#PODCAST CLOCKMAKER SERIAL#

#PODCAST CLOCKMAKER SERIAL#

Some of the best non-fiction out there is appearing on shows like This American Life and Serial and it’s clear that on-demand audio, like on-demand video before it, is the “next big thing.” Podcasts, however, have begun the slow process of replacing the written word. While talk radio appeals to sports fans and baby boomers it never appealed to the long form reader. Spoken word has long been in a doldrum but that is changing. Podcasting is the new talk radio and it skews, at least in the categories we can measure, toward the public radio listener. Countless long-distance commuters plug in a podcast for the trip from Circleville to Columbus or Bucks County to Manhattan. A sysadmin I know listens to hundreds of podcasts on his daily walks to and from work. The written word, however, becomes far less interesting in places where education is valued but the time and concentration necessary to consume longform writing is lacking. This website alone has 8 million followers on Twitter and does 1.8 million pageviews in a few hours. WNYC raised $15 million to create a new “podcast division.” A new podcast, one that details the life and times of an eccentric Southern clockmaker, achieved blockbuster status, grabbing 1.8 million subscribers since launch.Īgain, these numbers pale in comparison to the budgets of cable TV and Internet.

The number of podcasts hosted on Libsyn rose from 12,000 in 2012 to 28,000 in 2016. Some numbers: In the past six years podcast listenership has risen 13% from 23% to 36% of Americans aged 12 and up. Whispery crime 3.Millennials talking over each other 4.

Podcast clockmaker