Podcasting Boom, Anything But Over

Valleywag, the tech gossip rag, has an article today that’s a little confusing: Battle over — and Apple won.

The article starts by suggesting that the podcasting “boom” is over.

Can we officially declare the end of the podcasting boom? Sure, internet users will continue to subscribe to audio files, the experience will become ever more like interactive radio, and existing broadcasters will supply their programs in chunks — just like the visionaries predicted. But the main beneficiary will be Apple, which dominates podcasting with iTunes, and the window for new intermediaries, between broadcasters and their audience, is fading.

However, the main thread of the argument discusses podcast directories. So, I’m assuming that the first sentence should read, “Can we officially declare the end of the podcasting directory boom?” This makes a lot more sense, given that podcasting itself is still growing: Podcasting Audience Up 18% Since Last Year.

Dave Winer, the father of RSS (and as such probably podcasting), has a few words to set Valleywag straight.

You can find more on the discussion at Techmeme, where a few people weigh in and guess that podcasting is declining by using a few suspect methods of analysis.

Meanwhile, on the same Techmeme page, there is an announcement that Podcast Advertising Firm PodBridge Raises $8.5M More suggesting that VCs agree there is a future for podcasting.