Tired of listening to news read by television newsreaders speaking in crisp English accents? Sick of checking out the headlines in your RSS readers, because it’s seems so politically correct and hardly believable? You have an option with IndiCast, which is India’s first weekly news capsule delivered as a multi-person conversational podcast. IndiCast prides itself on covering topics from an average person’s point of view, without any sugar coating. The news or latest happenings are delivered in a life-like conversation and it scores over traditional news reporting from the standpoint of credibility
IndiCast is a Mumbai based podcasting site and it is run by two friends, Aditya & Abhishek. Aditya (who incidentally is the brother of Patrix, who writes for DesiPundit) returned from the US after his higher studies and Abhishek is an MBA, who earlier worked at Godrej. They earlier dabbled in a blogging site before realizing that the audio format excited them more than the textual one. And they stress on the fact that they are no experts on news realted media.
IndiCast is actually great fun. It is news/views/opinions but narrated (or spoken) in a manner that is entertaining and binds the listeners. You can instantly identify with it as it is like the conversation that floats around college canteens or hostels; or alike the numerous arguments/debates you’ve had with your friends around coffee tables. And that is what listeners seem to relate to. IndiCast has a fairly loyal fan-following by now and you need to just listen to it once to realize why. The site has delivered app 100000 downloads last year and the number is fast rising. Each episode involves multi-person conversations about 3-4 topics that have recently made the headlines. The podcasts are available on popular podcasting networks like Odeo, Yahoo, Podnova, iTunes etc. The site is currently monetized through Google ads but that’s only for a start. Once they reach a critical mass of downloads, they plan to roll out an audio/video ad based revenue model. I’d be interested to see what that model is and how it actually works out. Future plans include dividing podcasts into different themes – business, finance, technology, lifestyle etc. And they plan to roll out videocasts as well.
In my earlier post on PodTech, I had speculated that its going to be a while before Indian podcasting sites surface. Its good to see IndiCast proving me wrong. I myself do occasional podcasts on PodTech and I feel that there are three specific advantages that mediums like podcasting (or videoblogging) have – they are perceived as being more credible, the content is portable on hand held devices and the fact that it is available on-demand. IndiCast has two other advantages- they are fun/entertaining, apart from being the first mover in this field. Overall they are very well positioned to do some kind of a ‘RocketBoom’ for India.
What is the barrier to entry? Is there a viable business model? Indicast is so amateurish. these people need to first understand what they are talking about. also, for please stop switching from hindi to english and hindi. it is more of like Hinglish. miles to go guys. also check out podmasti.com
Hey Sushil,
I am one of the co-hosts of Indicast. The barrier to entry from a tech point of view is very limited, I would say zero. But there is a huge creative barrier. Everyone has access to a paper and pencil but not everyone is an artist. you get my drift?
We have a decent business model in place which has undergone the VC microscope quiet a few times. i obviously cant reveal all the details but the business model has never been a point of debate in any of our VC meetings.
I guess you dont like our style but people really like our hinglish approach. Its more bambaiiya and people love us for that. I am sorry that we dont suit your style.
I definitely agree that we have miles to go cause we have extensive plans…
I’m totally with Sushil on this. Indicast is really amateurish. I want to know how many of the downloads are repeat downloads. I have listened to them once or twice and never felt like returning back. Frankly, I don’t believe they have any sort of fan following. If they are good enough, atleast some of the popular blogs would have mentioned them.
Bottlemani,
Indicast certainly looks amateurish but thats by design; in fact, thats the whole point; instead of trying to be professional and straight faced, they want to come off as colloquial and friendly.
amit
Pingback: What exactly Indicast is doing wrong? | ReviewSaurus - The Techie Dino!
Bottlemani,
As for the following, if you look at each episode, we have an average of 8-10 comments. Which i guess that could be indicative of the following.
Moreover we have feedburner and podtrac stats to support all our claims.
Aditya
I would second Amit’s observation that the Indicast show has knowingly stayed away from sounding too professional. Having participated in one of their shows I can say that they have a fun approach founded on serious plans. The language is Mumbaiya and certainly will long much sense down south, but atleast they know who their audience is.
Sushil: Dude, if you really crave for professional RJs you had better listen to FM radio buddy, but even they are slowly understanding the virtues of conversational programming and interactivity with listeners.
Podmasti is also good but their focus is mainly on entertainment news.
Debashish: “fun approach founded on serious plans” – thats going in our business plan!!! LOL
Sushil..I wonder if your comment was motivated. I have listened to Indicast too, and feel that their not being ‘experts’ is what is going to set them apart.
They for one, are not CNN, and dont need to pretend to be like one. Their discussion sounds more like what you get to listen from your friends, and you feel the same way like fightback with your own view and stuff, which is never the case with a news channel…That;s not a weakness but a USP…
Hey! So you owe me a consultation fee 😉
Well said Kiran!
Debashish : You’ll get it when we earn our first million.. thats a promise!!
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