And we have a new podcast.

我們有了新的播客節目。

Our very first podcast.

我們的第一集播客節目。

Influencers, celebrities, journalists, random friends of yours, everyone has a podcast.

網紅、名人、記者、你隨便一群朋友們，大家都有一個播客 (Podcasting)。

Spotify plans to spend $500 million on podcast related acquisitions this year alone.

Spotify 僅僅今年就規列了 500 萬美元來執行播客相關的併購。

But why is this happening now?

但為什麼這現在才在發生？

Podcasts have been around for over a decade.

播客已經存在超過十年了。

To understand what changed to make podcasts the phenomenon they are now, we have to, hold on.

為了了解什麼改變讓播客現在蔚為風潮，我們必須...等等。

This is better.

這樣比較好。

Okay, we have to look at the big picture.

OK，我們必須綜觀大局。

So yeah, podcasts came about because of Apple, iTunes and iPods.

播客因蘋果公司、iTunes 和 iPod而出現。

Now we recently announced something new for iTunes and iPod and it's called podcasting.

現在呢，我們最近發表了 iTunes 和 iPod 的一項新功能，它叫做播客。

Apple brought podcast to iTunes in 2005.

蘋果公司在 2005 年時在 iTunes 推出了播客。

Podcasting of course is a concatenation of iPod and broadcasting.

播客 (Podcast) 當然是 iPod 和廣播 (broadcasting) 的連寫。

Steve Jobs called pocasts, TiVo for radio, which is an insanely dated reference, but can help us contextualize this whole shift.

賈伯斯將播客稱做電台的 TiVo 數位電視錄影機，這是個很有年代感的比喻，但可以幫助我們想像整個轉變的情境。

Before podcasting you had the radio, with it's ads, unpredictable content, and your favorite hosts timed to specific days with specific shows.

在有播客之前你只能聽電台廣播，電台廣播有廣告和難以預料的內容，而且你最喜歡的主持人都會受特定的時間及節目限制。

But with podcasts you can download radio shows and listen to 'em on your computer or put 'em on your iPod anytime you want.

但是有了播客，就可以把廣播節目下載下來，在任何想要的時間使用電腦或 iPod 收聽。

And you can subscribe to these shows too, so you never miss an episode.

你也可以訂閱那些節目，這樣就不會錯過任何一集。

Plus, podcasts are free just like the radio.

此外，播客跟廣播電台一樣都是免費的。

With the release of internet connected smartphones, people could download podcasts onto their phones directly instead of having to load the audio onto their phone from their computer.

連接網路的智慧型手機上市後，人們可以直接用手機下載播客，而非從電腦將音檔轉入手機。

And that made listening to shows even easier.

而這讓收聽節目更加容易。

Still, in 2009 only 11% of the US population had listened to a podcast in the last month, but then a podcast arrived in 2014 that changed everything.

但在 2009 年只有 11% 的美國人口在過去一個月內聽過一集播客，直到一個新的播客節目在 2014 年開播並改變了一切。

From This American Life and WBEZ Chicago, it's Serial.

歡迎收聽 Serial，此播客來自芝加哥 WBEZ 電台的節目 This American Life。

One story told week by week, I'm Sarah Koenig.

一週週講述一個故事，我是主持人 Sarah Koenig。

Serial broke with established podcast rules.

Serial 打破了播客的既定規則。

It was a narrative, mystery, crime show that told a single story over many episodes versus just one.

它是個敘事性的懸疑犯罪節目，不是只用一集而是使用很多集數來講述單一一個故事。

And that new format drew listeners in.

而那個新模式吸引了更多聽眾。

It became the fastest podcast to ever reach five million downloads and streams on iTunes.

它成為了 iTunes 上最快達到 500 串流量的播客節目。

Around the same time that Serial and other highly produced shows became popular, cars were becoming more connected too, which gave commuters an opportunity and place to listen.

大約在 Serial 和其他高產量的節目越來越受歡迎的同時，汽車也更能連線網路及手機，這讓通勤的人有收聽的機會和空間。

Plus, new direct to consumer companies had money to spend on podcast ads.

此外，新興的 B2C 公司有錢買播客廣告。

The confluence of all of these factors pushed the podcast business to new heights.

這些因素的總和將播客產業推至新高點。

This week's show is brought to you by Casper.

