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Apple

Apple's Podcasts Just Topped 50 Billion All-time Downloads and Streams (fastcompany.com) 52

Posted by msmash from the how-far-we-have-come dept.
Apple launched podcasts on iTunes way back in 2005, the same year that the Oxford Dictionary named "podcast" its word of the year. A lot has changed since the early days when iTunes was mostly populated with The Ricky Gervais Show and an assortment of news podcasts repackaged from radio shows. From a report: These days, according to Apple, it is home to over 525,000 active shows, with more than 18.5 million episodes available, including content in over 100 languages. Its podcasts span the globe, covering 155 countries and, per Apple, "29 groupings of localized editorial." In short, if you feel overwhelmed with podcast content -- you're not alone. As content has grown, so has the fanbase: In 2014, there were 7 billion podcast downloads. In 2016, that number jumped to 10.5 billion. In 2017, it jumped to 13.7 billion episode downloads and streams, across Podcasts and iTunes. In March 2018, Apple Podcasts passed 50 billion all-time episode downloads and streams.
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Apple's Podcasts Just Topped 50 Billion All-time Downloads and Streams More

Apple's Podcasts Just Topped 50 Billion All-time Downloads and Streams

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  • I have a Netflix subscription, but I probably consume at least three times as much content through podcasts. There's far more variety in terms of content and while I don't think they'll replace all of television, I no longer see any point to late night television type shows where guest interviews only last a few minutes or there's 20 minutes of commercials in my 60 minutes program. There are even plenty of news focused podcasts that I think are vastly superior to what you find on Fox or CNN.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I have a Netflix subscription, but I probably consume at least three times as much content through podcasts

      Me, I've never seen the point ... if I want information, I'd rather read it because I can ingest the information far faster in print.

      If I'm listening to the radio it's because it's in the background while I'm driving or in the shower.

      I've simply never been able to see the utility in a podcast. But then again, that is true for most of the crap on the interwebs these days.

      • Podcasts are great for activities where your vision is occupied. Some of us we have long commutes to work. If you are commuting an hour one way either in the car or on mass transit, that's a lot of time to catch up. Also for me, if I need to get some work done, I put on headphones to block the office noise. I could listen to music or podcasts. If I'm cooking I can't or don't watch TV or videos but a podcast is fine.

        Also some podcasts are entertainment and in addition to information. If you have a hobby like

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        I have had a fairly severe insomnia problem for most of my life. I've learned to live on a couple of hours sleep, because that's what I could get.
        I've always gone at least one night a week entirely without sleep.
        I have tried everything, including pharmaceutical solutions.
        About three years ago I discovered podcasts. I quickly fell in love with several series and started bingeing.
        Then within a few weeks I started falling asleep during my podcasts. It is now a regular nightly routine.
        My insomnia's not all gone

  • He's only with us in spirit now, but Steve Jobs invented this ecosystem out of thin air. Without him, we'd still be using flip-phones designed at the whims of the carriers. It's amazing to look at a modern phone and compare it to the original iPhone. In form and function, not much difference. That is the simplest way to see how "right" Jobs got it. Rest in peace, sir.

    • He's only with us in spirit now, but Steve Jobs invented this ecosystem out of thin air. Without him, we'd still be using flip-phones designed at the whims of the carriers. It's amazing to look at a modern phone and compare it to the original iPhone. In form and function, not much difference. That is the simplest way to see how "right" Jobs got it. Rest in peace, sir.

      Great post!

  • I'm trying Podcast Player - a generic enough name - it's got great reviews and I like the player itself, but the damned thing won't download a podcast without manual intervention despite that being what the program is for. I want to be able to ignore my phone at work all day and listen to the podcast it pulls in off of my companies WiFi while driving home without having to stop and think about it.

    I used to use a program specific to my podcast that would usually pull it in without intervention, but the buil

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by RevDisk ( 740008 )
      Pocket Cast is what I use. It has an optional account so you can tie info across multiple devices, which I like for both optional and good functionality.

      You can set auto-downloads. Mine is set up to warn me if I'm downloading off WiFi, which I also appreciate. It's not free, but at $4, just pay up. Extremely rarely have audio issues, and I near always have suspected it was the origin audio file rather than the player. It has an widget that works well enough. You can queue podcasts, which could be better

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mcgett ( 891257 )
      Podcast Addict is what I have used for the laat few years. It has a free version with ads and a paid version without. Allows you to have global settings and individual settings as well that override the global. Auto plays/stoos with Bluetooth connect/disconnect as well as with headphone jack insertion/removal.

      • I'm trying this one now.

        So far so good, I've done some customization, I like the tweaking level. I'll make my real judgement when I initiate playback on the way home - hoping it actually has downloaded my podcast by then.

      • I liked it yesterday. Today is the real test - it should be pulling in my podcast on it's own here in less than an hour, we'll see.

        I did like the manual configuration that was available, oddly the default manual time setting was AM only on the easy graphical interface. It did have an option to manually type it in also so I was able to put in 1740 instead of the 0540 it assumed.

  • Podcasts will arbitrarily stop. Apple will say you are no longer subscribed. Who cares if I'm subscribed. I'm listening to podcasts. I don't need to be subscribed. Finding the podcast you were listening to in their online app is time consuming.

    I only use iTunes because I have an airport device in the bathroom that I can use to listen while getting ready for work. There's nothing like taking a shower and half way through the podcast just stops.

    It is a horrible product. I'm tired of it.

    • The most likely explanation is: something is wrong in your set up, or the WiFi signal does not go thorough the walls.
      Sorry, it does not take to be a genius to figure something around you/your home is wrong, when we see that podcasts are obviously the most consumed digital thing on the planet.

  • 50 billion, that's cute...suckers.

  • ... catch up on my "Welcome To Nightvale" listening.
  • Like the article said...There are just a ton of Podcasts out there and it's hard to find things to look for. You can use FluidDATA to search millions of Podcasts by phrase or mention. That's right, searches are run against the full transcript of millions of audio files. You can check it out here: https://fluiddata.com/ [fluiddata.com]

  • Who would've thought...?

    Pictures at 11.

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