Where radio ends and the podcast begins…

Listening to some podcasts the other day, what struck me was the sheer range of formats that the podcast takes on. It’s full of richly differing material and a many innovative approaches – but is there anything actually unique about podcasting as a broadcasting medium?

To illustrate this, let me first show you a few examples:

Guardian – Moon Graffiti

Radio4 – Trouble Inside

So first we have the classic BBC Four pod cast, set up like the radio station it originates from to provide a presenter, menu and issue to resolve. An extension of its parent programme you might say – a platform where the stories of the day can be delved deeper into, for the listener is now actively seeking out this material and will not be put off by extensive pieces, like a casual radio listener might. It’s more than valid in offering supplementary information and interesting listening…but there’s nothing new there is there?

So let’s move on to the drama series. Another immensely interesting listen, gripping and something I never would have heard without the podcast. But again, does it pass the uniqueness test? Well, anyone who’s listened to Radio Four even in passing could not have escaped a 1940s drama or 20th century play, and once again it simply serves as an extension to its big brother, the radio. So is there anything truly special about the podcast, something that cannot be found elsewhere in broadcasting?

Well finally, we encounter the podcast that strikes fear into any good broadcaster – that of the inane mumblings of the ‘discussion’. A space where any loon can spout off about the world and set their creation free upon the unsuspecting web masses. If Andrew Marr’s blog comments were translated to pod casting, then this would surely be the medium that would bear his wrath.

However, this format is arguably the one that has experienced the most success – when carried out correctly. I talk of course about podcasts in the Ricky Gervais mould, those that are little more than people just chatting. I think if I were to play word association with members of the public on pod casts, then more than a handful would leap straight to ‘Gervais’.

Now this is not a eulogy on the wonders of Ricky Gervais. He does of course have the advantage of being a comedian, sitting alongside another comedian and talking to a comedy goldmine in Karl Pilkington. In fact I would argue that this is not the essential reason why the podcast works. It’s more because sitting around talking is a favoured pastime of us all. This podcast crucially taps into that and makes us feel one of the gang.

It is probably the only time when ‘normal’ conversation ever makes it into any broadcast form. To have several people simply sitting around a room and discussing issues in this way is practically unique. Indeed, I would say this type of podcasting is the only thing truly unique about the podcast. Everything else – the dramas, the news programmes, the documentaries – are just an extension of the radio, but in the ‘discussion’, podcasts have uncovered a real gem.