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Are you an "active" podcast user

Posted by: Stephen Baker on February 05

Interesting numbers on podcasting from Emarketer. (I yelled over to Heather and told her I was blogging this, and she said, “I find those numbers really hard to believe.” ie. She finds them high.) With that caveat… Emarketer reckons the market for podcasts in the U.S. was 18.5 million people in 2007, and will reach 28 million this year. Advertising revenue for those podcasts was $165 million last year. (There are also bullish revenue forecasts, but I learned my lesson on them nearly a decade ago.)

One note: Only about one-third of podcast listeners, an estimated 6.5 million people last year, ranked as an “active” user. That’s someone who downloads at least one podcast per week. In my iPod and laptop-wielding family, I’d say all five of us fit within the larger group. But I’m the only “active” member.

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Reader Comments

Anthony Silverbrow

February 5, 2008 11:55 AM

Yes absolutely, except I'm almost always listening to podcasts of radio shows and usually ones from public radio e.g. This American Life or From Our Own Correspondent.

Very rarely do I listen to homegrown podcasts despite the fact that I'm an avid blog reader, write one myself and have even been known to do my own podcasts.

Frank Fortin

February 5, 2008 01:57 PM

I started downloading and listening to podcasts in the car because I got fed up with 10-minute commercial breaks on the radio.
I actually learn something, too.

Frank Patrick

February 5, 2008 03:06 PM

Podcasts fill up my weekly 10 hours of commuting.

Public Radio Stuff - Wait Wait, American Life, Studio 360, Sunday Puzzle, On the Media, This I Believe, Splendid Table, Engines of Ingenuity, Fishko Files, RadioLab (The best thing from the US), selected episodes of Fresh Air.

Other Sources - In Our Time (Best thing from the BBC), Wall St Confidential (Jim Cramer), Philosophy Bites, Point of Inquiry, This Week in Tech (TWIT)

In addition to audio for the car, my AppleTV provides living room access to video podcasts - Cranky Geeks, TED Talks, Wealthtrack (reminds me of the old Wall Street Week with Rukeiser - calm, reasoned investment show in today's frenetic world of Cramer, Fast Money and Fox Saturday Morning)

You might say I'm an "active" podcast user.

Rick A

February 5, 2008 04:18 PM

I download many podcasts every day. Most are less than 15 minutes. I have not had my car radio on for almost 2 years. My favorites: Buzz Out Loud, TWIT, Daily Giz Whiz, WSJ Online.

Mike Keliher

February 7, 2008 02:29 PM

I'm certainly an active podcast "user." As a consumer of the medium as well as a creator, I certainly understand and believe in the power of medium.

But let me know when your mother starts listening to podcasts. Then I'll be really excited.

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In Blogspotting Senior Writer Stephen Baker and Associate Editor Heather Green take a look at how cutting-edge technologies are changing business and society. Whether its blogs or wikis, data crunching or data targeting, technology’s advances are reshaping the world that we live in.

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