I know, it’s probably already in your RSS reader, right? But if not, be sure to check out the new (2008) podcasting study by Edison Media Research. This year shows a solid bump upward in consumer adoption of podcasting and it’s always great to get new charts for wallpapering the office and showing your pals how quickly these newfangled media things are catching on.
Gravity Medium 
Robin is I think a bell weather listener. She has become a devoted podcast listener and YouTube viewer. Why?
Because she can find great content and hear it ON HER TERMS.
What would she like now?
More convenience and better navigations and aggregation – ideally as she listens, she wants to be exposed to more material that her pattern tells us that she will like. YouTube do this.
This idea of search being driven not by a white box but by behaviour is where Fast is going – what about an NPR podcast site where what I listen to drives what I see?
It’s part of making that long tail a bit fatter. As time goes on, will more individuals making a podcast benefit to the point it becomes worth it for them or does the entire body of podcasting grow while still not benefiting the majority of the content providers. This is one reason why I am not too gung ho on providing podcasts. That of course is about to change, but my expectations for what I get out of it in the end is very low. I plan to do podcasts that are from my own production in addition to podcasts that are part of my work with public radio. It will be an interesting experiment starting late spring.
While the study shows an uptake in listeners / users of podcasts, it’s still way down there on the list of media consumption for the average person out there.
I think making content available in a searchable, subscribable and on-demand way is a requirement. But what Robert suggests above is definitely the next evolution — taking the TiVo or Amazon metaphor of “what else you might like” to podcasting (or really, anything on the web).
Currently, I think only Google has the mass to pull off a feat like this. It would be hard for a web site to arrive on the scene and build a segment-dominating service that would aggregate all listeners / readers / viewers / users into a central system.
I suspect that Google’s development of the OpenSocial platform (if it goes the way I hope) could become the backbone of such a recommendation and sharing system. And given that it’s an interoperable platform (in theory), then it doesn’t matter where I do my media consumption or express my media preferences — that preference and usage data can feed systems (that I authorize) and interact with my “friends” everywhere.
But that platform is likely years off, given all the players participating in its development.
In the mean time, public media companies have GOT to start experimenting in the social media space and start building (or re-building) their community relationships. I can’t speak for all public media outlets, but I can assure you the one I work for is woefully disconnected from the community. Social participation / interaction will be the core of our our mission going forward, not podcasting. Podcasting will be one delivery system among so many. But without relationships — without Context and Contact — the Content will have no value.