Tuesday, April 5, 2005

Podcasting Popularity Soars

A new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that over 29% of the 22 million American adults with iPods or MP3 players have downloaded "podcasts" from the Web. The study authors attributed the rising popularity of podcasting to the relative ease with which individual podcasters can create and distribute files. Podcasting is the hot new trend of downloading Internet audio broadcasts for playing on portable listening devices. The survey did not study types of content being downloaded by listeners, however a glance at the types of podcasting content available shows personal audio journals, online radio stations, and personal and professional newscasts. Those files load onto individual MP3 players the same way as standard music audio files. The findings came from a national phone survey of adults, and included results from 2,201 people with an margin of error of plus or minus 7.5 points.