BT's podcast site seeks the 'X' factor

British Telecom (BT) is launching a podcasting service in the UK to give the nation a platform to show off its talents (or lack of) by making videos and audio clips available on a new internet service.

The UK telecoms giant has teamed up with US PodShow Network to provide the service, to be available to all UK internet users.

In the US, some of the shows on the website - produced by a mixture of amateurs and professionals - have a loyal following and get 10 million downloads a month.

BT PodShow is making a nationwide call for aspiring film producers, musicians, presenters and DJs from across the UK to submit audio and video content.

The best material will feature on "The Show" section of the website.

"People are tired of TV and radio," Ron Bloom, the chief executive of Podshow, said.

"We are moving from a world of broadcasting to a world of 'all-casting' where everyone wants a reliable way to create, share and connect.

There is an incredible amount of talent and programming out there that never sees the light of day because there is simply no way for traditional media to provide the choice that the audience craves."

He said podcasting "bridged the chasm" between established media, such as the BBC and ITV, and new media offerings, such as YouTube and MySpace.

While there are millions of user-made videos on YouTube, the idea with podcasting is to commit to a regular show in the hope of building fans.

That could be five shows a week or maybe two a month.

Other users of the website able to "subscribe", for free, to these shows and so create their own channel of content, or several channels of different types of content.

In the US, the PodShow service has 60,000 series available, or 1 million individual episodes.

The UK service will have its own look and feel when users enter the website, but the US material can also be accessed.

The venture depends on selling the website's "eye-balls" to advertisers, with companies able to place advertisements on particular shows they like.

PodShow was founded by Mr Bloom and Adam Curry, who pioneered the development of podcasting.

They are still majority owners.

The financial terms of the UK venture with BT were not disclosed, except that it and PodShow will "share in the upside".

BT will provide the technical and infrastructure support to the service and promote it.

- INDEPENDENT