From this N E W S R E L E A S E
Issued January 28, 2008

RAJAR PUBLISHES FIRST SURVEY INTO PODCASTING AND RADIO LISTENING VIA INTERNET

RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd) releases findings of its first survey into Podcasting and radio listening via the Internet today, Monday January 28, 2008.

The RAJAR Podcasting and Radio Listening Via Internet Survey was conducted during September and October 2007 by Ipsos MORI, using a sample of RAJAR respondents from the previous 9 months who had claimed to listen to the radio via the Internet or downloaded Podcasts. The findings are based on the responses of 639 respondents who were asked
to complete an online questionnaire.

Read more »

Today I heard one of the most engaging, lively, and poignant discussions on the state of the podcasting industry. I’m a regular listener of Adam Christianson’s The MacCast, where he dispenses a healthy dose of Mac news and tips twice weekly. However, a recent episode featured the audio from the Mac Podcaster Meet-up 2008 held at this year’s MacWorld Expo. The panel featured top tech podcasters such as Scott Bourne (Apple Phone Show), Leo Laporte (MacBreak Weekly), Dave Hamilton (Mac Geek Gab), Ken Ray (Mac OS Ken), Cali Lewis (Geek Brief TV), and Victor Cajiao (Typical Mac User).

The discussion touched upon the perceived leveling off of podcast growth (perhaps just in tech), growth areas for other podcast categories, and the need for an association like the ADM to bring some order to podcasting when it comes to metrics and reporting.

It’s a long episode but worth every minute, so I encourage you to take a listen. And kudos to Adam and Victor to bringing this to us. It’s important that we all take notice of the impending business need for podcasting to play in the sandbox with other media and not get sand kicked in our faces.

This week, the Strategy Institute held their Digital Media & Pricing Summit at the lovely Bridgewaters near the South Street Seaport in New York City. It was a gathering of digital agencies, ad networks, and anyone else involved with online advertising. At the last session of the last day (tell me about it :), I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel with fellow ADM members Bryan Moffett, David Herscott, and Chris MacDonald. We spoke on the podcasting landscape, advertising and sponsorship models, and where we saw this all going. Key learnings from our and other sessions:

•  Agencies are still taking a “wait and see” attitude with podcasting. About 11% are adding it into their advertising mix, but it’s still way near the bottom of their priority list.
• Many are buying into it as a “velue-add.” That means that they’ll take the podcasting advertising for free with a larger online banner buy. This isn’t desirable, but I remember that this is where banner buying was 12 years ago when I was selling for Entertainment Tonight’s Web site.
• Yes, podcasting is new and exciting, but there are half a dozen other technologies that are new and exciting that likewise want ad dollars. We have to show that podcasting stands above with them with its connection to the listeners/viewers. It’s the ADM’s job to prove that.
• A study my company, Porter Novelli, conducted on behalf of Dixie and the MommyCast proves the above point amazingly. I’m working on unlocking more of the proprietary findings, but the average MommyCast listener told 29.1 other people about Dixie products. That’s huge!
• Purveyors of virtual worlds are still holding onto the notion that Second Death, er uh, Second Life is alive and well. To their credit, the space isn’t dead, but Second Life and There are dying. Don’t count virtual worlds out. Some — done right — are thriving, like Club Penguin, Webkinz. If you want to learn more, check out Virtual Worlds 2008.
• Online CPMs are averaging around where they always have ~$25 - $30. Podcasting will be higher than that, but not without proof of effectiveness (aka join ADM).
• Long-form streaming video (primetime shows on abc.com, hulu, etc.) CPMs are on the rise. Agencies agree that the extreme increases are unwarranted, but the writers’ strike is keeping the available inventory desperately low.

Short story, downloadable media is maturing, but research, metrics, and proof of effectiveness will need to mature in kind. I urge you to join us in the revolution and make a difference. Get your slice of the pie!

Matthew Snodgrass, ADM Secretary, VP Porter Novelli 

A new super-thin Apple notebook computer was not the only sexy thing to come out of MacWorld. ADM held its all-member committee working group, and what could be more attractive than progress towards infusing our industry with copious ad purchases?

