by Lee Gibbons, CEO

We are very excited about the announcements we are making at PNME this year. They not only represent Podango’s overall direction, they reflect where podcasting is going, and they also illustrate leadership in the industry on the part of our wonderful partners. Let me explain.

Our announcement regarding GigaVox is key to our success in assembling a robust platform for hosting audio and video. The GigaVox Audio Lite system is arguably the best new media content management system available today. Married with Podango’s station model and aligned with our product offering in the right way, it will not only give us superior content management, but also expand our product line in very useful and exciting ways. More on that later. But, these types of enabling, time-saving tools will have on how podcasters, podcast consultants, and old-media folks finding their way into podcasting organize and manage their content can be very helpful in improving the quality of content, and that will help grow the industry.

MommyCast’s decision to join Podango and extend their reach with a podcast network based upon our infrastructure is huge for us for several reasons.
1. They are a well established trend setter in the podcasting world.
2. They have chosen us after leaving our top competitor.
3. They are forming a podcast network on our infrastructure, showing other successful podcasters how our model can make that process relatively easy because Podango was built from the ground up to be not just an ad network, but an ad network of podcast networks. This is a key differentiator that makes Podango a preferred choice not only for podcasters but especially for marketers who want to more effectively reach niche audiences. MommyCast will continue to be a flagship for us in showing other podcasters how to do a network on Podango the right way.
4. They will teach us a ton about how to work with podcasters to make them super effective in dealing with marketers/sponsors and helping them build their brands and grow brand enthusiasts.
5. MommyCast is one of the top podcasts that actually breaks out of the geek bubble. (No offense to those we love who do tech podcasts or podcasts that appeal to the more technical folks) I just think this is key for the podcasting industry’s growth. And, having a complete podcast network formed around content that appeals to families extends that goodness.
6. The influence of MommyCast will raise all boats on the Podango network, not just Podango itself.
7. We are learning a ton from these bright, capable women! Not only about podcasting but about how to conduct business in a classy, down-to-business, fun way.

The impact that well-formed, well-run networks will have on the industry is important.

Launching Girls Gone Geek, a tech show by women for women that I view a mix between The View and Motor Cycle Maintenance, represents another key milestone for Podango that extends the success we have enjoyed with Scott’s Apple Phone Show. This show is “owned” by Podango as a Podango Production. And this one, uses one is built by one of our bright, rising stars, Staci DeGagne. This young woman, if she doesn’t mind me referring to her that way (she just graduated from film school, and she is young enough to be my daughter), is the show’s producer, and I’m telling you she is going to go places and do things. And I really like the chemistry of the team of women she as assembled. Each brings a unique twist and view to the show. i think it will do really well. And, again, this illustrates that the industry is morphing slowly in the direction of the pragmatic. These women talk shop. They cover not just tech news but the intersection between women’s lives and technology from a practical, very applied perspecive–or should I say, perspecives. I love it.

Finally, but certainly not least importantly, FarPoint Media joining Podango represents what we hope is a fulfillment of our primary value proposition: Podcasters form networks. They produce great content. Podango is the ideal infrastructure for them to use to manage their content and revenue flow as they grow their network. I have joked with Michael Mennenga that while have have been out building the infrastructure for the vision of Podango, he actually went out and lived it. He, Jefferey Willerth and Summer Brooks, along with their great team of podcasters, have created the social and financial structure that is a podcast network in the grandest sense. They actually have caused us to expose, for the first time, the top layer of our infrastructure: a Network Layer. (Now don’t let the terminology confuse you. Podango is made up of Networks that contain Stations, and each Station contains several shows.) FarPoint Media is now a Podango-hosted Network. Within that network they have 13 stations, each serving a niche market. Basically, Podango’s unique network, station, show, and monetization model attracted them and we are building a solid relationship of trust.

I will write more as we continue the roll-out of our announcements this week.

I hope you get my point. The podcast industry is changing into something very different than where it has been for the past three or so years. I believe that change is significant, although gradual. It is a change for the better, in the direction of pragmatics and better quality. It is really not a revolution but a bit of natural market evolution that is bringing podcasting into the realm where no one will recognize it as podcasting. More people will see it just as a new way of getting old media shows and a great way to find information they are interested in, along with the old media stuff. It is just going to be audio or video, when and where and how they want it. They may or may not call it a podcast. Why should they? It is just a show. It is just a show they love. The stuff does have to be distributed very effectively and cost efficiently. That is what we do.

I am having a blast watching it evolve.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 27th, 2007 at 3:47 pm and is filed under Podcast Spotlight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.