The UK service is known as BT PodShow.

News widely circulating in the podcasting community in recent months was confirmed in a BT press release yesterday, although it was announced pre-emptively by Adam in the Daily Source Code on Tuesday.

The new service has big plans for encouraging podcasting talent in the UK:

[] BT PodShow [is] a British version of the hugely popular US PodShow Network with extra content and functionality produced specifically for the UK market. BT PodShow will be accessible to all UK internet users, and enables creative individuals, media production companies and record labels to share their content – both video and audio – with an audience of millions in the UK and around the world.

BT PodShow is also launching a nationwide call for aspiring film producers, musicians, presenters and DJs from across the UK to submit audio and video content, enabling them to get in on the show.’ The website, www.btpodshow.com, is already generating considerable interest from bloggers and media producers alike.

Based on the success of PodShow in the US, BT PodShow is expecting thousands of talented people to contribute material with the best set to feature on “The Show” section of the website.

Neil Dixon, one of the pioneers in UK podcasting, thinks the launch means exciting times for podcasters and listeners alike in the UK are coming:

[] It will be a very significant boost for podcasts in the UK who want to reach beyond the current podcaster/blogger/geek audience (I realise not all listeners in the UK fall under these categories, but the majority do right now).

Couldn’t agree more, Neil.

This could well be the tipping point for podcasting in the UK in accelerating a potential market that’s currently dominated by stand-up comedy types of podcasts, geek shows and other niche production.

Maybe this might also persuade companies and other organizations to take a close look at this medium.

I’d really like to see some UK companies appearing in the list of business podcasts on The New PR Wiki.

Tag:

Yahoo! My Web | Furl

Bookmark WebProNews:

Neville Hobson is the author of the popular NevilleHobson.com blog which focuses on business communication and technology.

Neville is currentlly the VP of New Marketing at Crayon. Visit Neville Hobson’s blog: NevilleHobson.com.

As this was my first visit since the security scare a couple of days ago, which resulted in all user passwords being reset, I had to create a new login password. Easy enough: visit a page on the Second Life website, enter your SL name and the system emails you a link to click on to reset it and create a new one. Took about five minutes in total.

Plus a new build of the SL application you run on your computer has been released which needed installing before logging in. It auto-downloads and installs so, again, simple enough.

Taking a visit to Podcast Island – where I’d set up the original FIR store (it’s currently out of action) – I could see a great deal of entrepreneurial activity going on since I was last here.

For instance, Podcast Pickle now owns the vast majority of developed property on the Island, much of which is available for rental either in whole or as units. The Podtech Network is also building a sizeable presence.

A teleport over to Podshow Island. Again, more signs of entrepreneurial activity in the new buildings going up in the surrounds of Curry Castle. Plenty of places to rent.

There is increasingly more talk on the big-picture aspect of why companies and others are getting involved in Second Life:

[] There’s already one politician said to be a possible US Presidential contender campaigning in Second Life, you can participate in American Cancer Society fund raisers, hang with the American Library Association or participate in substantial daily commerce. There are major corporations launching advertising initiatives in Second Life and consultancies forming to facilitate such activities. Acts of violence in a game that prohibits it are being reported with increasing frequency. This is serious stuff.

Whether Second Life does turn out to be the place for business in a virtual world or not, it’s clearly a place where plenty of people and organizations are investing significant time and energy and, for some, money.

As I’ve said before, don’t ignore Second Life.

Related posts:

• Second Life: Reality not escapism
• Real-world opportunities in Second Life
• How to understand Second Life’s potential

Yahoo! My Web | Furl

Bookmark WebProNews:

Neville Hobson is the author of the popular NevilleHobson.com blog which focuses on business communication and technology.

Neville is currentlly the VP of New Marketing at Crayon. Visit Neville Hobson’s blog: NevilleHobson.com.

