podCast411 - Learn about Podcasters and Podcasting News

The 411 on podCasts, podCasters and podCasting news. podCast411 is a show about interviewing other Podcasters, similar to Inside the Actors Studio except for Podcasting. pj240320

The Perfect Storm - iOS 17 and Q1 02/28/2024

Podcast Apps that Support Video Podcasts 10/06/2020

Podcast Apps that Support Video Podcasts I get asked often about Video podcasts and if someone should do a video podcast to go with their audio podcast or in place of it. Some think Video is the next big thing in Podcasting. Actually Audio was the next big thing in Podcasting. Back when podcasting started many of the most popular podcasts were Video (Tikibar TV, Ask a Ninja, Show Biz Newsy News, Rocketboom..) But Youtube won Video - and Podcasting has become mostly an Audio medium. Look in the Apple top 200 episodes chart and you will not find any Video episodes. That said - there are still good reasons to do video podcasts (thinking it will be popular is not one of those reasons) and Apple Podcasts (and iTunes before it) have always supported video (and PDF's) for episodes. But most aggregator apps in Podcasting do not support video fully or at all. Here is a list of those Podcast Aggregator apps that fully support video, plus those that play the audio but not the video and those that do not support video podcasts at all. The list will continue to be updated - so check back often for the latest version. (Note to qualify the app most pull from an RSS 2.0 feed - in other words - NO Youtube is NOT listed nor is any other Video service that does not pull from RSS 2.0 feeds) Current update - March 4th 2024 Actually Plays Video (15): Apple Podcasts Podcast Addict (Android) Podcast Republic (Thanks Steve Stewart for confirmation) PocketCasts Podbean App Audials Radio DoggCatcher Downcast HiCast iCatcher Podcruncher Podest Primecast RSS Radio Plays Audio from the Video - but not actual Video (22): Overcast Castbox The Podcast App iHeartRadio Player.FM Audecibel Baucast Breaker Bullhorn Castro earliAudio Luminary OwlTail Podcast 9 Podcast +1 PodLP Podster Radio Public Tapcast TuneIn Waves No Support for Video Podcasts (12): Spotify (does not support from RSS feeds) Google Podcasts Pandora Deezer AntennaPod Castaway GetPodcast Himalaya Podhereo Radio.com Radio.net sodes If you know of any other Podcast aggregator apps I missed - please email me - Rob at podcast411 dot com /episode/index/show/podcast411/id/16291112

411 iTem 0233 - Aaron Mahnke - Host of the Lore Podcast - Part 1 08/28/2016

411 iTem 0232 - Jennifer Briney host of the Congressional Dish Podcast 08/06/2016

