Sorry I didn’t post thie before, but i didn’t know. Boston University is streaming the Podcast Academy live. We’re done with Day 1, but Day 2 is tomorrow. Check it out! The link is on the right-hand side of this page: http://www.bu.edu/com/

Here’s my latest personal podcast with news from IT Conversations and The Conversations Network. And don’t miss Phil Windley’s IT Conversations Highlights as well as his newsletter. (It’s part of free membership in The Conversations Network.)

There’s an interesting discussion underway on the web site of the Association of Independents in Radio (AIR), hosted by Stephen Hill. Great questions/comments in particular by Barry Rueger of Community-Media.com. My most recent post to the discussion:

Barry’s questions and the implicit answers are right on target. I believe this is a classic case of Clay Christensen’s Innovator’s Dilemma in that the established players can only perceive the change from their own perspective. Stations and networks still (and may always) see the Internet as something that is happening to them or as a new opportunity to extend what they do today. Christensen suggests they can’t escape this perspective.

Listeners and viewers, on the other hand, aren’t limited to that perspective. They see public media as just one of the many types of content they can reach using their preferred access technology. It’s not so much “How can I hear my favorite program?” as much as it’s “What is there to hear on the Internet?” Substitute “on my iPod” or “on my TiVo” or anything else. The audience is picking the platform first and the content second.

The long-tail phenomenon means that listeners/viewers have access to content that is much more interesting to them than what can economically be delivered by ‘broadcast’ transmitters. The economics of media are shifting rapidly from the fat head (my term) to the long tail. The size of the audience is relatively constant, but there will be more choices and a smaller audience for each program. We can’t fight this; we must embrace it. Lower production budgets and profits are an unavoidable consequence. Success will come to those who recognize this and can find ways to produce and distribute programs at a much lower cost. The Citizen Journalism movement is the extreme end of this spectrum.

The TWiTs — This Week in Tech — will record their show live on June 16 at Podcast Academy 3 in Santa Clara, California. Want to see how the ultimate pros produce their show (including video)? Register for PA3 now.

TWiT, with host Leo Laporte, is *the* most popular podcast, with more than 250,000 listeners per month.

Yahoo! has been a terrific supporter of the Podcast Academy, and now they’ve stepped up to not only sponsor Podcast Academy 3, but to host the event at their facilities as well. PA3 is now slated for June 15-16 at Yahoo!’s facilities in Santa Clara.

We only have room for 110 people and it’s filling up quickly, so register online now to guarantee your seat.

The curriculum so far:

• Podcast Gear for Any Budget (Paul Figgiani, The Point)
• Making Money in Podcasting (Michael Geoghegan, Reel Reviews)
• A Live TWiT Podcast (Leo Laporte and the TWiTs, This Week in Tech)
• Recording and Editing Interviews (Dierdre Kennedy, Animals Aloud)
• Beyond the Audio (Darusha Wehm, The Conversations Network)
• All About Microphones (Doug Kaye, The Conversations Network)

This is dangerous…very dangerous for broadcast-hardware geeks. At 3pm EDT this Thursday, PBS is auctioning off equipment that’s being left behind in their move to new studios. And it’s a LOT of gear: Ten items close every minute. My wife is very glad that I can’t be in Virginia this week to examine, bid and rent a truck! (Anyone there who wants to check things out for me?)

Every seat and folding chair at Podcast Academy 2 — April 28-29 at Boston University — is filled, so we’re closing further registrations. See you at BU in two weeks!

The official announcement will be forthcoming shortly, but I’m currently putting together the curriculum for Podcast Academy 3, which we’ll hold June 15-16 in Sunnyvale, California. Take a look at the curriculum for PA2, coming in two weeks at Boston University, and tell me what’s missing. What classes would you like to see? What particularly dynamic speakers would you like to have as instructors?

Update: Registration ($275) is now open, and if our experience with PA2 in Boston is any indication, PA3 will sell out early. Details and more info.

Now that Phil Windley has take over the reigns of IT Conversations, we need to reorg our podcasts, blogs and newsletters.

• Phil publishes the newsletter for members of The Conversations Network. (Registration is free!)
• Phil now posts info re IT Conversations on his blog.
• My weekly podcast has shifted its focus from IT Conversations to The Conversations Network at large. Here’s today’s edition.
• For now, there’s no newsletter for The Conversations Network, and there’s no podcast for IT Conversations. But let us know what’s important to you.

I forget to mention that I was a guest on the March 17, 2006 edition of the Podcast Brothers’ podcast. Tim Bourquin asked me about The Conversations Network new free Guest Membership to expand the participation on our social systems.