Word has it that Yahoo! is syaing it wants to go beyond just the plain-Jane Podcast Search approach and provide a service for Podcasters. With everything from podcast hosting to even a podcast creation service, it's no doubt that Google won't be far behind (or ahead?). Services like Odeo and podOmatic provide this type of solution, and will face some stiff competition if Google and/or Yahoo step into this arena.

[via Search Engine Watch]

Columbia’s Frequency TV can be proud to boast the fact that they are the first college station to offer themselves up as a podcast (err, actually vodcast) through iTunes. They've been producing their own original sketch comedy program called "Out on a Limb" and vodcasting it since October 28th. The growth has been so exponential that they've dedicated themselves to offer six more shows now.

Sure, it takes a little work to convert the audio/video so it's iPod Video compatable, but hey look at all the publicity they're getting! Wanna subscribe yourself? Just pop onto iTunes and search for “artist Frequency TV.”

Get ready for the marketing onslaught to begin. XM has kicked off it's new 'Listen Large' campaign with TV-spots featuring Ellen DeGeneres, Snoop Dogg, Derek Jeter, David Bowie and Martina McBride. What's the point? To highlight the fact that XM too has big name people producing content. They're fun light-hearted commercials, but more importantly it shows XM's preemptive strike at the Howard hype soon to be generated.

You can watch the commercials on XM's website.

I hate to just sit here and bash the press, I think that bloggers have a bad rep with the press because they face off with each other so much. But damn, after reading this "review" I have to wonder how the hell this could even make it past the Editors. Ignoring the fact that there's one sentence repeated three times, this thing is hardly a review at all! I was a bit excited to see that PC Magazine has a review of the Kenwood EZ900HDS AM/FM/HD/SDARS/CD/MP3/WMA/iPod car radio - I mean that's alphabet soup right there! But after reading this thing, the only thing I got out of it is... it can play AM/FM/HD/SDARS/CD/MP3/WMA with a $100 extra iPod connector.

Blah. C'mon guys, if you're going to write a review, write SOMETHING more than just a regurgitation off the product sheet.

Hey, who needs to spend all that time and cash on brochures when you can just record a podcast! It's the mark of a new trend in tourism, as VisitScotland gives people a virtual taste of Edinburgh. From the Old Town, New Town and Leith, and traditional attractions such as the Castle, the Palace of Holyrood and the Scottish Parliament, this lil' fun podcast looks to entice the listener in a new media experience.

It's a neat idea, giving people some ideas of where to go and what to do - and gives you something to listen to when you're on your flight over. Want to find out more? Check out VisitScotland.

Disney saw so much success from their initial podcast endeavors in May and July that they've gone ahead and dedicated themselves to releasing the Official Disneyland Resort Podcast. The first Disney podcast initially reared it's head in May during the launch of Disney's "Happiest Celebration on Earth" 18-month celebration of Disney's 50-year anniversary. Now with the Official Disneyland Resort Podcast, which will be released on a monthly duration, you get a "Behind the Magic" look at all the fun exciting things going on at Disneyland in a magazine-style format.

Wanna subscribe? Head on over to http://www.disneyland.com/podcast or search on "Disneyland" in iTunes.

 Podcasts on your cell are one thing, but now Cingular says they're going to offer 40 channels of digiral radio through MobiRadio.  The content will ultimately be through Music Choice, the folks who do digital radio on your cable boxes.  Right now, the service is only available with the Nokia 6620, Sony Ericsson S710 and Z500a, and it's pretty pricey at $6.99 plus kilobyte usage, but people who really want their digital radio have a chance now.  If it were me, I'd still rock the Rokr or Moto V3i with iTunes, and rock out to 100 different songs.  That's just me though.

Generally when someone sends you a "free XM Radio!" email you ignore it, but this one seems legit. Disclaimer: I can't really vouche for the validity of this coupon code (it was acquired from a friend of a friend of a friend once removed), nor can I vouche for how long it will stay in effect after I post this, so use at your own risk.

So here's how it works, go to: partners.xmradio.com and enter in the coupon code MAJLABXM6. You'll instantly get deep discounts like $99 MyFi's or even a free Audiovox PnP unit, though there are some terms and conditions (not bad ones, good ones) required.

