The Battle for Eardrums Begins With [Stories About] Podcasts

NYT does two podcasting stories in two days…and LAT does a big one on Apple’s entry into it.

KCRW Listeners Load Up on Podcasts Via iTunes: KCRW, the public radio station here in Santa Monica, started podcasting a while ago, but wthin a day of it getting into Apple iTunes’ new version, its downloads exploded from 3,500 a day to 100,000. It expects that 10% of the station’s podcasting listeners will each eventually donate as much as $80 a year to the station. If the trend continues, Seymour anticipates the station may raise an additional $1 million a year

Apple Vs Audible: NYT tires to drum up a rivalry between Apple and Audible…Audible supplies aidio book downloads through iTunes, and the story says that might be threatened because of podcasting. Audible’s exclusive agreement with Apple runs through September 2007; under that agreement, Apple cannot charge for spoken-word programming other than Audible’s. Ultimately, it will probably help both….

Podcasting As A Cipher: David Carr makes fun of pocasting, mainstream media’s embrace of podcasting, and everything in between. “The very specific charms of podcasting – its freshness and unexpectedness – make it a difficult business proposition. More often than not, when big media steps into the fray, the outcome reaffirms the fact that they have a finite set of skills.”

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