Podcasting has come a long way since its inception in 2004. The technology has continued to evolve, and the content has become more and more diverse. Here is a look at the history and pioneers of podcasting.
Did you know that there was even a battle over the legal rights to podcasts as intellectual property?! Yup!
2004
- Podcasting was developed in 2004 by Adam Curry and Dave Winer. The two pioneers of podcasting were looking for a way to syndicate audio content on the Internet. At the time, there were no easy ways to do this, so they created their own solution – podcasting.
- The term podcasting was mentioned by journalist Ben Hammersley, who writes in The Guardian about the new technology.
- Liberated Syndication (libsyn.com) is created, which becomes the first podcast hosting company.
2005
- Podcasting really took off in 2005 when Apple added support for the technology in its iTunes 4.9 software release. This made it easy for people to subscribe to and listen to podcasts.
- George W. Bush becomes the first President to deliver his weekly address via podcast.
- New Oxford American Dictionary declares “Podcast” as the word of the year.
- The first book entitled Podcasting: Do-It-Yourself Guide was published by Todd Cochrane.
- This Week in Tech has been awarded the People’s Choice Award and Daily Source Code the Best Produced Podcast for the first-ever Podcast Awards.
2006
- Steve Jobs demonstrates how to record a podcast with Apple’s GarageBand.
- This American Life creates a podcast version of their popular radio show. The podcast is still one of the most downloaded shows on the charts.
- Queen Elizabeth’s Christmas Day speech is made available as a podcast from Buckingham Palace for the first time.
- MuggleCast has been awarded the People’s Choice Award by Podcast Awards.
2007
- English comedian Ricky Gervais sets the Guinness World Record for the most downloaded podcast, with more than a quarter of a million downloads per episode for the first month.
- Google buys Feedburner, an app that many podcasters are using to create iTunes compliant RSS feeds, for $100 million.
- Keith and The Girl has been awarded the People’s Choice Award by Podcast Awards.
2008
- Edison Research reports that 37% of Americans had heard of podcasting. Pew Research reports that 19% of Internet users have downloaded a podcast.
- Manager Tools has been awarded the People’s Choice Award by Podcast Awards.
2009
- Stand-up comedian Marc Maron launched WTF podcast where he interviewed a diverse range of guests.
- ESPN: Fantasy Focus Football has been awarded the People’s Choice Award by Podcast Awards.
2010
- Tell ‘Em Steve Dave! has been awarded the People’s Choice Award by Podcast Awards.
2011
- Adam Carolla for his podcast The Adam Carolla Show sets the Guinness World Record for the most downloaded podcast after achieving 59 million unique views.
- 4Player Podcast has been awarded the People’s Choice Award by Podcast Awards.
2012
- ESPN: Fantasy Focus Football has been awarded for the second time the People’s Choice Award by Podcast Awards.
2013
- High-profile podcasters were sued by Personal Audio “Patent Troll” for royalties claiming the former has a patent on podcasting since 2009.
- Apple announces that it has 1 billion podcast subscribers.
- The Morning Stream has been awarded the People’s Choice Award by Podcast Awards.
2015
- President Barack Obama is interviewed by stand-up comedian Marc Maron on his show WTF podcast.
- Rob Has a Podcast has been awarded the People’s Choice Award by Podcast Awards.
2016
- Starting this year until 2019, The Fantasy Footballers wins the People’s Choice Award by Podcast Awards.
2017
- The court rules that Personal Audio did not invent podcasting and could not claim royalties.
2019
- Spotify doubles down on podcasting as it buys podcast networks Gimlet and Anchor.
- MusicOomph reports that 165 million people have listened to a podcast, with 90 million Americans listening monthly.
2020
- Joe Rogan signs a multi-million dollar deal with Spotify to exclusively air his show The Joe Rogan Experience.
- How Did I Get Here? w/ Jae of Day6 has been awarded the People’s Choice Award by Podcast Awards.
As you can see, it’s been a wild ride. Podcasting continues to evolve along with the technology that makes it possible. We are seeing a genuine revolution in media and PR as a result. It is also a perfect time to get started with a podcast.
If you held off on starting a podcast because you think there are too many out there, think about how many blogs and websites became huge even with millions out there already. As the saying goes “the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is today”.