MTV, you remember the M stands for Music and not just Marketing, has a (surprisingly) insightful piece on the future of the industry.  They say that with the advent of iPods, satellite radio, podcasting and Droxy (ok, just blogs), the landscape has gone from our rock-music driven industry to something much much different.  With Howard Stern jumping ship to satellite radio, consumers are going to get more familiar with that market segment.  Now, instead of just replaying music, terrestrial radio stations are going to have to face the facts that music might not be the best option.  Talk radio is already a force to be reckoned with on the AM dial, and now more and more stations are moving talk radio to the FM dial, and to the web.  More FMs are changing from Modern Rock to a reggae format, as well as a new format dubbed 'Hurban' (Hispanic Urban.)  I agree with most of the article.  It feels like we're changing the same way they did in the 50s, with radio leaving the entertainment and storytelling formats, and heading almost exclusively to music.  Regardless of where this goes, it should be a very interesting 10 years.

The Weblogs, Inc. network features over 100 independent, unfiltered bloggers producing over 1,000 blog posts a week across over 75 industry-leading blogs. Each week we ask our bloggers to choose their top posts, which we bring to you in one easy-to-read weekly post. You’ll find links to the hottest posts from the past week after the jump including an Engadget Meetup on the west coast, a way to get a free plasma screen in politics, and even a full day in Prague. Enjoy!

I'm furious. I'm furious, and offended actually. Furious because I haven't known about this, and offended because a certain group known as the Parents Television Council has single handedly changed how we listen to radio, simply for their own preferences.

I knew the PTC was a huge factor in driving FCC indecendy complaints, but I didn't realize the extent of their ridiculousness - nor of the inaccuracies of the FCC's reporting system. All the FCC crackdowns in the past couple years since the Janet Jackson incident occured, could very well be one big lie.

What am I talking about? Read on.

Audible today unveiled their new AudibleWordcast service, a toolset meant to help podcasters build an advertising-based and subscription-based podcasting service. Wow.

Coordinate multiple revenue streams with ad management, dynamic ad insertion(!!!), and secured transactions. The main thing behind AudibleWordcast is that the advertising industry needs to have viable tracking and metrics. What's the point of advertising if you can't measure it? That's where Wordcast comes in - Audible will serve as a 3rd party podcast advertising audit system - measuring not just downloads (which can be easily inflated), but measure actual subscribers.

Awesome.

With the Portable Media Conference and Podcasting Expo beginning tomorrow (Friday, November 11th), there's no doubt in anyone's mind that Podcast Advertising will be a center of discussion. Is it a viable advertising medium for both marketers and podcasters? This article poignantly highlights several arguements from both sides of the coin, with an obvious lean towards the YES, and I have to agree. Not because of any lofty Long Tail concepts, which many are skeptical of from a business sense (especially those coming from a MSM world), but because the reach of a certain few podcasts actually does have an effect on a measurable amount of consumers. And advertising will always penetrate spaces where there is a captive audience.

It's a good read, check out the link below.

I brought up the concept a few weeks back about Porncasting - the new Video iPod has opened the doors to a brand new market for the Porn industry. It seems this concept has finally hit home with people [NYPost?] and now there's concern that portable pornography will make its way into lil' Johnny's hands.

Not for nothing, but there's plenty of pr0n to be had as cell phone wallpaper too. This isn't necessarily a new concept (although video makes it more gooder). And don't they think that porn can be had on the PSP? C'mon, wake up.

Still, the concept of hardcore action getting delivered automatically over RSS might require a few parents to get what this "podcasting thing" is so that they can have better control over what their kids download. Basic parenting also requires that parents stay up with technology trends.

(Warning, overly sensational article linked below.)

Podcast hosting is one of the latest trends for ISPs, but those who a crafty enough realize that the word "free" opens up another revenue stream. Shockpod is a good example of this, though all snide remarks aside, this doesn't seem like a bad deal.

Free users get 90Mb of space to host their Podcasts. Shockpod is able to monetize on these free-riding bastards by inserting audio ads into your podcast feed. Just enough to get you started, but not nearly enough to maintain a long lasting show.

That's where paid subscriptions come in. For a measly $4/month, you lose the ads, and get a slew of additional features like a built-in blog system, and a whoppin' 750Mb of space. Not too shabby.

[via Podcasting News]