(Annette Moser-Wellman)

Finding new ways to spread a media organization's content as far and wide as possible is the name of the game these days. Think of it as building a media brand's kingdom – in a crusade against the tyranny of declining advertising revenues.

So it's interesting to look at what some news organizations are doing to spread their audio and video content via podcast 'feeds' or RSS content – and at emerging services that intensify the consumer experience . Check out CNN's series of audio and video content that repurposes cable broadcasts for other forms of distribution. Each 'product' offered is a regular segment. Some are updated hourly, others daily. Magazines and other newspaper publishers are following suit, yet not with the same frequency. See and listen to the Wall Street Journal entries in this market.

Services like these are "not your father's" podcasts. In the old-style podcast, you had to download each MP3 file to your device, be it a PC, MP3 player or a mobile phone. These more accessible audio RSS feeds are podcasts streamed over the Internet. Importantly, the 'podstreams' allow consumers to easily customize their news and information menus.

Expanding your content's reach with audio RSS feeds is one viable means publishers and broadcasters can play in the mobile market. The audio experience lends itself extremely well to those traveling in a car or commuting.

One company taking advantage of the consumers' penchant for mobile audio is Stitcher, an online service that aggregates audio RSS feeds and lets consumers customize their news, talk, entertainment and information. With Stitcher, anyone can create their own "radio station" on their mobile device – and then Stitcher builds on the preferences of its users to create an even more satisfying experience. The online company profiler, TechCrunch, calls Stitcher the "Pandora of everything but music," because as you use the service, it analyzes your selections and serves you more of what you like and less of what you don't.

In my interview with Noah Shanok, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Stitcher, I asked why news organizations and others would want their audio content any place other than their own sites where they could be getting page views (and revenue). It all comes down to giving the consumer what they want.

"We are seeing media companies excited about the Stitcher concept of on-demand streaming audio. Consumers want all of their information, but on a mobile device. They don't want to go to NPR, ESPN or 10 other sites to get it. They just want it all to be there in one place. We allow content providers to extend their reach into places they wouldn't already be," he said.

Stitcher works by pulling audio RSS and traditional podcast content from a publisher's server. The content is formatted for mobile delivery and put back on the server. Through a menu of aggregated content, consumers can get the most up-to-date information via mobile in a way that's customizable and on-demand.

When spreading a brand's kingdom into the mobile audio world, how then does one make money? Stitcher is based on an advertising model. Listed as one of the iPhone's top applications, it engages audiences that are spending increasing amounts of time, up to 150 minutes a month, listening to content. Shanok said the company shares advertising revenue with content partners - either ads served by Stitcher or ads the publisher embeds in the podstream. Shanok said Stitcher's ability to bundle content into a "package" is an important part of attracting advertisers, as is its ability to track content consumption on the mobile device.

As an added benefit for publishers who don't produce audio, Stitcher will provide professional voice-over, reading Web page content and putting the podstream together.

There's much talk among people in the news industry about trading pennies today for yesterday's dollars, meaning that traditional sources still produce far more advertising revenue per viewer than Internet media.. But remember that these industries are young. The long term winners and losers have not yet been established. As distribution platforms begin to standardize in mobile and personalization becomes possible, there may be bigger incentives for advertisers and bigger rewards for publishers. Over time, the relative value of the different advertising platforms - Internet, TV, mobile and print -will begin to become clear.

But for now, one thing is sure: exploring ways to spread your content on mobile platforms is essential to building a kingdom for your brand.


Annette Moser-Wellman is President of Firemark, Inc., an innovation consultancy, and author of Six Competencies of the Next Generation News Organization and Running While The Earth Shakes: Creating An Innovation Strategy To Win In The Digital Age, both published by the Media Management Center.

This TechScout article is part of a series of Moser-Wellman interviews commissioned by the Media Management Center to explore opportunities and insights at the intersection of technology and the news media. Click here to view other articles in the TechScout series.

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