1000 Word Analysis of Podcasts

Podcasts come in a wide variety of genres and forms. Some are comedic in nature, such as the British podcast, the Ricky Gervaise show which stars Stephen Merchant, Karl Pilkington, and of course Gervaise himself. It originated as a radio show but was later adapted into a podcast, and then an animated TV show. However the format remains generally the same throughout each incarnation, and generally revolves around the life and views of Karl Pilkington. Another format is a podcast known simply as "Serial", which is a detective and mystery drama revolving around the murder of an 18 year old student called Hae Min Lee. For all intensive purposes this podcast is basically an audio play / audio drama, or perhaps even an audio book, merely in the form of a podcast. A third different podcast example would be one known as "Death, Sex & Money" which is basically an long interview about the difficult topics in life, in a way a civilized version of the Jeremy Kyle show but with only one person. There are also many political podcasts which can consist of anything including interviews, discussions and debates. Podcasts can cover a wide variety of topics, being a diverse medium, and as a result of this overall can generally be of any genre, for example factual, educational, comedic, fictional and so forth. Podcasts can be works of fiction, they can be interviews, comedies, panels and so forth. The main uniting theme of podcasts are that they are generally episodic series of digital media files.

The term podcast is a portmanteau between iPod and broadcast, which was first coined by BBC journalist Ben Hammersley in 2004. However just because the term is a portmanteau of broadcast and iPod, it does not mean that podcasts can only be accessed through iPods and other Apple Inc. Products, podcasts can be accessed by any computer or similar device that can play media files, for example a mobile phone would come under this category. Many have stated that podcasts are a converged digital medium due to the fact it brings together multiple different mediums into one; the internet, audio and portable media players. In addition to being labeled a converged medium, it has also been called disruptive technology because it has been the cause of many within the radio business to reconsider established practices and preconceptions about audience, consumption, production and distribution. Podcasts overall are free of charge for listeners and in addition to this are generally cheap and easy, if not entirely free to make, setting the medium apart from others.

As well as the traditional, standard podcast, there are some variations on the traditional format. Enhanced podcasts display images synchronized with the audio. Podcast novels which are a also known as a serialized audiobook or a podcast audiobook is in a way a blend of podcasts and audibooks. Vodcasts, video podcasts which are basically podcasts accompanied by video clips. Web television series for example are frequently distributed as video podcasts.

Podcasts often use ambient noises in the background, similar to background music in films and television shows. However this is not always a given, with many podcasts forgoing this. In addition, podcasts can often use background music as well. As a general rule though, there is some form of intro music, whether it be a theme tune or not. For example in the Ricky Gervaise show, it begins with a bit of a tune then Gervaise introducing himself and the panel. For the animated television show however this format varies slightly, with some opening music, a comedic narration, then with Gervaise introducing himself and the panel before a quick bit of opening music. The animated show is basically after that identical to that of the podcast, other than the fact animated visuals have been made to go with it, but the audio is the same as the podcast, with all episodes being taken from the original podcast series but given animation and some special effect sounds to accompany visual gags. For example in the animated show when one of the panelists describe something at times, it is visually depicted in a more humorous form to further the description. Not every podcast has ambient noises, background music and intro music however; many simply consist of talking. An example of this would be some political podcasts such as Stefan Molyneux's podcasts which consist of him talking about political issues, sometimes also with another person.

Due to podcasts being a broad medium, there are numerous different variations between podcasts. For example there are a fair number of different conventions between the Ricky Gervaise Show and Stefan Molyneux's political podcast. The Ricky Gervaise Show is a comedic panel show with three friends (Ricky Gervaise, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington) discuss various topics in a humorous fashion, usually with Gervaise and Merchant observing Pilkintgon's views on many topics. Meanwhile many political shows including Stefan Molyneux's are instead discussions or even just one person's thoughts on a matter, but with a far more serious tone. However there are also numerous commonalities between the two podcasts, including the lack of background music and the format being similar, with both being a discussion of some form albeit with the themes being very different. A drama podcast such as Serial, both the Ricky Gervaise Show and Stefan Molyneux's varies more noticeably with these two other podcasts. This podcast is a drama and resembles an audiobook and an audioplay, but with background music frequently included. The atmosphere of Serial differs radically to that of the Ricky Gervaise Show for example. The Ricky Gervaise Show is a chat whilst Serial is for intensive purposes an audioplay distributed online. The Ricky Gervaise Show seldom uses background music whilst Serial uses it very frequently over the course of its episode. If Serial is compared with a political podcast such as Stefan Molyneux's then the different are even more glaring. Whilst Molyneux's podcast mostly consists of him and sometimes others discussing a political topic or current affairs, Serial is instead a drama. Molyneux's podcast seldom uses any background or intro music, it is even devoid of ambient noises.