One of the weaknesses of podcasts has now been eliminated with BlogTalkRadio, a hosting service that lets podcasters broadcast live over the Interwebs, accepting live callers or instant messages while on the air. The talk service allows podcasters to have up to five people (including the host) on a phone line at once, which all runs through the BlogTalkRadio site. Listeners can receive the podcasts on an ordinary Windows Media Player, unlike TalkShoe, a previously-announced live podcasting model using a proprietary player.
What’s the catch? Well, BlogTalkRadio inserts contextual advertising, that is, advertising similar to Google’s ads which theoretically have something to do with the content. But the good news is that ad revenues are split 50-50 with the podcasters. Could this be the dawning of the live talk podcast?
Product page [BlogTalkRadio, via TechCrunch]
