Adam Curry, described as the “podfather” in this NYT piece by Ken Belson, will produce and host a weekday four-hour show on Sirius Satellite Radio starting May 13. Curry will draw material for “Adam Curry’s PodShow” from other podcasters; the show will air on “Talk Central” and will include advertising.
This raises a number of issues including compensation for the podcasters, copyright, licensing. It’s one thing to create a podcast using music and other copyrighted material to share in a low-key way with a relatively small audience; it’s another when it becomes part of the commercial universe. Then there’s the effect on the genre—until now podcasting has been defined as something the listener can take with them. Between Infinity and Sirius, it’s being transformed into—gasp—static radio. Will would-be listeners be able to download this as a podcast? My guess is no although it would be a smart move to at least make it available that way and as part of the live streaming service for Sirius subs.(That would include me, although as much as I like Adam, 20 hours a week sounds like an awful lot.)