這星期的節目由 Casper 床墊贊助播出。

This episode is sponsored by Dell.

本集由戴爾電腦贊助。

Turn your great idea into a reality with Squarespace.

試試 Squarespace 把你的好主意變成現實吧！

Last year podcasts created nearly half a billion dollars in revenue.

播客去年創造了幾近五億美元的收益。

Maybe you've heard hosts read ad and give you a promo code.

可能你曾聽過主持人們念出廣告並給你優惠代碼。

That's a main way shows make money.

那就是播客節目賺錢的主要方法。

And that code helps advertisers know which show has sold their product.

而不同的優惠代碼讓廣告客戶知道哪個節目有賣出他們的產品。

Shows make money in other ways too.

播客節目也會靠其他方法賺錢。

Some adapt their story for TV and others host live events.

有些播客將他們的故事改編成電視節目，其他則是主持現場活動。

Other than the recording costs, audio is relatively cheap to capture, particularly compared to video.

除了錄音成本以外，音訊跟影片相較起來猶是容易製作。

So it can be a lucrative business.

所以他能夠盈利豐碩的產業。

Media companies and individual creators can try out podcasts without risking a ton of cash.

媒體公司和獨立創作者可以不用承擔花大錢的風險來嘗試播客。

And they can publish their shows in the same places that major publishers do.

而且他們可以將他們的節目發佈於跟其他大型發行機構相同的平台上。

Now that there's so much money in podcasts, companies want more control and visibility in to how well their ads actually work.

由於現今播客匯集了大量資金，公司們想對他們的廣告如何運作以及成效有更高的控制權和能見度。

So podcast technology is becoming more sophisticated and the field is changing.

所以播客科技越來越成熟，這個領域正在改變。

Promo codes might not be needed anymore.

可能再也不需要優惠代碼了。

Advertisers want a more robust way to track ads, similarly to how they do with banners online.

廣告客戶想要有個像追蹤線上廣告橫幅一樣強力有效的方式來追蹤播客廣告。

That's why the Interactive Advertising Bureau established it's podcast measure technical guidelines in December 2017.

這就是為什麼互動廣告局在 2017 年 12 月時制定了播客技術衡量準則。

With this new standard, advertisers now know what counts as a download, or a play, and they can get a real sense of how many people heard their ad.

有了這個新標準，廣告客戶現在知道什麼算是下載量或播放數，他們也能夠實際得知多少人聽到了自家的廣告。

The ads themselves are becoming smarter and dynamic too.

廣告本身也越來越聰明和動態。

Which means one ad doesn't have to live inside the same episode forever.

這代表一則廣告不需要永存於同一集節目。

They can be swapped out with other ads as time goes on and podcasters can improve their ad offerings by guaranteeing timeliness.

它們可以隨時間更替，播客業者也能夠以時效保障來增進廣告收益。

Everything is formalizing in an effort to make the field even more lucrative.

一切都為了讓這個領域盈利更廣而慢慢成形。

Some podcast players are experimenting with exclusive content, too, which is a fundamental change to the open world podcasts have traditionally lived in.

有些播客創作者也正嘗試開發付費限定內容，這對於傳統上開放免費的播客而言是個重大的改變。

Podcasts are starting to be tracked more like the rest of the web and the content is starting to be distributed more like movies or TV shows.

播客開始像其他網站一樣被追蹤，其內容的散播方式則越來越像電影或電視節目。

So why does everyone have a podcast now?

所以為什麼現今人人經營播客？

Because they're cheap to make, the stakes are low, and the opportunity to make some cash could be big.

因為他們製作便宜、風險低，而且賺錢的機會很大。

Plus, who doesn't love the sound of their own voice.

還有，誰不喜歡聽自己的聲音？

So now that you've just watched this video on podcasts, wouldn't you know it, I have a podcast too and you should check it out.

所以在你看完這部關於播客的影片候你就該知道，我有一個你該去聽聽得播客節目。

It's called Why'd You Push that Button.

叫做「為何按下按鈕？」。

We'll put a link below and you should click it.

我們會把連結放在底下，然後你應該點開來看。

See what it's all about, check it out.

看看那是什麼樣子。

All right, we'll see you later, bye.

好的，我們下次見，掰掰。