How is a Podcast different from a Radio Broadcast?
Last month, I answered some really interesting questions in an interview with Digiperform. This is Part 2 of a five-part series that brings those answers for you to read here on Medium.
In the previous post in this series, I rehashed my thoughts on how podcasts can help businesses.
This one is dedicated to seeing…
Difference between Podcasts and Radio Broadcasts.
If you’re someone like me, you had a lot of different favorite radio shows and TV shows growing up. Now, sometimes I have missed tuning in at precisely the time at which the show has to air.
That is a frustrating experience - waiting for your favorite show to come on again. Sometimes I would miss the episode altogether.
It is a fundamental problem with anything that’s broadcasted, like the radio. You have to tune in at just the right time and leave everything else to listen to your favorite show.
Podcasts changed that for me. Now, I can listen to an episode of my favorite show, anytime, anywhere.
I think the debate on a radio broadcast vs a podcast, is part of a larger question we are debating in the society.
Is a digital media channel better than a traditional, mainstream media channel?
We have some early examples of that conflict from related media industries.
Blogs have brought it up with the Newspaper industry.
YouTube videos are forcing the Television industry to change its ways.
With podcasts, the same phenomenon is happening to the radio.
The answer to the question is fairly consistent across the board.
Broadcasting has its constraints.
1. You got to be in a place where the broadcast can actually reach you.
If you’re in a place where your favorite radio station doesn’t reach, that’s it.
It happens all the time when we go on long drives, between cities or across states. Isn’t it?
2. You have to tune in at exactly the right time to make sure you don’t miss anything.
This is not helpful to me as a user.
We all have busy lives these days. Nobody wants to leave everything else and tune in to a television show or radio show.
Instead, we can find the best time to watch it ourselves.
3. You don’t exactly have control over the content you’re reading or watching or listening.
Remember listening to the radio on the way to your office and being annoyed by silly advertisements. Or endlessly changing radio channels, to hear a song you might like.
All of it, again, wastes a lot of time.
Broadcasting is called a linear model of content distribution in the media industry. But the Internet has now introduced a non-linear model.
Let me explain.
Look at Netflix.
Or YouTube.
Or Flipboard.
Or Twitter.
You CHOOSE to read or watch anything, anytime, anywhere. Now, with podcasts, you have that same choice over what you listen too.
This means that you can listen to your favourite shows at a time that YOU CHOOSE. You can stream the content if you are online, or download episodes for a long road trip ahead.
I have another point on the topic, that I am sharing first here w/ you.
Podcasts are so much more empowering than radio broadcasts.
You don’t need a license to operate. There is no red tape. As soon as you think of an idea for a podcast, you can get it off the ground. Almost instantly.
Everyone can find his or her voice on a podcast if the person so chooses.
These are all the reasons why I think a digital medium like podcasts is way better than what we have with radio.
I’m grateful for all the things that podcasts allow us to do. That radio either does not or simply can’t.
What do you think?
