The fuse under TV

November 1, 2005 by Jeff Jarvis

More evidence of exploding broadcast:
: 1 million videos sold (read: revenue) on iTunes in just 19 days.
: 4 million podcast subscriptions (read: loyal audience) for NPR.
: As soon as iTunes promotes video, popular podcast Diggnation gets more audience on video than audio (read: demand).

: CORRECTION: On NPR, that is indeed 4 million downloads, not subscriptions. I linked to the Live Remote post, which said subs. Paid Content said downloads. (Thanks to John Davidson in the comments for the correx.)

  • http://tomwatson.typepad.com Tom Watson

    More evidence indeed that big media still controls the money-making gateways, despite the trickle at the edges….

  • Tim Windsor

    The NPR experience is impressive, but it’s important to note that’s four million downloads, not subscriptions. Big difference.

    It’s even more amazing that Apple’s done that well, given that they have so few shows available yet. I think you’re right about pent-up demand.

  • Tim Windsor

    (Off-topic) Jeff, do you run this site from a server on a drilling platform in the North Atlantic? The time-stamps are two hours later than they should be.

  • John Davidson

    also, four million downloads doesn’t mean 4 million plays. Cheap storage makes it easy to be a massive collector of podcasts (or, obviously, for that matter, anything digital like music/movies/pictures/p0rn, etc.)

    Nevertheless, the number shows a pretty strong interest in the content without relying on Neilson or Arbitron.

  • BG

    I dropped my cable since I rarely watched anything and the price was excessive, but I’d gladly pay $1.99 every now and then to watch something from the major networks, like a favorite band or two on Letterman or Conan. Networks, are you working on this? And dare I ask that Howard Stern’s future antics on Sirius be available as podcasts a week after they’re first broadcast?

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