Podcast
A podcast is a program episode made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Podcasts used to be primarily an audio medium, which is reflected in the term itself, a portmanteau of "iPod" and "broadcast" coined in 2004. Podcasts used to refer to an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device or stream to listen to at a time of their choosing. In the mid 2020s, however, video podcasts, either as primary content included in the feed, or as an external supplement to audio, have been popularized. In 2025, Bloomberg reported that a billion people are watching podcasts on video platform YouTube every month. This can cause issues where the audio-only experience suffer when something is shown to viewers in a manner which isn't apparent to audio listeners.
A podcast series usually features one or more recurring hosts engaged in a discussion about a particular topic or current event. Discussion and content within a podcast can range from carefully scripted to completely improvised. Podcasts combine elaborate and artistic sound production with thematic concerns ranging from scientific research to slice-of-life journalism. Many podcast series provide an associated website or page with links and show notes, guest biographies, transcripts, additional resources, commentary, and occasionally a community forum dedicated to discussing the show's content.
The cost to the consumer is low, and many podcasts are free to download. Some podcasts are underwritten by corporations or sponsored, with the inclusion of commercial advertisements. In other cases, a podcast could be a business venture supported by some combination of a paid subscription model, advertising or product delivered after sale. Because podcast content is often free, podcasting is often classified as a disruptive medium, adverse to the maintenance of traditional revenue models.
Podcasting is the preparation and distribution of audio or video files using RSS feeds to the devices of subscribed users. A podcaster normally buys this service from a podcast hosting company such as SoundCloud or Libsyn. Hosting companies then distribute these media files to podcast directories and streaming services, such as Apple, Spotify, and YouTube which users can listen to and/or watch on their smartphones or digital music and multimedia players or smart televisions.
, there were over three million podcasts totaling nearly 200 million episodes.
Etymology
"Podcast" is a portmanteau of "iPod" and "broadcast". The earliest use of "podcasting" was traced to The Guardian columnist and BBC journalist Ben Hammersley, who coined it in early February 2004 while writing an article for The Guardian newspaper. The term was first used in the audioblogging community in September 2004, when Danny Gregoire introduced it in a message to the iPodder-dev mailing list, from where it was adopted by podcaster Adam Curry. Despite the etymology, the content can be accessed using any computer or similar device that can play media files. The term "podcast" predates Apple's addition of podcasting features to the iPod and the iTunes software.History
In September 2000, early MP3 player manufacturer i2Go offered a service called MyAudio2Go.com which allowed users to download news stories for listening on a PC or MP3 player. The service was available for about a year until i2Go's demise in 2001.In October 2000, the concept of attaching sound and video files in RSS feeds was proposed in a draft by Tristan Louis. The idea was implemented by Dave Winer, a software developer and an author of the RSS format.
In August 2004, Adam Curry launched his show Daily Source Code,
focused on chronicling his everyday life, delivering news, and discussions about the development of podcasting. Curry promoted new and emerging internet audio shows in an attempt to gain traction in the development of what would come to be known as podcasting. Daily Source Code was initially directed at podcast developers. As its audience became interested in the format, these developers were inspired to create and produce their own projects and a community of pioneer podcasters quickly developed.
iPodderX, released in September 2004 by August Trometer and based on earlier work by Ray Slakinski, was the first GUI application for podcasts.
In June 2005, Apple released iTunes 4.9, which added formal support for podcasts, thus negating the need to use a separate program in order to download and transfer them to a mobile device. Additionally, Apple issued cease-and-desist orders to many podcast application developers and service providers for using the term "iPod" or "Pod" in their products' names.
In February 2006, following London radio station LBC's successful launch of the first premium-podcasting platform, LBC Plus, there was widespread acceptance that podcasting had considerable commercial potential. UK comedian Ricky Gervais, whose first season of The Ricky Gervais Show became a big hit, launched a new series of the popular podcast. The second series of the podcast was distributed through audible.co.uk and was the first major podcast to charge consumers to download the show. The first series of The Ricky Gervais Show podcast had been freely distributed by the Positive Internet Company and marketed through The Guardian newspaper's website, and it was the world's most successful podcast for several years, eventually gaining more than 300 million unique downloads by March 2011. Even in its new subscription format, The Ricky Gervais Show was regularly the most-downloaded podcast on iTunes. The Adam Carolla Show claimed a new Guinness world record, with total downloads approaching 60 million, but Guinness failed to acknowledge that Gervais's podcast had more than 5 times as many downloads as Carolla's show at the time that this new record was supposedly set.
