Podcast listeners

Many narrowcasts, many different audiences.

They don't all listen to the same programs, they don't all use iPods, and they don't all come from the same background.

They are podcast users, and they defy clear-cut connections between usage and factors such as gender, age and income level.

The increases ranged from a 10-point spike in the
percentage of respondents ages 25 to 34 who said they listened to
podcasts (from 45% to 55%) to a doubling in the response rate among
listeners ages 50 to 64 (from 8% to 16%).

Podcast trends

TREND INDEX

* US Podcast advertising spending increased 106% in 2007 and is projected to rise to $435m in 2012 (eMarketer)
* US Podcast audience reached 18.5m in 2007, and will increase by 251% to 65m in 2012 (eMarketer)
* iPod/Portable MP3 player ownership continues dramatic growth. Nearly four in ten (37%) own an iPod or other brand of portable MP3 player (Edison Research Apr 2008)
* 45.1% of active Internet users have downloaded a podcast (Universal McCann)
* In the past 9 months, downloading podcasts more than doubled going from 14% to 30% among active Internet users (Universal McCann)

from http://www.volomedia.com/

Wizzard Media

Wizzard Media is the industry's leading podcast hosting network, with an unprecedented one billion-plus download requests in 2007. Podcasts are a means for independent and professional content creators to publish audio and video shows for the world to enjoy over the Internet or on mp3 players, such as the Apple iPod and the Microsoft Zune.

Podcasting is a relatively new phenomenon, but Wizzard Media collectively broadcasts millions of podcast downloads per day through media aggregators like Apple's iTunes, Microsoft's Zune Marketplace and other podcast aggregators.

For more information, please visit www.wizzard.tv. Wizzard Media is a division of Wizzard Software, a leader in speech technology development.

Podcast growth

While online video, mobile and Web 2.0 technologies grab the digital media headlines, podcasting has grown steadily, stealthily to become one of the most effective ways to extend a media brand.

Tens of millions of video and audio shows a month synch into portable media players, and some providers of podcasting services report a doubling of subscribers in the last year. Publishers like Slate, BusinessWeek, 1Up, and Harvard Business Review have full schedules of downloadable media.

Amazing Ad Recall Rates from Podcasts, Online Video Shows

Ads in podcasts are three times as effective as “traditional” online video ads and seven times more so than television ads, according to four campaign studies conducted by Podtrac and TNS.

Compared with industry benchmarks of 21% for streaming video and 10% for television, unaided ad awareness for podcasts was an impressive 68% on average; aided recall was even higher, at 89% on average. Embedded ads in online video shows are also highly effective, the study found.

“The high unaided ad recall figures are no doubt the results of a less cluttered environment,” said Doug Keith, former vice-president of the Media & Entertainment Group at TNS and now president of Future Research Consulting.

“Audiences are paying close attention to show content and the embedded ads within them, which greatly increased ad effectiveness,” he added.

Other major findings:

* On average, fully 69% of audience members have a more favorable view of in-show advertisers.
* The study found a 73% increase in likelihood, on average, that a consumer would use/buy an advertised product after being exposed to an ad.

Those results indicate successful targeting and the strong influence of show hosts over their audience, according to Podtrac.

The studies spanned two years (Feb. ‘06 to Mar. ‘08) and multiple product categories, including television programming, automobile, financial services, and digital imaging.

Less than 4% of all internet and 1% of TV ad spend currently goes to online video ads, according to eMarketer, but the company forecasts a tripling of current ad spend to reach $4.3 billion in 2011, also predicting podcast monthly audience size to be 50 million by 2010.

“The unaided awareness level of 68% is considerably higher in podcasts and online shows than in other offline and online media,” said Mark McCrery, Podtrac’s CEO and cofounder.

“Narrowly targeted audiences, appropriate ad formats, content relevance, and show host involvement are some of the factors which come together to produce highly effective ads in online shows and podcasts.”

Ad formats studied consisted of embedded :15 and :30 host-read audio and video ads, embedded :10 and :15 produced video ads, ad banners on publisher websites, and social networking in the form of publisher blog entries about advertised brands and related topics.