Thanks to Kiptronic and Porter Novelli for hosting the meeting in San Francisco and New York City respectively, and for Blog Talk Radio to connecting the dots through conference and chat. The hour was packed with reports and ideas. There was a lot worth covering, but I want to lay out the two biggest initiatives on our near-term plate.

Ad Units - (part of the Ad Standards Committee)

Read more »

From a recent letter from the AAAA’s to it’s members, copied to the ADM:

New Advertising Media Associations Formed

As more new and emerging media seek to become advertising-supported, relevant media trade associations are forming to standardize creative ad units and metrics and set other guidelines. AAAA works closely with many of these trade associations to develop industry-supported guidelines.

Read more »

I just tripped across the Custom Content Conference being held this March in New Orleans. It is targeted at brand managers and ad folks who may be considering creating their own serialized web content or new media/social media channels. I thought I’d mention a few of the companies who have already ventured in to this arena, and hopefully you may have some more to add to the list.

Whole Foods has been doing this for about a year with both audio and video podcasts, all of which are produced using in-house talent. Scott Simons, Regional Marketing Director, hosts the Secret Ingredient show. There has been discussion on the Yahoo Videoblogging List about this show and the opportunities to also integrate both freelance produced content as well as user-generated content. Word on the street is that Whole Food is not interested, preferring to control the show in-house. It’s a full service blog-based site, with comments accepted and RSS. Visitors can manually download the flash version of the episode, though that is not playable on most MP3 devices.

American Express last year launched LX.tv which is a combination traditional web site and video blog, using the “new” part of the media and not so much the “social” part of the media. It is Flash-based, which makes the site a bit slow for my tastes, but does allow the designers to create a very rich, urban mood and feel. They use freelance contributors and the episodes focus on restaurants (AMEX merchants) and celebrity/social life. You can get an RSS feed, and in their grab the embed code for each episode, but the flash programming makes that part very cumbersome and the interface is elusive unless you know what the little icons represent. Viewer comments are not accepted.

Read more »

As a member of the Education and Outreach Committee at the Association for Downloadable Media, I see the ease with which new media fits into the mold for an educational program. Sometimes I think that I’m the only one, though. It seems as if the educators I talk with are either scared by the concept of new media access for students or fearful of the perceptions about the web and web-based content.

To address some of these concerns, I am going to publish a series of posts here on the ADM blog that will:

1. Demonstrate value for teachers using downloadable media in all educational settings
2. Point out the very real advantages of using new media production tools for instruction, as study aids, and in project assignments for students
3. Look at the life skills that new media production and consumption build in those who consume them.

Read more »

The recent announcement by a major cable Internet provider that they will be signing up new customers with bandwidth limits as a trial gave me a new perspective on how important broadband is to New Media.

High speed unlimited Internet bandwidth is vital to the success of Podcasting and New Media. Unlimited broadband is just as important as Dave Winer’s work with Really Simple Syndication (RSS) and compressed media formats such as mp3. Broadband is one of the key ingredients that makes this industry possible.

As a result, some United States broadband users may soon experience a “bandwidth crunch”. Although relatively new to the U.S. market, bandwidth crunches currently exist in many other countries including Canada. There is no direct evidence that bandwidth crunches deter Podcasting and New Media, but it is true that most New Media downloads come from the United States.

Read more »

Culture Catch and Artsfest present…

E.A.T. NOW!

Entertainment - Art - Technology!!!

A Party Celebrating Macworld 2008!

Sponsored by
Shure & Metreon

Read more »

Next week the ADM Measurement Committee will be meeting to discuss this year’s download measurement goals and objectives. There are many items we want to address during this first year. These objectives will help solidify the presence of podcasting and new media.

We are currently seeking an ADM member to help assist me with managing the second core goal listed below. If you are knowledgeable with the challenges of calculating download measurements and would like to help, please contact me at measurement (at) downloadablemedia (period) org.

Core goals and objectives: Read more »