Podcast popularity picking up

Reprinted from a Reuters article in c|net.com:

By Reuters

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The home-brewed audio programs known as podcasts are catching on with owners of iPods and other digital-music players, a new survey finds.

Twenty-nine percent of U.S. adults who own MP3 players like Apple Computer’s iPod say they have downloaded podcast programs from the Internet, according to the study released Sunday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

That means more than 6 million people are listening to a form of communication that emerged only last year, according to the nonprofit group.

Podcasters create radio-like programs of commentary, music or humor, which are saved in MP3 audio format and posted online. Listeners are automatically notified when a new podcast is available.

Nearly half of digital-music player owners younger than 29 years old have tried out podcasts, the survey found, compared with 20 percent of those 29 or older.

There were no differences between men and women or between broadband and dial-up users, the survey found.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project based its survey on telephone interviews with 208 digital-media player owners between Feb. 21 and March 21. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 7.5 percentage points.