411 iTem 0231 - Lou Mongello from the WDW Radio Podcast 07/03/2016

Hey Podcasters What’s in your Wallet? 06/26/2016

Hey Podcasters What’s in your Wallet? At NAB/NMX in 2015 in Las Vegas last year I was walking over to the Las Vegas convention center Sunday morning with Gary Leland. I had my big suitcase full of stuff for the libsyn booth - it was definitely over packed. In the suitcase were a couple of boxes of flyers, a bunch of t-shirts, a big bag of chocolate, The libsyn banner and a couple of big bags of business cards from libsyn podcasters. About half way over one of the wheels on the suitcase split. It was still rollable but tougher to pull. A couple hundred yards later the other wheel split. Now it was really hard to pull. Gary offered to help cary it - but since he was already carrying a big bag of T-shirts for the libsyn booth (Thanks Gary) I said no and just hoped I would make it to the booth before the wheels completely locked up. Thankfully I did make it to the booth before the wheels gave out completely. Whew! The one thing that takes the longest when setting up the libsyn booth at shows is laying out the business cards from podcasters that host with us. We have a tradition of dedicating about half our booth space to those that make libsyn possible - our podcasters. This allows Podcasters business cards to attend the shows we go to even if the Podcasters themselves can not. See the photo above for a look at last years NAB/NMX setup. There are well over 50 different podcasts whose cards we have out and we will get more during the show. But even if that number was 100 it is a small number percentage wise out of all the podcasts that host with libsyn (>28,000). Is that because we pick and choose who goes out? Nope. It is because that is all that sent us their cards or dropped off their cards at past events. When I ask some podcasters why they did not send in their cards, there is one answer I hear more than any other. “I do not have business cards for my podcast”. HUH? Really? How can you not have business cards for your podcast I will ask them. Some say they are just too busy to get cards made, a few admit they are just to lazy to get it done, some will say they can’t design anything graphical, and a last group will say they don’t see the value in business cards for their podcast. For the first three groups, Google “Design Business cards online”. Enough said. It is that last group this article is for. At every event we have had cards out at, there have been multiple people that will look over the plethora of cards presented and go through picking and choosing cards. Some of them will say they are looking for a new show to listen to. If that was your card - Score you just gained a new listener. Other podcasters or news media people will say they are looking for guests to interview. If that was your card - MAJOR score you will likely gain many new listeners. Beyond putting business cards on the libsyn booth - there are many other great ways to market with your business cards. I have heard of people going into book stores or libraries and finding books that match their topic and leaving their cards in the books. I have seen at events business cards placed in elevators or on billboards or other high visibility spots. But I think where it comes in most useful is when you the podcaster are telling someone about your show. Word of Mouth marketing is by far the number one way podcasts grow. And nothing backs up your own word of mouth about your podcast then when you can hand over a card with your podcast info. One it makes it easier for them to remember the name and where to find your podcast and two it shows a higher level of legitimacy about your podcast, in that you spent the time and money to get cards printed. For my own business cards for Libsyn on the back I have my three main podcasts Artwork with the URL’s for each podcast site page. I found not having a card for my podcast - Today in iOS was hurting me when I went to someone to ask for an interview at a trade show. But when I could hand them a card showing my artwork and website URL - I found them much more receptive to come on my podcast and also hand over samples to test on my podcast. At Show Stoppers - a special event for the media attending NAB - they required you give over a business card to get in. CES has had that requirement as well for the Press. A business card adds a greater level of legitimacy to your podcast. Back to our NAB/NMX 2015 setup experience from above. After I finished the libsyn booth I gave my wife a call. When I told her about the issues she said I should leave those big bags of business cards behind as they weigh a ton. Blasphemy I said - I would leave behind libsyn flyers before I did that. I can easily replace the libsyn flyers - but those individual podcasters business cards - they are priceless. Ok well maybe not exactly priceless as a new suitcase did set me back $100 - but you get the point. Next week will be the biggest Podcast event of 2016 - . Are you going to be ready for the show with your own business cards? Or as the title states - What's going to be in your wallet when you get to Chicago? /episode/index/show/podcast411/id/4471352

