Phantom FM – 10,000 podcasts downloaded!
Phantom FM, the Dublin based, alternative rock station has announced that over 10,000 episodes have been now been downloaded from the stations podcasting service. The station began podcasting in December of last year and is unique as a radio station in that it produces programming only available as podcasts. When the station launches on the Dublin airwaves in August of this year, it will continue to podcast offering a selection of previously broadcast programmes and original material for the medium.
Their popular I-Spot podcast is a 15-minute weekly feature on an up and coming Irish band. Artists featured to date have included Whipping Boy, Vesta Varro, The Flays, Roesy and Berkley. “We’re pretty delighted with the reaction to I-Spot” said Peter Vamos, Phantom’s programme director and I-Spot presenter, “One of the neat things about the I-Spot podcast is that each band promotes it through their own web sites and mailing lists so we build up new subscribers virally”. Each subscriber can access the back catalogue of podcasts and automatically receives future Phantom podcasts.
The experience to date has provided some useful insights into the digital media habits of the Phantom FM audience. “iTunes continues to be the most popular podcatching application” says Brian Daly, Phantom FM’s marketing manager, “However, our podcasts are in the MP3 format so we are not beholden to any brand of podcatcher or digital music player”. Daly points out that almost 30% of Phantom podcasts are downloaded directly from the stations web site on a “once off” basis independently of any the popular podcatching applications. He concurs with industry research that only 20% of podcasts actually end up on a digital music player such as an iPod or Zen. “We’ve built up a core subscriber base and the majority of them are listening to the podcasts on their personal computer and not while on the move” adds Daly.
Phantom FM does not regard the growth of digital music players as a threat to the radio medium, despite the fact the fact that their research shows that few users have a music player equipped with a FM radio. The station views podcasting and digital media in general as an extension of the radio brand into a new arena. Phantom FM views the provision of a ‘radio on demand’ service as an additional promotional opportunity. Each podcast is audio branded top and tail with the station ID and web address. Asked about the advertising potential of podcasting, Daly stated that “Podcast audiences are small but tend to be loyal. We don’t think that they’ll relish spot advertising being inserted but there is a role for tasteful sponsorship and co-branding of podcasts”. The station has been in discussion with potential sponsors about producing co-branded podcasts that would enhance an on-air sponsorship campaign.
Their popular I-Spot podcast is a 15-minute weekly feature on an up and coming Irish band. Artists featured to date have included Whipping Boy, Vesta Varro, The Flays, Roesy and Berkley. “We’re pretty delighted with the reaction to I-Spot” said Peter Vamos, Phantom’s programme director and I-Spot presenter, “One of the neat things about the I-Spot podcast is that each band promotes it through their own web sites and mailing lists so we build up new subscribers virally”. Each subscriber can access the back catalogue of podcasts and automatically receives future Phantom podcasts.
The experience to date has provided some useful insights into the digital media habits of the Phantom FM audience. “iTunes continues to be the most popular podcatching application” says Brian Daly, Phantom FM’s marketing manager, “However, our podcasts are in the MP3 format so we are not beholden to any brand of podcatcher or digital music player”. Daly points out that almost 30% of Phantom podcasts are downloaded directly from the stations web site on a “once off” basis independently of any the popular podcatching applications. He concurs with industry research that only 20% of podcasts actually end up on a digital music player such as an iPod or Zen. “We’ve built up a core subscriber base and the majority of them are listening to the podcasts on their personal computer and not while on the move” adds Daly.
Phantom FM does not regard the growth of digital music players as a threat to the radio medium, despite the fact the fact that their research shows that few users have a music player equipped with a FM radio. The station views podcasting and digital media in general as an extension of the radio brand into a new arena. Phantom FM views the provision of a ‘radio on demand’ service as an additional promotional opportunity. Each podcast is audio branded top and tail with the station ID and web address. Asked about the advertising potential of podcasting, Daly stated that “Podcast audiences are small but tend to be loyal. We don’t think that they’ll relish spot advertising being inserted but there is a role for tasteful sponsorship and co-branding of podcasts”. The station has been in discussion with potential sponsors about producing co-branded podcasts that would enhance an on-air sponsorship campaign.
posted by brian greene at 11:25 a.m.
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