Every so often there are rumbles around the world of podcasting about the viability of audio vs. video content. Last month Shel Holtz responded to a post by Chris Brogan about video being more viable than audio as a commercial endeavor because of the flow of money into online video. I watched the exchange at the time and stayed out of it because I wanted to gather my thoughts on the subject. Those thoughts gathered I present them to you now.

Some Flawed Logic

In Chris’ post he states, “Podcasting in audio form still has some potential value, but with almost all traditional media sources rebroadcasting their radio properties as a podcast, the landscape is far more competitive than ever before.” Actually, that’s going to turn out to be a problem for video more than audio. Most radio programming has a pretty low value, evidenced by the dearth of stars in the radio space. Outside of Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and a couple of others there are no other nation or worldwide stars in the audio medium. And the content formats for commercial audio are very rigid. For the most part you are getting either comedy, news or politics podcasts from major players like NPR, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Many other commercial organizations are involved in audio podcasting, but the content they are producing is not nearly enough to stress the market for independently produced content.

Video Has A Limited Attention Pool

I subscribe to video podcasts. My favorite video podcast is produced by The Onion. But I can only consume so many podcasts in video format. Can you view these when you are driving? Can you view them when you are working at your company? I can’t. But I can and do listen to podcast content while I’m driving, at the office, standing in airport lines, walking down the street in New York City and in many other situations. Our ability to consume video is limited compared to audio. So if you want to talk about potential then you realize that good audio podcasts fill a gap while good video podcasts usually take time from some other regularly scheduled task.

More Video Content Is Coming

NBC and Fox just launched Hulu and I’ve recently been testing out the service. What you have there is a lot of content from established shows. The content is new and old. There’s a lot of it. People are going to be interested in this stuff. Oh, and the content has major advertisers in place already. There’s no doubt that money is moving to online video. Watch as the lion’s share of online video revenue goes to established media entities with solid video brands. The graph below will be very interesting to watch over the next few months.

Blip.tv makes a strong showing but will that hold up as the Hulu beta opens up wide? Is there anyone creating this kind of pressure on the audio market? NPR has gotten attention with their recent launch of an NPR Music portal. But the younger crowd that so many advertisers seek is not looking for new hits on NPR. It is clear that there will be a lot of new video coming online that will immediately have a strong audience. This is going to be stiff competition for independent video producers.

That YouTube Thing

YouTube continues to chug along dominating the online video market. I have found some good uses for YouTube recently. My daughter likes to look for fish and puppy videos so I sit with her and we look for that stuff. I use it to find videos of old concerts and vacation destinations. YouTube draws eyeballs and attention from independent video podcasts. And it will continue to do so.

Making A Living

Chris believes that the independent producer has a better chance making a living with web video than web audio. That’s like saying that you should sell ice cream because there’s a bigger market than for Italian ices. If you create a well produced, interesting product, build a strong community and sell the heck out of it you’ve got a chance to make a living out of either audio or video. There are a lot of independent audio podcasters making money from their endeavors. Whether it is enough money to live on depends on a person’s financial situation and lifestyle choices. In fact, since audio generally costs less to produce and distribute than video you are closer to a profit on day one if you are selling an audio show.

There Is No Formula

If you start out in new media with the thought that you want to go after the sexiest market with the most prestige amongst the media then by all means rush to video. I’ll bet against you succeeding and I’ll win 90% of the time. If you start out with the idea that you want to launch something based on your passion and skills then I’ll bet on you. Remember the first incarnation of Odeo. No one thought Evan Williams could miss after his success selling Blogger to Google. The passion for podcasting wasn’t there and Evan and Co. moved on to develop Twitter based on passion. Odeo could be very successful in the hands of people who are really passionate about podcasting.

My Bottom Line

My point here is to not let you think that independent audio podcasting is some dead medium. It is in fact a medium that is growing and holds amazing possibility for intrepid, energetic producers of content. Advertisers are present and increasing their spending within independent audio podcasts. And advertising isn’t the only way to make a buck with audio podcasting. But that’s another post.

I will leave you with a word of caution though. This isn’t a market for the faint at heart. You should expect to take the first year to find your voice, establish your brand and build a community. Do these things first, then worry about selling advertising or t-shirts.