The Pod 11 - The most influential Entities in Podcasting 06/16/2016

The Pod 11 - The most influential Entities in Podcasting This list is in response to this other list - Rather than look at individuals - I wanted to look at the teams and entities that are really the most influential in ALL of podcasting - not the very small niche that is NY City Pro Podcasting. The list in no particular order - but numbered so someone who does not read this intro can mis-report on it. 1. iTunes Podcasting team - it is more than one person at Apple - and clearly with 65% of the downloads directly to iTunes or the Podcasts App - this is the most influential team. Additionally another 15% of downloads comes from aggregator apps that pull from the iTunes directory. 2. Libsyn - The first podcasting hosting company - responsible for hosting around 35% of the top 200 shows in iTunes US. Libsyn will deliver over 25% of all the downloads iTunes and the podcasts apps play. No one else is even close. 3. Scripps - They purchased Mid-roll and now Stitcher - it is very clear they are in this space for the long term and have the financial chops to back up their plans. 4. Blubrry - That team has been part of Podcasting before iTunes was supporting podcasting. Their plugin supports a large number of podcasts and their ad sales support has been there since the beginning. 5. Podtrac - Their Ad sales also from the beginning and support many podcasts big and small. 6. Soundcloud - Sure their tools suck and they are all focused on Promoting the Soundcloud brand - and a simple search of “buy soundcloud plays” shows you for $50 you can buy 50,000 plays - BUT, they still do power a good number of shows and Twitter gave them life for at least 18 more months. 7. Podcast Movement Team - The guys behind Podcast Movement now have the largest podcast only event. This is where people through out the industry go to get influenced. 8. PodcastOne / ACE - Norm and Adam combined to build an instant and powerfully influential entity. Ok - lots of other people are involved in this tandem - Gary, Mike, Mike and more. 9. IAB Podcast Technical Working Group - This is the team that is working to standardize what the definition of a download is, so that everyone can talk in one standard language to advertisers. 10. GPM Team - Finally native Podcasting support for Android users. Right now it is about 1.7% of plays for big shows - That is actually really good for the first month. 11. Overcast - Ok Really this is just Marco Arment - but what the heck - Marco is smarter than most teams combined and Overcast is the number one 3rd Party App on iOS. Honorable mentions: She Podcast Facebook Group, Podcast Paradise Group, Podiobooks Team, Roger Wilmut (Don’t know who Roger is - then you don’t have any right making a list on influential podcasters), NPR, WNYC, Gimlet Media, Spreaker, Podbean, Podomatic, Panoply, LA Podfest team, Blogtalk, TWiT Network, Audible, 5x5 network, Art19, Pod to Pod news letter, Auphonic team, BossJock Team, Serial Team, QDNow Team, Nerdist Industries, Clammr team, CBS. /episode/index/show/podcast411/id/4446394

411 iTem 0230 - Ben Greenfield from the Ben Greenfield Fitness and the Get-Fit Guy Podcasts 06/20/2016

Will Increasing your Bit Rate equal More Listeners? 06/12/2016

Will Increasing your Bit Rate equal More Listeners? There was a suggestion recently on one of the Google+ Podcast communities that we should be going to higher bit rates for our Audio files to compete with the big guys. The basic idea was Indie podcasters needed to up their game by upping their Bit rate. I took issue with that stance, good quality in podcasts is not about higher bit rates - it is about starting with a good source file and having good content. Most people listening with ear buds would be hard pressed to tell you the difference between 64 kbps vs 96 kbps vs 192 kbps bit rates and if you put them in a car and go down the highway - none of them can tell any difference. Before we get into what I am going to recommend for bit rates lets look at what some of the top podcasts in iTunes are doing to get a feel for what most Podcast listeners are used to. Here are 13 of the top Podcasts: As you can see there is definitely no consensus. Bit rates varied from a low of 40 kbps to a high of 128 kbps. 5 were at 64 kbps, 4 were at 128 kbps with a 5th at 128 kbps true Stereo (really like 64 kbps mono quality wise) and 2 were at 96 kbps. There was also no consensus on Mono or Joint Stereo with 7 at mono and 5 at Joint Stereo. The only thing there was consensus on was 44.1 kHz sample rate and MP3 format and all were CBR = constant bit rate = good. Remember . Based on the specs above and testing I have done, for most podcasters I recommend the following settings and it is what I use for my latest podcast - .MP3 Format 64 kbps - bit rate 44.1 khz - sample rate mono This works out to about 0.5 MB per minute. If you are an audiophile and you just want your files to sound the best possible then you can go to 96 kbps bit rate (which is what I use for my Today in iOS and Podcast411 Podcasts). This works out to 0.75 MB per minute. I do not see any reason at all to go to 128 kbps or higher bit rate for spoken word audio - It is just overkill. First 99% of the audience can not hear any difference between 96 kbps and any higher bit rate. Second going with a higher bit rate means your files are larger - which means more storage space and hosting costs for you and more importantly it means more bandwidth usage and costs for your listeners. Increasing your bit rate above 64 or 96 kbps will not (NEVER EVER) gain you any extra listeners but due to bandwidth costs it may cost you a few. Remember outside the US most people pay per MB of data used - be considerate of your listeners. It is far better to start with a good quality source file with good content and encode at either 64 or 96 kbps then it is anything else. WTF with Marc Maron gets more downloads then anyone reading this and he is encoding at 40 kbps - enough said. /episode/index/show/podcast411/id/4436595

