Radio Research Firm Predicts Podcasting Growth

By Shel Holtz
Expert Author
Article Date: 2005-11-15

Bridge Ratings, which conducts research focused on radio, sees a bright future for podcasting.

Based on a study of some 4,400 radio listeners in 10 markets, the firm has determined that podcasting will reach critical mass in 2010 with 45 million podcast listeners. Today, according to the research, about 4.8 million people have downloaded a podcast, compared to 820,000 last year. Driving growth will be the radio industry's adoption of podcasting, according to the study, along with the clout Apple's iTunes has brought to the game.

Since Bridge Ratings makes its living supporting the radio industry, it's no surprise the company determined that growing podcast consumption is a good thing for radio, ultimately "boosting tune-in." Most podcasters see themselves as the alternative to radio, but this study supports the idea that the medium will be overrun with the same content you can get on the radio today as opposed to the new content produced by the so-called "indie" podcasters.

The study also found that only about 20% of podcast listeners do their listening on a portable media device.

A press release and PowerPoint presentation on the study are available on the Bridge Ratings site .

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About the Author:
Shel Holtz is principal of Holtz Communication + Technology which focuses on helping organizations apply online communication capabilities to their strategic organizational communications.

As a professional communicator, Shel also writes the blog a shel of my former self.

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