The podcast is heading for the mainstream.
A report released by Nielsen Analytics last week found that podcasts — online broadcasts downloaded from the Internet for playback on portable devices — are attracting a growing number of listeners, a shift that media companies and advertisers have noted.
According to the study, more than 9 million Internet users in the United States downloaded podcasts to computers and mobile devices last month. Ten percent of the study’s 1,700 respondents said they download eight or more podcasts a week. And of the podcast users, 38 percent said they listen to the radio less because they’re listening to podcasts.
