Podcasting: 'Significant growth by 2010'

Now that Pew Internet's data on how many people listen to podcasts has been roundly trashed as untrustworthy, would you trust any numbers from anyone else on projected growth in podcasting?

Well, Forrester Research is widely regarded as a trusted source for IT industry analysis. In a press release yesterday, Forrester included this forecast on the growth in podcasting:

[...] Podcasting, which is the newest entrant into the digital audio mix, will see significant growth by 2010 — reaching 12.3 million households — as MP3 adoption climbs and broadband reaches 62 percent of households.

Figures for the US, of course.

Whether such numbers will prove to be on target or not, it must be clear to any observer that podcasting will be a big growth trend as the technology gets better, it all continues to get easier to do, more devices come onto the market and some mainstream media move into this internet-based medium.

But, you don't really need to rely only on such general forecasts to see the business benefits of podcasting. And observe what's coming soon in the technology tools (digital players) that people want. And here's good analysis from Netimperative last week on developments with internet advertising and radio.

Plenty of data to help you make up your own mind.

(Hat tip for the Forrester news: Steve Rubel.)