A Look at Northeast Ohio Podcasting

Aired April 12, 2007

The tech savvy got the ultimate complement a couple years ago when the Oxford English Dictionary officially inducted the word podcast. But podcasting is a tough thing to define - we know it's an MP3 that can be downloaded. Podcasts are as diverse as they are numerous, but most podcasters don't have extensive resources - for most, it's a hobby and sometimes a passion. ideastream's Tasha Flournoy introduces us to some podcasters in Northeast Ohio.

Listen to the MP3

Piya and Deb Roy discovered podcasts on the same day - she at a technology workshop, he while browsing the internet.

Piya Roy: I was very excited to talk to her about this new thing called podcasting. And she was also excited. [Laughter] So we both kinda filled in. I was like listen to me first, listen to me first. So we knew this was something that's there.

Roy podcast audio: We play your songs, compositions, your comments and sometimes try to bring in your favorite musical legends. Hi I'm Piya. I'm Deb.

Since their first upload last June, the Northeast Ohio couple have produced 39 episodes of Awaaz Anjane. That's Hindi for the voices of the unknown. It's a weekly show dedicated to their passion for the Hindi music scene, produced straight out of their basement. Piya is a special education teacher by day and Deb, an engineer, record their podcast in the wee hours of the night with just a couple microphones, a computer, and some editing software.

With a few months of recording under their belt, their show was recently voted one of the three best Indian Podcasts by Podcast User Magazine. So far, they say, most of the 2,500 weekly downloads are by North American listeners. The music they feature comes from all over the world.

The term podcasting - a combination of the words iPod and broadcasting - was coined in 2004 as online, on-demand audio gained popularity. At the time, Podcast Alley, a directory website, listed less than 1,000 different podcasts. Today, there are over 30,000.

Mary Madden is a senior research specialist at the Pew Internet & American Life project. She says the digital recordings have caught on because they're inexpensive and easy to produce. And they give consumers a lot of flexibility.

Mary Madden: It's so easy to subscribe to podcasted content via iTunes. And, once you've subscribed you can just go there, grab your content, drop it to your iPod and then you can listen to it really anywhere or anytime you want.

Directories such as iTunes provide a variety of podcasts that range from the popular Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Better Tips for Writing to dozens of NPR shows, including This American Life, which typically lands in the top ten downloads.

The studies at Pew show the new digital media grabs a mostly male audience, but is equally listened to and created across all age lines. 11-year-old Max Mulready casts a weekly podcast for kids.

Max Mulready: It's time now for our Cool Cleveland Kids' podcast. This is Cool Cleveland Kids correspondent Max Mulready reporting for the Cool Cleveland email blast, which is delivered free to tens of thousands of inboxes from around the region. Spotlighting some arts and events that Cool Cleveland Kids might not otherwise hear about.

His podcast a began few years ago and is inspired by his father Thomas Mulready's, Cool Cleveland e-newsletter and podcasts of area happenings. Both podcasts air on local radio station WCLV as well. The older Mulready says the production is a chance for father and son to create and spend time together. It's also a valuable tool, he says.

Thomas Mulready: The real issue is isn't this interesting that kids are talking to each other, communicating in whatever form. And where's Max gonna take this. Now that he sees how easy it is to do this. I'd be interested when he does have an idea to say, 'oh, I wanna start a blog' or I want to do something else here.

The future of podcasting and other new media remains open. And, podcasters have already started delivering video and photographs with audio. Right now, listeners say that approach gives them more options beyond traditional media outlets. Pew Researcher Mary Madden says the digital multimedia has formed a targeted, extended network.

Mary Madden: Blogs and podcasts really do well at delivering niche content to a niche audience. And so, with local content, you can feature local events. You can feature local bloggers. And essentially, these sites start to function a bit like a local daily newspaper.

Tasha Flournoy, 90.3.

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