Since Podcasting burst onto the scene a couple of years ago, people with interests ranging from sports to fashion now have a new avenue to pursue their interests.
Television viewers have responded especially well to Podcasts because it offers fans a way to enhance their viewing experience. Much like listening to a favorite radio show host everyday ( Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, etc.), TV fans have a multitude of choices when it comes to discovering a Podcast that suits their taste.
Being relatively new to the whole Podcasting experience, I was lucky enough to find a Podcaster named Troy, who runs the Journeyman Podcast. After helping me get my feet wet in this exciting new venture, Troy introduced me to a couple of experts who produce some of the highest quality (and incredibly entertaining) TV-dedicated Podcasts on the Internet. I thought this would be a good opportunity to educate those who have not yet experienced all the wonderful things Podcasting has to offer TV fans.
The following Podcasters were kind enough to provide a tutorial to help us better understand this incredible new world:
Cliff from Generally Speaking Production Network produces Podcasts for Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, Lost and Private Practice.
Jay and Jack are the producers for "The Lost Podcast".
Q: What is a Podcast?
- Cliff: "I like to describe a Podcast as being similar to talk radio about topics that you are actually interested in or passionate about. However, the best part is that you can listen to them when you want, where you want, or however you want. Best part is that almost all of them are FREE."
- Jay & Jack: "A podcast is an internet radio show that can be subscribed to, and automatically downloaded using one of the many podcatchers like iTunes, and iPodder."
- Cliff: "You pretty much got it, Video and Audio Podcasts are the norm."
- Jay & Jack: "Those are essentially the two main Podcasts available. Regular audio Podcasts or Video Podcasts - 'Vid' Casts."
- Cliff: "On a computer, you need a connection to the Internet and speakers and/or headphones, assuming a sound card is installed."
- Cliff: "No, 60% of people who listen/watch a Podcast, do so from the website that hosts it."
- Jay & Jack: "There isn't an exact answer to this, but over 95% of our downloads are from iTunes which is the software that automatically syncs music, videos, and Podcasts when you connect your iPod to your computer."
- Cliff: "Yes! Chances are that you'll never interact with the average talk radio host. However, send an email to your average Podcaster and you could have a response within minutes or hours. Podcasters will often set up online forums so you can interact with them and other listeners who obviously share a passion for which the Podcast is built around."
- Jay & Jack: "Yes our listeners can communicate with us by joining our popular forums were Jack and I are actively involved. They can also communicate to us through email, and I leave my AIM screen name public so they can talk to me live as well."
- Cliff: "Best way is to do a Google search with the keywords....(*name-of-show* & podcast). So, if I were looking for a Podcast about Grey's Anatomy, I'd do a search for Grey's Anatomy Podcast. Another popular way is to use the free iTunes Software and do a search for "Grey's Anatomy Podcast" in the music store section of the software.
- Jay & Jack: "Using search engines like Google, type in the words "Lost Podcast" and we are the first link shown. You can also search popular Podcast directories like iTunes."
- Cliff: "There is no more threat of virus by downloading a Podcast than there is by visiting a fan website. I've never heard of a virus writer who made a fake website posing as a Podcast in an attempt to have them click a link to download a virus. Honestly, the groups that gather around a Podcast are too small in comparison that they would never likely go that route.
Using a Podcatching client like iTunes to download your Podcasts makes the process a bit more secure if you only subscribe to shows that are in their Podcast directory "the music store." They check each Podcast feed that is submitted. Also, their client will only download standard multimedia formats associated with podcast feeds, which are not formats typically used to contain viruses.
With that said, there is always risk of social engineering. I suggest learning safe internet browsing skills, good anti-virus software, and/or the purchase of a Mac to protect yourself if you are overly concerned."
- Jay & Jack: "There hasn't been a major problem regarding Podcasts and viruses yet."
