They say that the advent of the bloÂgosÂphere marked a critÂiÂcal turnÂing point when the litÂtle guy, with some moxÂie and smarts, could start credÂiÂbly comÂpetÂing against the major newsÂpaÂpers. (GoodÂbye CNN.com, helÂlo DaiÂly Kos.) Now, with iPods becomÂing ubiqÂuiÂtous, the corÂpoÂrate media estabÂlishÂment is sudÂdenÂly findÂing its posiÂtion being threatÂened on a new front. The big teleÂviÂsion and radio playÂers have to comÂpete today with thouÂsands of podÂcastÂers, and while, sure, many sound no betÂter than Wayne & Garth, some podÂcastÂers do an expert job and they’re winÂning over new lisÂtenÂers.
Here is a good litÂtle case in point. If you look at the 30 most popÂuÂlar podÂcasts on iTunes, you have many recÂogÂnizÂable media brands on the list. HBO, VH1, ESPN, The EconÂoÂmist, NBC, ABC, etc. But sitÂting in the #3 posiÂtion is nothÂing othÂer CofÂfee Break SpanÂish (web site), a podÂcast put togethÂer by Mark and Kara (no last names are proÂvidÂed) that helps lisÂtenÂers learn useÂful bits of SpanÂish over a daiÂly cup of cofÂfee. And, in two short months, they’ve had 500,000 downÂloads. What conÂcluÂsions can we draw? A very obviÂous one is that there’s an appetite out there to learn forÂeign lanÂguages, parÂticÂuÂlarÂly SpanÂish. This is someÂthing we figÂured out when we postÂed our colÂlecÂtion of forÂeign lanÂguage lesÂson podÂcasts sevÂerÂal weeks ago. Then there is the less obviÂous fact that the digÂiÂtal era has enabled small conÂtent providers, with litÂtle to no capÂiÂtal, to serve niche marÂkets, which if takÂen togethÂer, can turn out to be quite large. (Chris AnderÂsen has made this genÂerÂal point quite well in his influÂenÂtial artiÂcle, The Long Tail.) The big media playÂers have long made their livÂing in a utilÂiÂtarÂiÂan fashÂion, proÂducÂing conÂtent that brings the greatÂest amount of hapÂpiÂness to the greatÂest numÂber. They couldÂn’t afford to bothÂer with the nichÂes, and this has creÂatÂed the space for the Marks and Karas of the world to do their thing. We’re now increasÂingÂly livÂing a world of niche marÂkets, fragÂmentÂed audiÂences, and small conÂtent proÂducÂers. And the numÂber of small playÂers will only get bigÂger, and the big playÂers, smallÂer. Watch out CNN. It’s only going to get tougher.
Check out Open CulÂture’s ForÂeign LanÂguage LesÂson PodÂcasts or our entire podÂcast colÂlecÂtion.
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