Prompt Cast
The History and Growth of Podcasting
TLDR Podcasting has a history dating back to 1937, but it wasn't until the rise of the internet in the 1990s that it became practical. The term "podcast" was coined in 2004, and since then, podcasting has steadily grown, with millions of podcasts available, although only a small percentage are regularly updated and a few shows receive the majority of listens.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
This podcast is about podcasts and is sponsored by Skillshare, which offers videos on every aspect of podcasting.
01:27
The history of digital audio dates back to 1937, but it wasn't until the rise of the internet in the 1990s that sending large audio files became practical.
02:40
The MP3 format, which was able to compress digital audio files anywhere from 75 to 95 percent, became the most popular audio format on the internet in the 1990s and remains so today.
03:56
The term "podcast" was first used in 2004 and is a combination of "iPod" and "broadcast," with "iPod" being inspired by the pods from the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey and "broadcast" referring to a widespread message sent over an electronic medium.
05:10
RSS is a key component of podcasting, as it allows podcast apps to automatically check for updates and download new episodes.
06:32
Podcasting is highly decentralized, with many directories cataloging RSS feeds for over 2.2 million podcasts, but only a small percentage of podcasts are regularly updated and a small number of shows receive the majority of listens.
07:51
Podcasting has been steadily growing for the past 15 years, with over half of all podcasts receiving less than 26 downloads within a week of release, while the top 1% of podcasts get over 3,000 downloads per episode, and currently, 28% of Americans are weekly podcast listeners.