411 iTem 0229 - Igor Ramos - RECAP Call Recorder 12/03/2013

411 iTem 0228 - Mike Duncan from the Revolutions and the History of Rome Podcasts 10/25/2013

411 iTem 0227 - Ken Ray from the Mac OS Ken and Mission Log Podcasts 09/20/2013

411 iTem 0226 - Rich Eisen from the Rich Eisen Podcast and the NFL 08/30/2013

411 Item 0225 - Heather from the CraftLit Podcast - 206-666-4357 08/02/2013

411 Item 224 - Danny Pena from the Gamertag Radio Podcast 06/21/2013

411 Item 223 - Dan Carlin from HardCore History and Common Sense with Dan Carlin Podcasts - 206-666-4357 05/24/2013

Twitter Followers vs Podcast Listeners 05/28/2011

Twitter Followers vs Podcast Listeners I am heading back from BlogWorld NY 2011 - It was a great show (sans the last keynote). One of the things that stuck with me from the show was a side conversation I was in about the importance of growing your twitter followers as a podcaster and needing to put more efforts into that goal. I thought that stance was wrong. But I did hear it repeated over and over about the importance in social media that Twitter had and I as a podcaster needed to put more efforts into growing my twitter followers. Luckily I am in a position where I can actually look at the numbers of lots of shows and see what the correlation is between Followers vs Listeners. I looked specifically at a dozen key shows and compared the number of downloads they get per episode (average of last 3 episodes at least 30 days old) vs the number of Twitter followers they had. Here is my conclusion after looking at the data - the number of Twitter Followers has almost no relevance on the number of downloads per episode you will get. That's right Twitter Followers do not carry over into listeners. And one might even be able to argue if you spend too much time growing your twitter base your show will suffer and you will hurt your download numbers. Some will say that is BS and Twitter is vital to your shows growth. However the numbers do not bear that out. Let me break down exactly what I found. For 3 shows with over 150,000 downloads per episode - One had over 400,000 followers, One had 200,000 followers, and one had 2,971 followers. For 3 shows with between 100,000 and 150,000 downloads per episode - One had over 1.75 Million followers, One had over 1.4 Million followers, and one had 48,000 followers. For 3 shows with between 20,000 and 80,000 downloads per episode - One had 146,000 followers, One had 3,853 followers and one did not even have a twitter account. For the 3 remaining shows. One had 7,996 downloads per episode with 3,681 followers. One had 3,421 downloads per episode vs 35,467 followers and the last one had just 585 downloads per episode vs 33,000 followers. No matter how you slice the numbers one thing is clear - Twitter Followers do NOT equal Listeners. The two most popular producers on Twitter had a greater than 10 to 1 ratio of Followers vs Listeners. Yet one of the top 3 most downloaded in this group had a 100 to 1 ratio of Listeners to Followers. And the worst of the group had over 50 Followers for each listener. I am not saying to quit twitter or stop tweeting - just that as a podcaster it is all about the download and it is safe to say you can stop sweating about the number of followers you have and go back to worrying about putting out good content. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or shot and email to rob AT podcast411.com /episode/index/show/podcast411/id/1606419

