Who is your favorite movie director/screenwriter? Whether you prefer Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Pedro Almodóvar or Julio Medem, you wouldn’t walk up and ask if s/he loves making DVDs! If you did, s/he would likely respond: “I love directing movies. DVDs represent one small slice of the entire distribution.”

When people ask me whether my CapicúaFM show is a podcast (CapicúaFM recently surpassed 308,000 listens in over 160 countries, according to Podtrac), I respond: “CapicúaFM is a radio show. Podcasts represent one small slice of CapicúaFM’s entire distribution.” That is correct, considering that it’s not a podcast when someone hears your show live or by clicking Play on the web. At least 60% of the over 309,000 times people have listened to CapicúaFM, it has been directly from the web, even though I have always encouraged listeners to subscribe (as a podcast) via RSS. Of course, my CapicúaFM show is syndicated via all popular podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RadioPublic, Stitcher and TuneIn. I promote this verbally on the show and on several websites where I publish content. However, according to our stats, over 60% of our followers are listening on the web. The most important thing is that they are listening, they continue to listen, and they grow. I am equally appreciative of all of my listeners, whether they prefer to use a podcast app on their mobile device or simply have the habit of listening on the web. I am also a stickler for proper terminology to avoid confusion. Podcasting is a very important distribution, but it’s not the only one.

Here’s another analogy: Ask your favorite author whether he or she loves writing paperbacks. He or she will likely respond: “I write manuscripts. They are later distributed as ebooks, paperbacks, hard cover… and even audiobooks.”

DVDs, podcasts and paperbacks are not bad words. We should just use them appropriately 🙂

By the way, within a sentence or paragraph, established style indicates that the names of radio shows (like CapicúaFM or yours) —just like the names of books, magazines, movies, newspapers and theatrical plays— should be written in italics.

I love radio, especially the new radio!

Allan Tépper
Consultant, multi-title author

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