This is from a few weeks ago but hey, I'm just now getting caught up from the past 10 days of vacation!
The BBC's Peter Day contributed a byline in the Daily Mail about his experiences with podcasting, a medium that may not be getting the raw numbers still enjoyed by traditional broadcast, but which appears to be better serving its listeners (at least on the BBC).
Until now listeners have been remote: all we had was ratings to tell us who was listening, and a few appreciative or moaning letters. Now we have a new democracy of broadcasting: listening habits made manifest, ratings created by listeners making an active decision to download a particular programme.
Radio is music, chat and news but most of all it is ideas, and podcasting is going some way to redefine the ideas that interest our listeners. Podcasting is a new kind of listening, much more active and involved than merely sitting back to wait for what comes next.
Day concludes: "It makes us broadcasters think much harder about who what and why we are talking to. It moves broadcasting much closer to conversation." That's a big admission coming from a star member of the BBC, whose brand is almost synonymous with its broadcast "voice" - the distinct breeding and tone that have long characterized the smart men and women who have spoken on BBC radio. I seriously doubt that brand will go away. But the voice of the BBC may soon be the voice of its listeners.
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