Subscribe to the RSS feed and follow me on Twitter
« GigaVox Audio Users
Organize You Mac Desktop »

Audible Wordcast to Shut Down

May 25th, 2007 in Podcasting Tags: , , ,

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.

7 Responses to “Audible Wordcast to Shut Down”

Feed for this Entry Trackback Address
  1. Gravatar Icon 1 Bruce May 26th, 2007 at 1:12 pm

    Duh

  2. Gravatar Icon 2 Ken C May 28th, 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. Gravatar Icon 3 Kyle Jul 23rd, 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.

  1. 1 Audible Wordcast Will Closed Down | Podcast Fresh pingback on May 28th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
  2. 2 Looking for Gig 2.0 | BrandBrains pingback on May 29th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
  3. 3 Podcasting News » Audible Kills Wordcast Service; Podcasting Not Quite Dead Yet pingback on May 30th, 2007 at 7:03 am
  4. 4 re.verbr » There’s no such thing as an original idea. pingback on Jul 17th, 2007 at 8:21 pm

Leave a Reply

« GigaVox Audio Users
Organize You Mac Desktop »

Recent Posts

Monthly Archives

Categories

About

Michael W. Geoghegan is founder and CEO of GigaVox Media, a production, consulting and technology company focused on audio/video new 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 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.