File:Podcasts.svg|thumb|125px|The logo used by Apple to represent podcasting in Apple Podcasts
By 2007, audio podcasts were doing what was historically accomplished via radio broadcasts, which had been the source of radio talk shows and news programs since the 1930s. This shift occurred as a result of the evolution of internet capabilities along with increased consumer access to cheaper hardware and software for audio recording and editing.
As of early 2019, the podcasting industry still generated little overall revenue, although the number of persons listening to podcasts continued to grow steadily. Edison Research, which issues the Podcast Consumer quarterly tracking-report, estimated that 90 million persons in the U.S. had listened to a podcast in January 2019. In 2020, 58% of the population of South Korea and 40% of the population of Spain had listened to a podcast in the last month; 12.5% of the UK population had listened to a podcast in the last week; and 22% of the United States population listened to at least one podcast weekly. The form is also acclaimed for its low overhead for creators to start and maintain podcasting, merely requiring a microphone, a computer or mobile device, and associated software to edit and upload the final product. Some form of acoustic quieting is also often utilised.
IP issues in trademark and patent law
Trademark applications
Between February 10 and March 25, 2005, Shae Spencer Management, LLC of Fairport, New York filed a trademark application to register the term "podcast" for an "online pre-recorded radio program over the internet". On September 9, 2005, the United States Patent and Trademark Office rejected the application, citing Wikipedia's entry on "Podcast" as describing the history of the term. The company amended their application in March 2006, but the USPTO rejected the amended application as not sufficiently differentiated from the original. In November 2006, the application was marked as abandoned.Apple trademark protections
On September 26, 2004, it was reported that Apple Inc. had started to crack down on businesses using the string "POD", in product and company names. Apple sent a cease-and-desist letter that week to Podcast Ready, Inc., which markets an application known as "myPodder". Lawyers for Apple contended that the term "pod" had been used by the public to refer to Apple's music player so extensively that it falls under Apple's trademark cover. Such activity was speculated to be part of a bigger campaign for Apple to expand the scope of its existing iPod trademark, which included trademarking "IPOD", "IPODCAST", and "POD". On November 16, 2006, the Apple Trademark Department stated that "Apple does not object to third-party usage of the generic term 'podcast' to accurately refer to podcasting services" and that "Apple does not license the term". However, no statement was made as to whether or not Apple believed they held rights to it.Personal Audio lawsuits
, a company referred to as a "patent troll" by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, filed a patent on podcasting in 2009 for a claimed invention in 1996. In February 2013, Personal Audio started suing high-profile podcasters for royalties, including The Adam Carolla Show and the HowStuffWorks podcasts. In October 2013, the EFF filed a petition with the US Trademark Office to invalidate the Personal Audio patent. On August 18, 2014, the EFF announced that Adam Carolla had settled with Personal Audio. Finally, on April 10, 2015, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office invalidated five provisions of Personal Audio's podcasting patent.Production and listening
A podcast generator maintains a central list of the files on a server as a web feed that one can access through the Internet. The listener or viewer uses special client application software on a computer or media player, known as a podcast client, which accesses this web feed, checks it for updates, and downloads any new files in the series. This process can be automated to download new files automatically, so it may seem to listeners as though podcasters broadcast or "push" new episodes to them. Podcast files can be stored locally on the user's device, or streamed directly. There are several different mobile applications that allow people to follow and listen to podcasts. Many of these applications allow users to download podcasts or stream them on demand. Most podcast players or applications allow listeners to skip around the podcast and to control the playback speed. Much podcast listening occurs during commuting; because of restrictions on travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of unique listeners in the US decreased by 15% in the last three weeks of March 2020.Podcasting has been considered a converged medium, as well as a disruptive technology that has caused some individuals in radio broadcasting to reconsider established practices and preconceptions about audiences, consumption, production and distribution. The New York Times reported in 2025 that podcasts have become an alternative to late-night talk show appearances or magazine covers for public figures to promote their projects, owing to its friendlier, more intimate setting which allows the guest to be more candid.
Podcasts can be produced at little to no cost and are usually disseminated free-of-charge, which sets this medium apart from the traditional 20th-century model of "gate-kept" media and their production tools. Podcasters can, however, still monetize their podcasts by allowing companies to purchase ad time. They can also garner support from listeners through crowdfunding websites like Patreon, which provide special extras and content to listeners for a fee.