Is European Big Media Podcasting

In all countries, Big Media (TV, Radio, Written) is indeed podcasting. Germany and France media generate a wealth of TV & video podcasts. ARD, the largest TV network in Germany releases the podcast version of Tagesschau (Daily View) shortly after the popular show is aired on television. In France, TF1 produces video podcasts as well. Despite 300,000 Aussies demanding the video version of ABC’s “Enough Rope”, server and bandwidth infrastructure can only provide the audio version.

Radio France has hundreds of audio podcasts, as do German radio networks. BBC is the largest media player in England, and Virgin Radio and the Guardian are also present. Of course, BTPodshow, the collaboration between Podshow and British Telecom is definitely worth mentioning.

In Spain, the lack of media involvement has lead people to record radio shows and create pirate podcasts. In Italy, a popular entertainment podcaster was sacked from one of the thousand Berlusconi-owned media companies after making questionable political comments. In China, big media is generally still uninvolved.

As a general rule, big media simply repackages existing content. The exception to the rule is Europe 1 in France which aggregates radio shows into a single podcast, and SWR public radio in Germany, which produces “podcast first” content.