With the launch of “To the Point Already,” Spectrum Bay News 9 has entered the ever-growing world of podcasting.
It’s another way for the Tampa Bay area’s award-winning multimedia news provider to deliver the latest original, thought-provoking local and national coverage, anywhere and anytime.
This increasingly popular digital audio format allows listeners to be informed and entertained at your convenience, on your schedule, without being tied to a computer or TV screen. It also gives Spectrum Bay News 9’s news team an opportunity to dig deeper into a wide variety of stories, while offering unique and insightful content you won’t find anywhere else, including exclusive interviews, profiles and expert analysis.
If you’re new to podcasts, here’s some helpful information to get you started and listening.
What is a podcast?
A podcast is an audio program that you can listen to on your phone, computer or tablet.
Podcasts come in many formats, from interviews and news shows to serial fiction and performance. Most are prerecorded, and presented as episodes in a series tied together by subject or theme.
Why is it called a podcast?
Good question! Podcasts are called podcasts because when they first began to gain popularity in the mid-2000s, the Apple iPod was the most popular device for consuming digital audio. (This was back before your phone did literally everything.)
Why would I want to listen to a podcast?
People listen to podcasts for a variety of reasons—to keep up with current events, to learn more about a subject in which they’re interested, to be entertained, to kill a little downtime.
One of the biggest appeals of podcasts is that you can listen to them anywhere, and while doing other things. Listeners aren’t committed to a screen for a half-hour or an hour at a certain time of day or night. You can download a podcast, and play it at your leisure while jogging, or commuting, or doing housework, or mowing the grass. It’s the ultimate portable on-demand content.
Is there a podcast that pertains to my interests?
With an estimated 850,000 podcasts out there (!), you’re pretty much guaranteed find a podcast—or 20—to like.
Are you into sports? You’re covered. (Boy, are you covered.) Are you into a particular sport or, even more specifically, a particular team? You’re likely covered there, too. Politics is another perennially popular topic, whether it’s local, national or a combination of the two. True crime, history, food, gardening and comedy are all huge genres in the podcast realm, too. But even if you tastes are more niche—like, say, knitting or taxidermy or fly fishing or ventriloquism—there’s a podcast for you.
How do I find and listen to a podcast?
The easiest way to listen to a podcast is on your computer. Thousands of websites have their own associated podcast and, conversely, many podcasts have their own dedicated sites. Just do a web search or call up your favorite site, look for a link to a player, and click on the arrow.
But the best thing about podcasts is their portability; you’re going to want to listen on your phone or tablet. Fortunately, that’s easy, too. Here’s how to find podcasts on Apple mobile devices—for Android phones and tablets, the instructions are the same once you’ve headed to the Google Play store and installed the Google Podcasts app:
1. Your iPhone or iPad should already have the Podcasts app installed. If not, go the App Store and get it
2. Open the Podcasts app and tap the magnifying glass “search” icon, then type a subject (“Bay News 9”) or podcast name (“To the Point Already”) into the search bar
3. Tap the podcast you’re interested in from the search results
4. Select an episode to listen
If you enjoy the title you selected, make sure you tap the “subscribe” button on the podcast’s home page in the app, so new episodes will automatically be downloaded to your device as they become available.
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