Premium Podcasting Headed Your Way

It didn't take long for the most popular podcast to test the waters on a premium podcast business model. bit-tech.net | Ricky Gervais takes podcasting to Premium Level. For $7 a month you'll get a weekly half-hour show. Supposedly there are hundreds of thousands - maybe millions - of downloads an episode of the podcast. Ricky was said to have commented that he'd wished he'd started charging for it earlier. Well, it didn't take him long.

Actually, this is a good thing. If people want the content that bad, they'll pay for it. It's good for Ricky (of course), and good for other less-known podcasters, because if the model succeeds it might help pave the way for premium content for other podcasters.

If it's worth it, you'll pay for it. Admit it! Of course you will, if you see the value in it.

Meanwhile, the Tim 'Gonzo' Gordon Show podcast is still free!

Down the road aways (and in internet time that might be weeks or months), as more and more podcasts move towards a premium value model, many hobbyist podcasts might get frustrated and just sit on the sidelines for awhile.

OR.... listeners may get fed up with all of their favorite podcasts trying to squeeze $$ out of them that they'll stop listening, which might force some podcasters into the position of deciding whether to continue as a premium podcast or go back to the freebie approach.

This could get interesting...