A Chinese podcasting website started to supply content to 16
provincial and regional radio stations on November 14 for
broadcast, the first in the country to do so.
"We call this life-casting," said Buddy Ye, CEO of Wangyou.com.
"By working in conjunction with traditional media such as
television, radio and newspapers, we hope to help people broadcast
and share their lives."
Audio files, containing anything from blogs and jokes to songs
and speeches, are being broadcast daily in the form of a 30-minute
program called Wangyou Happy Hour (Kuai Le Le Fan Tian).
The radio stations Wangyou chose are concentrated in smaller
cities, where it said podcasting and blogging are more appealing
due to fewer options for recreation.
"People living in inland China are eager to?know and share
their lives and dreams. We are happy to help them achieve this,"
said Ye.
Podcasting is a technology that allows individuals to produce
their own audio files, such as songs and speeches, and upload them
onto a podcasting website from where anyone with internet access
can download and listen to them.
Along with podcasts, text content such as bloggers' diaries and
jokes are also being broadcast on the radio, and the program was an
instant hit with audiences, according to today's China
Daily.
"I like it so much that I am wondering how I can listen to it
again, or download the program somewhere," said one listener with
the web moniker Yuyue.
By the end of next May, another 40-plus radio stations will join
the initiative, said Fang Daqing, head of Wangyou's Multimedia
Development.
"We want to entertain people through their home-made programs,
which we foresee as a booming trend thanks to the development of
technology," said Fang.
"Though traditional broadcasting produced by professionals will
stay, we believe the general public's contribution will help enrich
our entertainment service," Fang added.
Having only developed in late 2004 in China, podcasting has
expanded quickly, and other popular podcasting websites include
Imboke.com and Toodou.com.
(China Daily November 24, 2005)