Crunching Numbers Doesnt Interest Podcasters

"This is really the holy grail," said Patrice Curtis, of Podcast and Portable Media Expo. "Everyone should be in this room." Maybe everyone was at the Turning Passion Into Profits, or Marketing's New Change-Agent. Metrics isn't exactly an exciting topic for a group of creatives trying to grow their businesses, even if measurement is necessary. This crew just really didn't seem to care. But Curtis' concern was justified, according to her and the panel, numbers is how you make your case for podcasts in the corporate world - a world many here at the conference seem hell-bent on avoiding. Podzinger's Dave VanDyke, of Bridge Ratings, ran down his company's project numbers for the sparse audience. VanDyke revealed that by the end of 2006, there will be 6.3 million podcast users. In 2007, that number is expected to grow to 8.3 million. By 2010, that number is expected to double to 16 million podcast users. According to age group, VanDyke says those ages 12-24 listen most, 52 percent of them downloading over 10 podcasts per month. He estimates the number one barrier to broader adoption is the complicated process of downloading to a computer and transferring to a portable media device. If simplified, podcasting could reach a much broader audience. Less sophisticated listeners are leaving the podcast on their PCs, rather than transferring.