Influential new-media authority Chris Brogan wrote a great post at the end of July titled Media Makers Next Steps. The post focuses on people who want to earn a living with their efforts and Chris makes a lot of great points. What struck me, though, was this:
“Podcasting in audio form still has some potential value, but with almost all traditional media sources rebroadcasting their radio properties as a podcast, the landscape is far more competitive than ever before. I can’t strongly recommend staying with an audio product, unless you have a very strong niche, and/or a strong strategy to distributing your product to a core audience.”
I can’t even begin to tell you how much I disagree with this. Yes, the field is getting crowded, but it’s still “pull” content. Nobody will be faced with all the options; instead, people will seek podcasts that meet their needs.
The value of audio remains exactly what we say it is in the book: You can listen while you’re doing something else. Video (and every other channel of communication) requires 100% of your attention. I’m fine with somebody listening to an audio podcast while they’re driving. No way I want to see somebody watching a video podcast while they’re driving! Video podcasts are also useless when walking the dog, mowing the lawn, doing the dishes, jogging or engaging in countless other activities where listening to audio is feasible and, frequently, desirable.
What’s more, most of the video podcasts I’ve seen should have been audio in the first place. I find little value to watching talking heads. If you’re going to do a video podcast, do it because the information you’re communicating has rich visual elements, not because somebody tells you video is better than audio.
