By Frank Barnako, MarketWatch
Last Update: 10:48 AM ET Jun 16, 2005
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- A business consultant says the market for "podcasting" is underserved.

While 40% of the Internet-delivered audio shows focus on music, science, technology and comedy, the most popular category for users is erotica, according to Alex Nesbitt, president of Bella Ventures Inc. "The supply is not yet meeting market demands," he wrote in a just-released analysis titled, "The Podcast Value Chain Report."

Nesbitt predicts the market for podcasting tools and services will reach $400 million, "in the near future." The business consultant also said podcasts of "enduring content" like ITConversations.com, are likely to become valuable as archives. Capturing university lectures and speeches will drive growth, he added. "Narrowly focused, but very high-value content that is similar to high-priced subscription newsletters, such as investment research, should also have strong commercial appeal," he added.

Whether podcasting pioneers like it or not, Nesbitt sees advertising becoming a factor in podcasting. But he concedes the difficulty of determining the audience size will hold back traditional approaches to marketing. "I speculate that performance-based advertising may develop into a major mechanism," he wrote.