Agreed - media organisations, with top-down attitudes and old-media thinking continue to invest in podcasting as part of their new media landgrab, without adopting new models for monetization, and without investing time and energy into the relationships that will make podcasting work outside its place as an adjunct to their existing broadcast or publishing output.

Meanwhile, many small to medium-sized businesses and institutions, unhampered by large overheads and “old media” attitudes, continue to find enterprising ways to employ podcasting and to generate revenue from podcasting, using both B2B and B2C models, dosed liberally with the old fashioned “let’s try things out and see what works” methodology.

“According to the survey, 6 million people in the UK have now downloaded a podcast - up from 4.3 million in November 2007. And 3.7 million now say they listen to a podcast each week, up from 1.87 million in last year’s survey.

The average podcast user subscribes to 3.6 podcasts and spends just over an hour a week listening to them. Comedy and music continue to be the two favourite genres.

iTunes remains the preferred software for almost three-quarters of users who subscribe to podcasts, while a fifth simply download directly from the website via their browser.

According to the survey, 79% of people listen to podcasts on their home computer and 66% listen via a portable audio/mp3 player.

Podcasting appears to also have a marginally positive effect on live radio listening. Almost 15% said they listened to more live radio since they began downloading podcasts.

While 10% stated they listened to less live radio after starting to download podcasts, 39% said they were now listening to radio programmes they did not listen to previously.” (Guardian)

Download the research PDF here.

Here’s an embedded player which uses content from Phreadz (a threaded multi-media social network currently in closed beta) and Qik (live mobile streaming) which contains the presentation from two different angles - plus replies to the thread as they come in on video.

Many thanks to Philip from Viacom for his impromptu camera work…

As promised to the attendees, here are the links to the websites mentioned:

Our Man Inside - Tony Benn interview

Blogger Advocacy - Creative Choices

Skitch - use of Seesmic by Christian Payne

UK Podcasters Association

John Cleese’s Spanking New Headcast

Seesmic

Phreadz (closed beta site)

Rise and Shine - interactive show by Daily Song Ltd.

Brian Greene and Sinéad Murnane from doop in Dublin, have been making a great success of Talking Voices Ireland. Both join the board of Directors.

Michael Franklin, formerly of TalkSPORT and The Wireless Group joins the board as Financial Director and corporate strategist.

One of the best-known podcasters in the world, Ewan Spence, the man behind the BAFTA-nominated Edinburgh Fringe podcast, presenter of TPN Rock podcast and radio station Leith FM joins Talking Voices. Ewan gives us a UK focus on conference coverage, a sector which has been thriving for us in Ireland.

Janet Parkinson who did so much hard work in establishing Talking Voices has stepped down as Managing Director but remains a stakeholder in the business.

Senior Producer Mark Hunter earlier this year was made an offer he could not refuse - running a Scotland-based company, Podcast Matters, where he takes on the role of MD, and we wish him good luck in his new venture.

And finally, we’re pleased to announce that the company is now operating from fully specified studio premises in Denmark Street, London.

The studio runs a Myriad radio playout system, and has ISDN, internet streaming, audio and video post-production, and very nice views of London’s West End.

The panel included Nathalie Schwarz from Channel 4, Matt Wells, Head of Audio from Guardian Unlimited, Sarah Prag from the BBC, and noted independent radio / podcast producers Hermeet Chadha and Karen Pearson. The session covered many issues around podcasting, including definition, production values, regulation, culture, expectations of both listeners and viewers, metrics, and the commercial realities of making podcasting pay.Dean Whitbread from Talking Voices and the UK Podcasters Association takes part in the question and answer session in part two, talking about video and the Association for Downloadable Media initiative.

This podcast is in two parts, encoded at 96kbps, and currently not delivered via RSS, so we thought we’d oblige.

Click to read / watch / listen. 

Talking Voices’ Dean Whitbread, BBC’s Nick Reynolds and Wiggly Wigglers’ Heather Gorringe [left to right] at the Cambridge Radio Festival earlier today, where Dean, Heather and Jemima Kiss from The Guardian newspaper, took part in a session on podcasting, hosted by Rory Cellan-Jones. Picture is by Rory and appears in his Facebook series from the festival.