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Audible Wordcast to Shut Down

5/25/2007 By Michael

Just got some interesting news. Apparently Audible Wordcast account holders were informed today that Audible will shut down the service as of September 1, 2007. I must admit, this comes as no surprise to me. In fact, at a presentation just last week we discussed the general failure of “gateway” or “paid” podcast alternatives. Let’s face it, it is tough to sell your product when 99.9% of the market is providing their content for free.

Filed Under: Podcasting Tagged With: Audible, Audible-Wordcast, podcast, Podcasting

Filed Under: Podcasting Tagged With: Audible, Audible-Wordcast, podcast, Podcasting

About Michael

Michael W. Geoghegan is founder and CEO of GigaVox Media. NewMedia Entrepreneur & Podcast Pioneer/Pundit. Author of two books. Creator of two time James Beard Award winner GrapeRadio.com
My Books on Amazon / GigaVox Media / Grape Radio / Podcast Academy / Reel Reviews Radio

Comments

  1. Bruce says

    5/26/2007 at 1:12 pm

    Duh

  2. Ken C says

    5/28/2007 at 8:17 am

    This is what I told their reps and their CEO at the first Podcast Expo when they introduced it. I told them everyone else is offering it for free. Your not going to make it when the majority is doing another thing.

  3. Kyle says

    7/23/2007 at 12:42 pm

    I’d have to disagree a little. I think their failure is based more off of the fact that they used a proprietary format and did not have a clear niche.

    People are willing to pay for advice, and what better format to give that advice then a paid subscription model. Look at Motivational Speakers and Business Coaches for example.

    There is a need for a good subscription based podcast model, understanding that it will never be the majority.

    Take a look at http://re.verbr.com for more on the topic.

Trackbacks

  1. Audible Wordcast Will Closed Down | Podcast Fresh says:
    5/28/2007 at 12:13 pm

    […] I just read here that Audible WordCast will cease its services on the first day of September, 2007. Audible already sent announcement to their account holders although the details of closure has not been disclosed yet […]

  2. Looking for Gig 2.0 | BrandBrains says:
    5/29/2007 at 7:04 pm

    […] If you haven’t heard, Audible Wordcast is shutting down. While I agree with Michael Geohegan’s quick post mortem, I don’t completely agree with Rob Safuto’s. (I haven’t spoken with Rob in a while, so I’ll buy him a beer and share my perspective…) […]

  3. Podcasting News » Audible Kills Wordcast Service; Podcasting Not Quite Dead Yet says:
    5/30/2007 at 7:03 am

    […] “Let’s face it, it is tough to sell your product when 99.9% of the market is providing their content for free,” notes podcasting pioneer Michael Geoghegan. […]

  4. re.verbr » There’s no such thing as an original idea. says:
    7/17/2007 at 8:21 pm

    […] We’ve been looking a lot for honest competitors for what verbr’s going to be offering. Perhaps the biggest one (at least as far as name recognition goes), Audible’s WordCast, is quitting in advance of our arrival. It appears that the mere threat of our existence has scared them and their proprietary privacy-invading DRM-laden format (at least as it’s applied to podcasts) right off the internet on or before September 1, 2007. To be fair, it likely didn’t have much to do with us, although I’ll continue to think otherwise if that’s alright with everyone. […]

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Michael W. Geoghegan is founder and CEO of GigaVox Media.

As a pioneer of podcasting, Michael created some of the first corporate podcasts, including efforts by Disney. Michael is also creator of the 2008 & 2011 James Beard Award winning "GrapeRadio" and "Reel Reviews: Films Worth Watching."

He is editor-in-chief of the Podcast Academy™ book series and co-author of Podcast Solutions: The Complete Guide to Podcasting.

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