Welcome to the world of podcasts!

Why podcasts?

At a time when Instagram photos generate interactions more than people themselves, when Facebook feeds have replaced neighbourhood windows, when WhatsApp messages are your mode of morning greetings to your co-workers — podcasts have come as a breath of fresh air.

Podcasts have recently been making the rounds of marketing and communication industry corridors. Media houses are hiring teams, creating departments, and assigning budgets to enhance their podcast capacities and capabilities.

The word podcast is a portmanteau of the words ‘pod’ and ‘broadcast’. They are on-demand internet radio talk shows or sometimes a monologue centred around an idea or topic.

The concept started taking shape in 2004, with a show named Daily Source Code, hosted by former MTV video jockey Adam Curry and the software developer Dave Winer. In fact, Adam is known as the ‘Podfather.’ Later, podcasts became mainstream when Apple started building podcasts in iTunes in 2005.

Here are some interesting points that you need to know about podcasts:

1. Listening to podcasts is not a hard task, as many people think. It is all online.
2. You can listen to podcasts on your smartphone, tablet, or any portable digital device.
3. Podcasts can generate good revenues; it is currently one of the most profitable jobs. The money you make differs. For some famous podcasters the amount goes up to $50,000 per episode.
4. In podcasts, time shifting means on-demand listening as opposed to real-time streaming.
5. Podcasts are informative and listening to them can help you dedicate time to learn about new subjects or topics.

In 2004, Adam Curry and Dave Winer invented the podcast, a digital audio file made available on the Internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device, typically available as a series.

Podcasts are a trend that everyone is talking about, even debating whether it will replace radio. We cannot deny the benefits of this new tool for both creators and their audiences.

Podcastinf helps creators save and keep record of their valuable content for listeners. Travelers can also benefit a lot, as they can listen to them while going from one destination to another. Moreover, podcasts are being used as reference.

Podcasts as a reference

With this growing trend, many Internet radio stations are broadcasting conventionally in their countries of origin and running a simultaneous online broadcast so that people elsewhere in the world can tune in (Argentina’s FM Tango, for instance).

In addition, international tier 1 news channels have their own podcast channels, such as BBC and CNN.

The Telegraph has a weekly audio guide to the best podcasts and digital radio stations, hosted by award-winning radio critic Gillian Reynolds and podcast expert Pete Naughton.

Don’t miss these podcasts!

From business to lifestyle, sport, gaming, and expat life, the UAE podcast scene is growing, and more listeners are tuning in. Below is a list of famous podcasts that you can enjoy listening to, based on your interests and preferences:

1. ‘Tales of the Trade’ is a podcast by Chirag Desai that features Dubai’s pioneers and their stories.
2. ‘Kerning Cultures’ is created by Hebah Fisher, who shares interesting stories about culture, history, and current affairs in the UAE.
3. Rana Nawas hosts ‘When Women Win’, which is one of the Middle East’s top female empowerment podcasts.
4. The humorous ‘Hangout with Rushdi’ podcast was created by Rushdi Rafeek and features upcoming and undiscovered artists, performers, and content creators.
5. ‘The Two Vegans’ is  co-hosted by Chirag and Heetal. It invites conscious entrepreneurs to share stories about being vegan. It ensures a crossover interest in the business community.
6. ‘The Dukkan Show’ is the first podcast to ever host a #TodayAtApple talk. It is hosted by OT, Reem, and Akkaoui. The podcast showcases the great conversations friends have when they hang out at their respective dukkan stoop.

This was a quick glimpse at some of the most interesting podcasts in the UAE. With this blog, I shed light on podcasts and why more and more podcasters across the region are seeing the value in the ‘do it yourself’ format.

Khaled Abu Hishme is an Account Director at Cicero & Bernay Public Relations, an independent PR agency headquartered in Dubai offering new-age public relations consultancy to the UAE and across the MENA region. | www.cbpr.me