Podcasting at NIH

Podcasting is the fastest-growing form of new media in the world. While the first generation of podcasts were simple audio files, the emergence of portable video-capable media players means that podcasts now can have images as well as sound. This evolution has resulted in a dramatic increase in the demand for, and creation of, podcasts. According to the Pew Internet Project:

• As of May 2008 19% of all Internet users have downloaded a podcast.


• The total podcast audience has increased by 58% in less than two years.


• The dedicated podcast audience—those who download podcasts regularly—has increased by a staggering 300% in the same span.

Podcast subscriptions

While podcasts are inherently like any other audio or video files in that they can be downloaded directly from a host website, one reason for their popularity is how they’re made available. Like the majority of blogs today, most podcasts are tied to a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed (see also RSS at NIH in issue 239), which alerts subscribers when new content is available. Some programs such as iTunes not only allow users to listen to podcasts and copy them to their portable media players, but also offer free subscriptions to RSS feeds for multiple podcasts, so that users can download them as soon as they’re made available.

CIT and podcasting

At NIH, CIT has been producing audio and video podcasts since February 2006. In that time, we have produced a total of 486 podcasts. In September 2006, we began producing Enhanced audio and video podcasts, which contain special features such as Chapter Markers and Enhanced artwork. Chapter Markers allow users to skip to a certain part of the program—like tracks on an audio CD. Enhanced artwork features artwork that changes in real time over the course of the program, and hyperlinks to open a website or email with a simple click on the link in the player.

Given the demand of content not only in the world, but also within the NIH—there were over 200,000 downloads of podcasts in 2007—CIT will continue to use podcasting as a way to better serve NIH and the worldwide medical community.

Try out our NIH podcasts

All of our podcasts are available for download at http://videocast.nih.gov/default.asp where you can also find a link to our Podcast FAQ (http://videocast.nih.gov/faq/podcast/default.asp), for information on playing and subscribing to our podcasts. To subscribe to the RSS feed for NIH podcasts, visit our RSS page (http://videocast.nih.gov/rss/), and browse the different RSS feeds we have available for our Podcasts.

Interested in creating your own podcast?

If you have questions about podcasts or would like to create one for your IC, conference, lecture, etc., please contact the NIH Help Desk at http://ithelpdesk.nih.gov/support or call 301-496-4357, 301-496-8294 (TTY) or toll free at 866-319-4357 and ask for the NIH Videocast team.