Welcome to my blog. Good to see you jumping in with your usual panache. :-)

I can't comment on your wife, brother or mother specifically, but if they are like most people, I will make a few guesses.

Guess #1 - they are very likely to own a mobile phone
Guess #2 - they are passionate about SOMETHING (other than you, of course)

Now... if both of those guesses are correct... within the next couple of years, their mobile phone will be a fully realized media device (mp3 and video) and we will have at least one show on TPN that covers the subject they are passionate about (again, assuming that subject isn't YOU... ). I think I'm very likely to get them to tune into that show.

Now... in the meantime, there are already 25 million mp3 players in circulation (IDC stats). If I can't come up with compelling content to put on those devices, then I'm an idiot. If I can... then I think I can get advertisers. Those are pretty big numbers.

Think about this - Fox FM and 3AW in Melbourne each get something like 15 - 17% marketshare of total potential listeners in Melbourne - about 3.2 million people over the age of 10. So they are each pulling about 500,000 listeners over the course of a week.

Now I've got a potential market of 25 million people. That will be more like 50 million by the end of 2005. If I can get a mere 1% of those people to tune into our shows, then I've got an audience the equivalent of Fox.

Stars? Well I don't know what you consider a "star", but if you want my 2 cents, most of the "stars" on Aussie TV and radio are crap. They are 98% marketing, 1% substance and 1% lack-of-choice. I believe podcasting *will* launch new stars. We have a global marketplace. We have a massive untapped delivery channel and a method of delivery which isn't yet a year old.

I'll make you a deal - if I don't end up eating Doc's shorts, will you eat mine? :-)

[Nicole Simon]

The reason we have stars is, that there is only so much air time available at conventional broadcast / tv.

But much different in podcasting world wide. And in the new time, I don't see that we need that many stars any more.