For this post I want to focus on the often-misunderstood concept of a podcast. The following information is an abstract from my forthcoming eBook, “The Podgineer’s Technical Manual Series: Guide to Descriptive Data - Techniques for authoring precise RSS feed and embedded metadata.” The primary focus of the eBook is on helping all podcasters, be they veterans or newbie’s, develop more effective podcast metadata. To do so, a podcaster must first understand what a podcast represents. While this material takes a more technical point of view at understanding a podcast and an RSS feed – I hope that it helps to clear up any confusion. Enjoy -

-- Begin Abstract --

[ Podcast: Inspired by Apple’s “iPod” and fused with “broadcast,” a podcast represents a subscription delivery method that links to a collection of downloadable audio, video, document, or other supported media type, which form the foundation of a syndicated Internet “show.” Podcasting is supported by dozens of hardware and software vendors who make mobile media possible. ]

The best way I’ve found to define the terms podcast, subscription feed, and episode is to make them analogous to the components of a TV broadcast series. Well known examples include LOST, Boston Legal, and The Office, just to name a few. Each of these is commonly referred to as a “Show.” The show is an entity accessed through a unique channel on the television. NBC, ABC, CBS—all are well-known media channels that operate with local affiliates. These affiliates have a local or regional number, such as channel 7. Without knowing the proper access point we have little chance of getting the content. However, once we know the specific point of access, weekly episodic media is then available so long as we either adjust our personal schedule to view the episode according to the channel’s schedule, purchase the content, use a rental service, or digitally record the episodes from a media source. If we were to use XML-based metadata tags to define the TV hit series LOST it would look something like this:

<LOST>

<ABC Affiliate>

<episode>3: Further Instructions</episode>
<episode>2: The Glass Ballerina</episode>
<episode>1: A Tale of Two Cities</episode>

</ABC Affiliate>

</LOST>

In like manner, a podcast acts as a sort of “wrapper” by giving a show form and function in an Internet-based subscription model. The following represents the structure of a podcast.

<podcast>

<channel>

<item>episode</item>
<item>episode</item>
<item>episode</item>

</channel>

</podcast>