We have ABC for print, Arbitron for radio, Nielsen for TV, comScore and Nielsen-Netratings for Web sites. These companies have built a multi-billion dollar syndicated research industry because marketers need data on which they base their ad buys.
Today another shift is taking place in the media world. Consumers are creating their own content – blogs, podcasts and the like – and distributing it via RSS. Some of the larger consumer-generated properties are being grouped into networks and sold like media. These include Federated Media, 9Rules, Know More Media, Weblogs Inc, Podshow, Podtech, Gawker Media and others. These too must be audited, but so far they’re not.

Everyone tries hard to spin data a certain way to make it seem like they’re delivering more qualified eyeballs/ears than their competitors. Auditing keeps publishers humble. With social media networks, however, the game is more than just about numbers. It’s about reaching influencers. This means that marketers need auditing that goes beyond reach and explores influence meterics. So far, Nielsen BuzzMetrics is best positioned to develop the kind of syndicated research marketers crave, but I think this could be anyone’s game to grab if they act fast.

Add to | DiggThis | Yahoo! My Web

Steve Rubel is a PR strategist with nearly 16 years of public relations, marketing, journalism and communications experience. He currently serves as a Senior Vice President with Edelman, the largest independent global PR firm.

He authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice.

Curry has been talking about the PDN for some time, noting that it has been under development and testing. The PDN is supposed to “provide the scalability to manage, deliver and track tens-of-thousands of shows, millions of episodes and hundreds-of-millions of downloads, with a complete set of tools for creating, publishing and up-loading content.” Other than the press release, though, there’s no link or reference to the service anywhere on the Podshow site, a curious oversight. There’s not even a link in the press release. Since a press release does not a delivery network make, I guess Neville and I will stick with LibSyn-which has worked just fine-for now.

Shel Holtz is principal of Holtz Communication + Technology which focuses on helping organizations apply online communication capabilities to their strategic organizational communications.

As a professional communicator, Shel also writes the blog a shel of my former self.

While some of the overheated public hype has quieted on the podcasting phenomenon, one pioneer in the field has been quietly building its business. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sequoia Capital and Sherpalo Ventures chipped in a combined $8.8 million to the PodShow coffers, according to a press release.

Podcasts have followed the Web’s path to the mainstream. At first a grass roots effort populated by technophiles, big names in technology and mainstream media have gotten into the act. Apple’s decision to make podcasts part of its iTunes Music Store lifted podcasting to greater public awareness.

Content providers as varied as Disney and Rush Limbaugh have made podcasts available via different methods. Disney’s podcasts have been available at no cost via iTunes, while Mr. Limbaugh’s web site provides his podcasts to paid subscribers.

PodShow plans to use the investment to “continue developing and supporting the content, tools and technologies that are at the heart of the medium,” according to the release. As far as monetizing the investment, PodShow produces content for “mainstream media companies,” and has been implementing an advertising model across its PodShow Podcast Network.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

Podshows will offer shows to download to iPods and other players for between 49p and 99p each. Gambaccini, Blackburn, Steve Penk and former Radio 1 DJ Wes Butters are among the hosts lined up.

Last month there was news that Adam Curry can make you an iPod radio star, and maybe even help you make money at it through his Podshow offering.

Now there’s Podshows (note the plural). They’ve set out their stall pretty clearly:

Let’s face it, who wants radio anymore? The reason you bought an MP3 player is because you want to hear what you want, when you want. That’s where podshows.com comes in – it’s the world’s first website to give you unique downloadable radio shows.

According to the BBC report, former Radio 1 DJ Wes Butters and former Virgin Radio DJ Daryl Denham the are backers of Podshows.

Choice quotes:

“In two years’ time this is the way people will consume radio,” Denham said.

“Soon everybody will have the technology to get these shows and consume them,” added Butters.

Whether it takes two years, more or less, this is the future.

BBC News | Entertainment | UK DJs backing podcasting outfit

Neville Hobson is the author of the popular NevilleHobson.com blog which focuses on business communication and technology.

Neville is currentlly the VP of New Marketing at Crayon. Visit Neville Hobson’s blog: NevilleHobson.com.