Dad With Teeth

Yahoo's Foray into Podcasting

I read with interest the news that Yahoo is entering into the podcasting fray. I must admit I respond with a fairly large dose of skepticism to these roll-outs of tools from mega corporations trying to capitalize on a grass roots phenomena. But I am a big fan of the idea of decentralized distribution of media. And it would be naive to assume the major media and technology corporations would stand by and watch yet another slice of their ever shrinking pie go away without a fight. Especially after both the recording and radio industries were caught flat-footed when ptp file distribution cut into their profits. The podcasting tool from Yahoo is not that revolutionary. It is sort of a searchable one-stop-shopping site for downloadable content. I must admit it is easy to use, and for wider adoption that is a definite plus. And as a user of 4 different mp3/wma players (none of them an iPod, thank you very much) I like that they have chosen to make their technology compatible with devices that extend past Apple's dominant market share.

Yahoo's news coincided with a Wall Street Journal article outlining how the media giants (Clear Channel, ABC, NBC) are jumping in with both feet. Some might ask, with only 15% of American households owning a portable music player, what is the big deal? I believe the audio file is only the start of the uses for push technology. The real money will be made with video. Certainly the business model will be less about portable video players (although there will no doubt be a market for that. Just ask my kids as they watch Spongebob in the back seat of my van on their handheld Nintendo DS.) But the ability to push video media to a targeted audience will have significant impact on how we watch television. Downloading the broad appeal shows and the low budget independent media may be free. But for most of the content I am wagering that for a monthly fee you will subscribe to a service the way you currently subscribe to Time, Vanity Fair or Guns n' Ammo. Whether watching on a home entertainment system, a laptop, a game console, a portable video player or your smartphone, the media will be there when you want it. It will be interesting over the next few years to see this unfold.

posted by Drew Keller @ Tuesday, October 11, 2005