The BBC has announced a new raft of podcasts to be added to those it already serves. The highlight seems to be an audio version of the key Newsnight interview (in the same way as Today offers the 8.10am interview).
It’ll be interesting to see how the hourly World Service news download works. If I leave my podcasting software open, will it just keep downloading more and more news until I fill my hard drive?
Other podcasts will include Start The Week, Broadcasting House and Front Row – the latter offering a weekly key interview.
There are a few Radio 1 shows offering interviews and gossip segments, and Five Live will offer highlights of Simon Mayo daily amongst others.
One of the more interesting programmes to be added to the list is Radio 3’s Discovering Music. Although it doesn’t play music in a straightforward manner with full performances as such, it does include music within the programme as it conducts workshop sessions.
There are no proper programmes that include any music in this batch, and it’s a shame because if anyone can sort out the rights to include music, then it must be the BBC.
The other disappointment is that none of Radio 4’s science programmes are yet included. Given the popularity of science podcasts on the net, I’m really surprised that the BBC hasn’t made more of a push by perhaps including, perhaps, Material World on the list. I’m very impressed with both the New Scientist’s podcast and Nature’s ones. Scientific American offers a podcast, and CBC’s Quirks and Quarks is perennially popular.
The curious thing is that much of Radio 4’s science archive is available for streaming permanently – Material World offers programmes going back until at least 2004. There’s no music rights to worry about, and most interviewees are unlikely to object. So what’s the problem?
And finally, the whole BBC podcasting programme is still referred to as a “trial”, with a June deadline. Can it not be considered permanent yet?