Thanks for having me on the show.

We’ll talk about the background and literature review in this

episode. Talking about history of the podcasts, which were previously known as Audio blogging, has
its roots dating back to the 1980s. With the advent of broadband Internet access and portable digital
audio devices like the iPod, Podcasting began to catch hold in late 2004. The new medium grew in
popularity over the years and has not died but grown steadily until today.

According to recent research by Podcast Hosting, there are around 1.9 million podcasts online with
approximately 47 million episodes. The most popular podcast applications today, Spotify, Apple
Podcast or YouTube, allow podcasts to be consumed for free or low subscription cost.

Podcasting has really grown out of a need for background content. That means something that can
entertain you, educate you or inspire you in the background of other boring activities.

For example, one of the most common ways people listen is in the car. You can’t watch video there.
In the same way, podcasts are great for listening at the gym, while you’re mowing the lawn, or on
your journey to work. 

We’ll now move on to the literature review on Podcasts. The definition of podcasts has adjusted
from the early 2000s to today. Webster, McClung & Johnson, Wang & Chan-Olmsted defined
podcasts in different ways. Today podcasts are mostly audio files that can be consumed on-demand
via distribution platforms. Podcasts are still considered to be in the growth phase. The user numbers
are increasing rapidly and the trend towards listening to podcasts is still emerging. As podcasts
became more popular over the years, traditional radio also included podcasts to their program to
attract more listeners.

Podcasts are used for entertainment, news, e-learning, many more.

In studies from the early 2000s, research shows that podcasts users had higher education and
salaries than non-podcasts users. McClung and Johnson, in 2010, identified that most of the podcast
consumers are between 18 and 34 years old, have a high education level and listen to podcasts
mainly on an MP3 player. Chung and Kim, in 2015, researched podcast motives amongst college
students and found the key aspects of listening to podcasts, that are social aspect, entertainment,
information, and passing time.

In 2019, Perks and Turner, used a qualitative approach to identify motivations and gratifications for
listening to podcasts, which included multitasking, podcasts testimonial involvement and the
benefits seen in podcasts compared to other audio media in terms of content and convenience.