RAMP-The Content Optimization Company

eMarketer just published an article, “What Do ‘Heavy Users’ Do Online?,” citing a study from Universal McCann that discusses how “heavy” Internet users are utilizing the Web and the impact of new media on advertising.  Since we’ve been talking about several trends in media lately, I thought it would be interesting to include some of its results. 

• 16% of people ages 16-34 used podcasting and 20% plan to use podcasting in the future

• Close to 100 million people in the U.S. (about 1/3 of the population) fell into the category of a “heavy” Internet user, which is defined as someone who’s accessed the Web at least 11 times in the past week

• IM, price-comparison sites and social networks were the most popular uses for the Web

• The most common activities were shopping and buying.  84% of the people polled said they had done both.

• 62% said that they had participated in blogging one way or another

I didn’t find the above stats too surprising, but one that definitely caught my eye was the type of technology that ‘heavy’ Internet users would miss the most if it were taken away from them.  My first guess would have been the Internet, but it is actually television with 28% of respondents.  Only 24% said that they would most miss Web sites, with email coming in close behind at 23%.  These stats exemplify how important video still is today and why content creators continue to seek new ways to drive revenue from their extensive video libraries.

Today PodZinger announced its first partnership with a nationwide network radio broadcasting company. Entercom Communications Corp. is now using PodZinger to power search capabilities on two of its Boston radio stations, WRKO-AM and WEEI-AM, allowing its listeners to search for specific content in previously aired broadcasts.

Although the venture establishes Entercom Boston as an industry leader, being it is the first broadcast radio network to utilize PodZinger’s innovative technology, similar cross-media partnerships are becoming an up-and-coming trend among traditional medium outlets. But with the Internet playing such a powerful role in most people’s daily lives, conventional media will eventually have to come up with original ideas to maintain a loyal customer base.

Just last Thursday, The Economist ran an article titled, “Who Killed the Newspaper?” discussing the steady decline of it and citing it as the type of “old” media that has the “most to lose from the Internet.” It cites Philip Meyer’s book “The Vanishing Newspaper,” which calculates that the newspaper will officially die in 2043. In response to that decline, the article says classified ads are shifting online and more stories are being targeted to a younger audience. At the end of July, research group Nielsen Analytics, produced a study reporting that more than 9 million Internet users in the U.S. downloaded podcasts in the last month, and 38 percent of the 1,700 participants said that because of podcasts, they now listen to the radio less. Entercom integrating podcasts into its business is one way that radio broadcast networks are reacting to the change.

It’s exciting to see how new-age technology is being incorporated into mainstream media. I must admit though, one of my favorite Sunday rituals is making a cup of piping hot coffee, listening to relaxing music and reading the paper, so I’m glad the “official” death of the newspaper is not anytime soon!

Boston, Mass. (August 30, 2006) – Entercom Boston and Cambridge-based PodZinger, the only audio and video search engine that enables full-text audio and video search, have teamed up to provide listeners with a new level of technology. Beginning this week, sport radio powerhouse WEEI 850 AM and Boston’s talk station WRKO 680 AM will launch the PodZinger technology on their websites, allowing listeners to search and listen to archived radio broadcasts with one click.

The new feature positions Entercom Boston as an industry trailblazer, as the two radio stations become the first in the nation to utilize PodZinger’s innovative technology. Within hours of a broadcast, WEEI and WRKO listeners can use the PodZinger tool on the stations’ websites (weei.com and wrko.com) to retrieve particular segments or subjects of interest. The key word search capabilities enable users to scan the content around their search term to determine relevance and take them directly to the point of the segment most relevant.

“With today’s technological advancements and the multitude of media outlets available to people, Entercom is continually seeking ways to set ourselves apart from our competitors,” said Bill Alfano, director of marketing for Entercom Boston. “As the first radio broadcasting network to partner with PodZinger, we are confident that the ability to provide our listeners with full search capabilities so soon after a broadcast will be a differentiating factor to both our listener base and our advertisers. The timing of the partnership could not be more perfect, as we just hosted the fifth annual Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon on Friday, August 18,” continued Alfano. “With PodZinger, our listeners can now go directly to the WEEI Web site and access live broadcasts from the fundraiser with mega-stars like Donald Trump, Ben Affleck and Roger Clemens.”

