The Apple iPod has not only become a ‘must have’ style accessory for the ‘wirefree’ generation but has also revolutionized the way we consume music. At the time of writing, (November 2005) the revolution has already started in the audio world, and has been going for the last 18 months. ‘Podcasting’ allows anyone with a PC to create a ‘radio’ programme and distribute it freely, through the internet to the portable MP3 players of subscribers around the world. Podcasting not only removes global barriers to reception but, at a stroke, removes key factors impeding the growth of internet radio: its portability, its intimacy and its accessibility. This is a scenario where audiences are producers, where the technology we already have assumes new roles and where audiences, cut off from traditional media, rediscover their voices.

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In 2004, a new movement began. It was one that promised democratisation of media production tools and the means to freely distribute work. Using domestic tools and open source software the pioneers threatened to disrupt the top down media ecosystem that we were used to. That movement was podcasting. In the ten years that have passed since we first heard the word 'Podcast' thousands of podcasts have started, audiences have grown steadily, technologies have evolved and the medium has become increasingly professionalised. By 2015 the medium had become a significant talking point through the success of podcasts such as Serial, Start-up and WTF, suggesting that podcasting may have reached maturity.

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Abstract.Radio has always had pictures. The ones the listener created in their own minds and this is, most of us agree, one of the medium's greatest strengths. However, radio is increasingly consumed on a digital platform (such as DAB Radio, Digital TV, a mobile device or a computer) on devices with screens, rather than a dial. This creates a problem for radio because when we look at the device we are listening to we see a screen that often lacks rich content. The process of Radio Visualisation is about filling this space. This papers focus, though, is the other ways in which radio is visualising itself online in a process that deploys transmedia storytelling techniques that build relationships with the audience, builds brands and helps broadcasters to tell stories in ways never before possible.

In 2018, the BBC announced plans to replace their long-established ‘iPlayer Radio’ service with a new platform called BBC Sounds. The new service was promoted as a single space where listeners can consume BBC radio, music and podcasts, creating a single point of interaction between audiences and content. This is, however, far more than an exercise in reframing public service radio content in a new app; it is also a practical application of these policies through the commissioning of content made for online, specifically, younger, audiences. This shift happens not only at a time where traditional broadcasters are exploring ways to re-engage younger listeners but as commentators search for the ‘Netflix of Podcasts’ This article explores the manner in which the BBC Sounds project is a response to current trends in the radio industry and to which it recognizes podcasting as an audio medium that is distinct from but institutionally connected to radio.