Terrestrial Radio and Podcasting
Not often do I predict a revolution but Podcasting is brand new and already has 7 million listeners and over 15,000 podcasts listed in the iTunes directory. I don�t believe Podcasting is in its 14th minute of fame as many have predicted but the turn of the next year will show a huge change for iPod and podcasting when one thing happens that should be nothing but will be something. Howard Stern. I have not listened to him for over a year now since I started listening to podcasts but I hear a lot of reader mail on shows I tune into and they write they used to listen to his morning show and have since stopped since they can listen to iPod in their car, they see no incentive to deal with his commercials and slow parts of the show when they can subscribe to tons of podcasts and fast forward something they don�t like.
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The amount of listeners he has completely lost to podcasting is relatively small but many people have urged him to take all of the archives of the show, with commercials, and put it online and then start-charging monthly to allow post Sirius shows to be placed online for iPod users. This would be a smart idea to the mogul but instead; he has ignored the phenomenon as other corporations have embraced it. While advertisers, that spent almost 100 million dollars during the fiscal 2004 year for advertising on the Stern show, are wondering who is going to be replacing him in the syndicated morning slot while I am thinking what�s going to happen to his listeners who don�t go to Sirius.
I doubt anyone terrestrial radio chooses to replace Stern will be anything close to what he did on that show. Candidates leading the race are David Lee Roth and Adam Corolla and it�s anybody�s guess that gets the slot but those that don�t go with Stern will have to stick with the half a man replacement or go to where the airwaves are free. Podcasting has a huge selection of shows to fill your morning. You can go to KCRW or NPR for your news, Engadget for tech, iLounge for iPod news, and for entertainment there�s NLO, KATG and Mary and Karla. This is only naming a few and with commercial free, you have nothing to lose but to try it out.
If you already have an iPod it�s a no brainer but if you don�t use that cost to pay 200 dollars for a Sirius equipped unit and then pay 12.95 a month in order to get your Stern fix. Of course, you can�t just go into your cubicle and turn on the radio and get his 8-10AM part of the show but will have to buy a separate Sirius account to do that as well. So you are looking for 400 dollars and 25 dollars a month to hear Stern or pay 99 dollars and get an iPod shuffle that will play all of your podcasts. You can easily get 8 hours of podcasting onto your iPod shuffle for a lot less.
I see a decision being made by consumers soon to either make the switch with Stern or choose podcasting. Stern is a broadcast genius and his show is amazing with characters, guests, jokes news and a daily soap opera in the lives of his cast members. After a week of listening you are hooked to the show and whoever replaces him will have to regain the trust of an audience who has been with him for twenty years now. I have gone Podcasting by creating my own show and subscribing to over 30 other shows I listen to on a weekly or daily basis and all of this for no cost.
