So apparently podcasting was ‘The Word’ for 2005. Let me tell you what the phrase for 2007 will be: ‘Whatever happened to podcasting?’

In a time when even newspapers are promoting interactivity podcasting seems like a cute, white plastic throwback to the gramophone. And this is why the evolutionary theory reference is apt. Evolution requires dead ends. And podcasting is radio that I have to work harder to listen to. It is still operating on the outdated broadcast model and that horse bolted a couple of years ago.

Even if I only have to work a little bit harder and get my podcasts delivered via RSS there is still no way to monitor whether I am actually listening to them for long enough to hear any advertisements. It is guesswork. In March, eMarketer estimated (guessed) there were only 3 million regular podcast listeners. Of course, according the a recent Advertising Age article (“Few Compete to Settle Podcasting’s Wild West”) a Bridge Ratings study estimated the podcast audience will grow to up to 75 million by 2010. If that actually happens I will personally staple my iPod to a live dodo, make a wish and fling it over the Smurf Village.

Do not get me wrong, though. Portable Media Players are a growth area that you definitely want a piece of. Networks are going to have to let go of the idea of broadcasting and resign themselves to the fact that consumers want to possess and keep their media. ABC proved that they are even willing to pay for it. This then, is the growth area marketers need to look at: monetizing downloadable content. The pod is just a storage device. It is like saying my garage is an amazing environmental innovation because I park my hybrid car in it.

The distinction between online video and podcasting –as it is typically understood- needs to be emphasized. Online video qualifies as interactive because it is the user that selects when, where and how content is consumed –not necessarily on a computer, an iPod or in a car. (Technically you can consume it via your fridge if you buy the right model.) Podcasting qualifies as broadcasting because it is intended to be consumed via a specific device –just like a television or radio (only, again, with more effort by the consumer).

The attempts at making podcasting more interactive are clunky to say the least. It seems that the best anyone can come up with is recording your voice responding to a particular podcast you were listening to and sending it to the broadcaster. This ghoulish ‘letters to the editor’/talkback-radio crossbreed is the type of thing I picture Satan podcasting directly out of Hell.

Do I give you the impression that I am not keen on podcasts? Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. The fact that they are not an ideal marketing vehicle when compared to online video or even the humble newspaper is what I hope will save them. My vision for podcasting in the future is that it takes a more tekkie and more arty direction. Trade podcasts –like trade magazines- are an absolute lifeline for most industries because they keep you up to date. There is even a good possibility you could monetize them. For those of us outside a particular industry they can offer you new insights on something you did not know before. (Who wouldn’t subscribe to a monthly sex industry commentary podcast?) On the arty side of things, I hope they go the way of the personal darkrooms and celluloid photography: unnecessary in the technical sense but a great vehicle for creativity. There is a lot of scope to experiment with audio as a narrative medium in these post radio drama days. What was lacking in the past were distribution pathways –if a radio station did not take you on then it was just you and a couple of friends talking to yourself in a really quiet room. Podcasting goes some way to solving that.

So where does all this leave us? With a very misleading term for an innocuous old broadcasting model that will probably do more damage than good as I am sure many marketers are going to be confused by it. Steve Jobs has a lot to answer for. Or rather he has slightly more to answer for than he did previously.

G Preston White is a New Zealand-based freelance writer. He can be contacted via his website and blog. www.prestonwhite.co.nz