Blogworld NYC - I am speaking 05/12/2011

I am Speaking at Podcamp Topeka - Nov 6th 11/04/2010

A Podcast by any other name is still a.. 09/28/2010

A Podcast by any other name is still a.. Note this is a republish of a column I wrote for Blogger and Podcaster Magazine back in June of 2007. In honor of Blog world I am reposting this article now. In the beginning God created Adam and then Adam (with the help of Dave) created a new medium called Podcasting. Well maybe that is stretching it a little, originally Podcasting was known as Audio Blogging. But within weeks of its creation a new name appeared and that name was “Podcast”, and the small group of Audio Bloggers said, “This name is good” and they accepted the new name. The name “Podcast” was also quickly accepted by Bloggers and the main stream media. This new medium armed with a catchy name was then able to ride the coat tails of the iPod media frenzy in the fall of 2004. However all was not perfect in the garden of Podcast. Even from the beginning there were some that wanted to hold on to the name AudioBlog or others that felt the name Podcast was misleading. They argued the name made people think they needed an iPod to listen. However these few dissenters were small in numbers, not organized and offered no better alternatives. Then in the Spring of 2005 a new group of people (lets call them for the sake of this article “the forces of evil”) arrived on the scene and they declared that the name Podcast was not good and we needed to change the name. The first name the forces of evil suggested was “Nanocast”. They quickly formed the Nanocasting alliance, they were organized and they were focused. They pushed forth their combined wisdom, which they as experienced media and marketing professionals clearly had an over abundance of. However they overlooked one small detail Podcasting had become more than a name, it had become a community. And so the name Nanocast quickly died along with the names Picocast, Femtocast and Attocast. Although I do hear from time to time that the name Zeptocast is getting a little bit of a niche following. Then the forces of evil, this time a group from Redmond, decreed that the name should be “Blogcast”, and a collective yawn was heard throughout the land. The final nails were driven into the coffins of the names Blogcast and NanoCast when Apple released iTunes v4.9 with “Podcast” support in late June of 2005. In one move Apple put the name Podcast on to millions of computers and put the most effective marketing machine in the world behind the name. For a while it seemed there would be no more real issues with the name Podcast, however the forces of evil were not through. They waited in the wings for an opportunity and in late September 2006 Wired.com offered that opportunity by misreporting on a story and making it look like Apple was trying to take over the name Podcast. Within days of that story the bloggisphere had twisted the Wired.com story into a feeding frenzy of fear and anger. Sadly a white knight in the community and his trusty steed were both tricked by the forces of evil to support the name “Netcast”. Fortunately the truth about Apples intentions was quickly revealed and people learned that Apple had “no issues with the term podcast”. Not only that the US Patent and Trademark (USPTO) office rejected the trademark application a company, who is not Apple or related to Apple in any way, had submitted for the term “Podcast”. The USPTO even added the term “Podcasting” into the list of generic terms. So what at first looked like might become a civil war in the community over the name in the end turned out to be just another name that did not measure up to Podcast. Netcast is still used by a couple of people, but outside of the community the name has shown zero traction and today the name Netcast is for all realistic purposes dead. If you don’t believe me on this just go to wikipedia – the entry for Netcast was removed and redirected to podcast or you can google both terms and look at the difference in the number of results. While Apple did not introduce the term Podcast as a replacement for AudioBlogs, Apple did throw both audio and video together in the podcast directory in iTunes. Which is not a bad thing for Video Bloggers, uhm I mean vidcasters or is it vloggers or... Seems that community could never decide on a name for itself. I think one of my guests on podCast411 said it best. “I don’t care what a reporter calls my medium when they are interviewing me – just as long as they get my URL spelled right.” Granted the name Podcast is not perfect, but it has proven to be clearly the best name. Today the name podcast is supported by most of the major technology / new media companies including Amazon, AOL, AT&T, Blackberry, CNN, Google, Nokia, Sprint & Yahoo. Even Microsofts Zune has a podcast section. Game over “Podcast” wins. Finally, there is no single name that is going to magically transfer knowledge about RSS feeds with Audio or Video enclosures and how to subscribe to said RSS feeds. We need to get over the fact that non-technical people are confused when they hear the name Podcast for the first time. They will be confused no matter what the name is. Many people were confused when they first heard about CD’s, DVD’s and Computers. We as "Podcasters" should be spending our energies on teaching people how to subscribe - rather than wasting our time fighting Windmills. /episode/index/show/podcast411/id/1176040