When I tell people about all the podcasting services we offer at Sonibyte, one of the questions I often get is, "Where do people go to find Podcasts?" Most people think of YouTube, when they want a video or Amazon, when they want a book. What is the equivalent place to browse and shop for Podcasts?
The short answer is Apple's iTunes site. I mentioned in a previous post that more than 50% of our downloads come from users who found one of the Podcasts we host on iTunes. I have also described the 30,000 Podcasts listed on the iTunes site as one of the most comprehensive directories of Podcasts that is available. Many of those who use iTunes to find Podcasts also use iTunes as their podcatcher (podcatcher = software that watches for new Podcast episodes and manages the downloading process).
According to Wikipedia, Apple controls 70% of the downloadable music market. Our data shows that iTunes holds an equally dominant position in the Podcast download market. Here are the top five "readers" for the Podcasts we host:
| Top Five Readers | |
| Reader | % of All Downloads |
| iTunes | 73.0% |
| Mozilla | 18.0% |
| Zune | 1.7% |
| Windows RSS | 1.1% |
| Yahoo FeedSeeker | 0.5% |
| Total | 94.3% |
After iTunes, a lot of people like using Mozilla (in other words, the Firefox browser) to manage their Podcasts. This makes sense, because most of us spend our entire day with either Firefox, IE, or Safari open on our desktop. I am surprised to see anyone trying to use native Windows RSS technology to manage feeds, but this statistic result from other more sophisticated podcatchers announcing themselves as Windows RSS, even when they are not. Microsoft (Zune) and Yahoo together control only a bit more than 2% of the market.
There is more to this story, though. When you look at the details by market category (see our previous posts on the subject of market categories), it becomes apparent that iTunes dominates some categories more than others:
| % of Downloads Using Various Download Agents | |||
| Category | Use iTunes | Use Mozilla | Use Other |
| Arts | 73% | 3% | 24% |
| Business | 58% | 27% | 14% |
| News & Politics | 82% | 17% | 2% |
| One-Time | 95% | 3% | 1% |
| Society & Culture | 74% | 4% | 22% |
| Technology | 61% | 12% | 27% |
| TV & Film | 64% | 32% | 4% |
As you can see, big categories such as Arts, News, and Society and Culture are more than 70% iTunes. We host a few special one-time event Podcasts--these are more than 90% found via iTunes. It is not that surprising that the geeks who like Technology blogs tend to use fancy podcatchers and disdain using iTunes. What is interesting is the high Mozilla/Firefox use in areas such as Business and TV & Film. This indicates to me that these users looked for Podcasts due interest in a particular subject or content-creating author. They probably found this content while using an on-line publication site--or via a Google search. They then did the easiest thing and subscribed using their trusty Firefox browser.
I believe that Podcasting will continue to penetrate mainstream categories such as business and entertainment. As it does, iTunes may start to lose some of its dominant position in this market. To counteract this, iTunes would need to make iTunes easier to use and perhaps integrate it into Mozilla or other browsers. Any Apple-watchers out there want to comment? Do so anonymously please, so we don't get sued for revealing Apple's product plans, before they announce them!
After read your thread i am able to find out podcast easily from the Youtube and Amazon. These two sites are best suitable for find out best podcast services.
Posted by: iPod Accessories | October 07, 2009 at 03:33 AM