PodZinger uses speech recognition technology to create a text index of audio, allowing users to find specific content anywhere in audio and video podcasts. With the ability to take users directly to where their keyword is mentioned, PodZinger makes video content more accessible, improving users’ experience and making them more likely to return to the site. For example, if a listener missed Bill Belichick’s recent interview regarding Junior Seau, he or she can just type in a key word on WEEI’s PodZinger search engine and be taken directly to that broadcast.

“Our partnership with Entercom Boston demonstrates PodZinger’s ability to help leaders in the world of mainstream media realize the potential value of their content for the online audience,” said Alex Laats, CEO and chairman of PodZinger. “WRKO and WEEI listeners want to enhance their traditional radio experience with online access, and advertisers are looking for additional means to reach these listeners. PodZinger’s audio and video search capabilities connect online listeners and advertisers with the most relevant content, and Entercom has the high-value content necessary to make this happen. As more companies begin to understand, like Entercom does, the full realm of advertising potential available through text-based searching of audio and video content, we expect demand for PodZinger’s unique full-text search capabilities to skyrocket.”

About Entercom
Entercom Communications Corporation is one of the largest radio broadcasting companies in the United States. Serving some of the nations top markets such as Seattle, Denver, Sacramento, Boston, Buffalo, New Orleans, Milwaukee, etc., Entercom offers its listeners a variety of programming includes oldies, rock, jazz, country, news/talk and sports. It also holds exclusive broadcasting rights of the Boston Red Sox, Seattle Seahawks, Boston Celtics, Buffalo Sabres, New Orleans Saints, as well as many collegiate sports teams.

About PodZinger
PodZinger is powered by BBN Technologies, leveraging its 30 years of speech recognition research to transform multimedia content into searchable words. PodZinger opens a previously untapped source of content via a simple Web search. Also, from the PodZinger site, users can subscribe to podcasts, download, view or listen to them, and have PodZinger deliver new podcasts on their own topics of interest using standard RSS feeds. So when it comes to finding what you want in podcasts and vodcasts…just ZING IT!

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Jonathan Faz has written a script that adds PodZinger search to the Mozilla Search toolbar box. To use it, navigate your Mozilla browser to the mozdev.org download page and then and click on “Podzinger.” Then, click the pull down arrow in your search box to select the PodZinger icon. Voila!

Evan Williams (founder of Odeo) posted an interesting overview of podcasting companies. He compared the site’s popularity using Alexa rankings and added some of his own thoughts.

Interesting thing is that Evan combines all the companies together, even though they represent different categories. For example, a podcast hosting site would have a different target user compared to a podcast search site. (Podcast creator vs. podcast listener)

I’ve split his listings into different the categories below. It’s good to note that even though podcasting only started about a year ago, there are already around 20 podcast directories available. This reminds me of the time, back in the days when internet text content (or sites) could only be found in site directories and people were barely using search to find information. I am sure podcast search is going to change as more podcasts become available and people start to shift their habits to searching for more specific content within podcasts.

Content Creation
Podtech

Podcast Hosting
Libsyn
Hipcast
Blubrry (Also has a directory)
Gcast (Has a community)
Podomatic (Also has a directory)

Podcast Directories
Odeo (Podcast publishing available)
Podcast Pickle
Podshow
Podcast Alley
Podcasting News
Podcast.net
Podcast Directory.com
Plugged
Digital Podcast
Click Cast (Also has publishing tools)
Indie Podder
Podfeed
PodNova
Podcast Bunker
Podcast.com
Loomia
ZapZap
TalkShoe
Podcast Player
Yahoo! Podcasts

Podcast Search Engine
PodZinger
Podscope

Social Networking for podcast
Melodeo

The viewing decline of TV commercials, partnered with the rise of users turning to the Web to watch audio and video segments, have created a natural evolution for the shift of advertising from television to the Internet.  This current hot topic has content providers across the Web searching for ways to make their site stand out as the one that can drive the most revenue for the advertiser.  YouTube is one of the most recent Web sites to announce its new video ad platform. 

YouTube’s platform offers two main features: brand channels, which allow advertisers to create their own programming; and “participatory video ads,” which appear on the upper right-hand corner of its home page and allow users to click on the video to view it.  With this new platform, advertisers can link ads that appear on the homepage to specific clips on the site or to the advertiser’s brand channel.

The platform is an innovative idea, but it leaves me to wonder if it could not be done more simplistically.  I went to the YouTube site, clicked on channels, and scanned the first page to see what ads I would be able to view.  Maybe it is just because the campaign is just being launched, but I only found one advertisement: in the Paris Hilton Channel with a promotion for Fox’s Prison Break.  I don’t know about you, but to me, I don’t really see a correlation between Paris Hilton and Prison Break, and I wouldn’t think that the typical fan would be one in the same.  Who knows though?

PodZinger is currently in the process of developing an advertising platform of its own, but hopefully one that will be a little more straightforward.  Although I cannot reveal the details to you right now, we will soon be releasing an innovative idea on the world of Internet advertising.  I promise to keep you updated as soon as I can reveal more!   

Although the summer is coming to a close, vacation time is winding down, and the streets of Boston are full with the moving vans of students heading back to school, TV fans everywhere have something to look forward to: a new and exciting season of their favorite network shows.  I am looking forward to the next season of American Idol, finding out whether Meredith will choose McDreamy, and finally, learning whether Link will face execution, as Fox’s Prison Break starts tonight!

While I wait in anticipation for this season’s plot twists, wondering what new show I’ll add to my already-hectic schedule, thousands of podcasts are discussing the latest TV developments and making their own predictions as to season outcomes.  Some of my favorite podcasts on the topic include:

The Lost Podcast With Jay and Jack   
A podcast dedicated to ABC’s show “Lost.”  Join Jay and Jack as they recap the latest episode, discuss Lost news and spoilers, devote a large portion of time to listener feedback, and more.

S’mores American Idol Radio Show   
American Idol talk show.

24 The Podcast   
Welcome to 24 The Podcast, the podcast that follows the show “24,” every intense moment, every week, the day after the show.

Fall TV Preview Podcasts

TV Guide Talk  
Check out this podcast from the popular weekly magazine to stay on top of the upcoming fall TV season.  Join the TVGuide crew as they discuss your favorite shows along with the new series that will soon be hitting the tube.

Reality TV Podcast   
The Reality TV Podcast discusses all of the latest happenings in the world of reality TV, including recaps and commentary of shows like “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race,” “Big Brother,” “The Apprentice” and others.

For more podcast suggestions or to find out the most talked about television series visit our Zing Index. 

There are several prominent publishing tools for blogging such as WordPress (which we use), Blogger and Typepad. On the podcasting front, there are a ton of software available that lets you record audio files, but we find limited resources that helps podcasters easily record, create an RSS feed, and upload your podcast. We listened to what existing podcasters have said and found a few pretty good ones.

Audacity
This free recording software lets you make a professional sounding podcast pretty easily. You can mix, overlay, edit, and join audio and supports several platforms including Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux. The downside is that it does not support hosting your podcasts, but a great tool if you are planning to post a podcast on your blog.

Podomatic
This is a podcast creation tool and also a hosting service. Users can mix, record or upload an mp3 and send it directly into another user’s mp3 player. Users can also personalize the message by mixing music and voice recordings.

Podcast Spots
Another good service for creating and hosting podcasts. This site focuses on music podcasts and provides a list of podsafe music you can use.

Feel free to drop us a note if you know of any other good tools!

Podcasting Trends and Tidbits

• Technology and travel seems to be the most popular topics for podcasting. Search for the term “technology” on PodZinger and there are more than 32,000 results and a search on “travel” has more than 19,000 results.
• Podcasting is current. Just like blogging, current issues dominate conversations. Discussions range from political issues between Israel and Lebanon’s conflict, to sporty topics like the upcoming football season.
• There is a long tail to podcasting topics. According to Forrester analyst Ted Schadler, there are flurries of podcasted material of all kinds, but then moves on to a slow tail off, “leaving only the most valuable podcasted material left.” Like bloggers, podcasters are passionate about the issues they talk about and their range of interests is reflected by the long tail of topics in podcasting.
• Businesses are moving toward podcasting. Many companies such as General Motors and Pepsi are experimenting with podcasting in their marketing efforts. They are starting to realize that the new medium could be a targeted way of reaching the iPod generation.
• Video Podcasting is the way of the future. Sites such as Rocketboom, 88Slide and others are creating new video content daily. Neilsen/NetRating recently reported that 4 percent of actively online U.S. adults are already downloading video podcasts, comparing that to 6.6 percent downloading audio podcasts.