Only one per cent of internet users are downloading a podcast on a typical day, despite heavy buzz surrounding the multimedia file distribution phenomenon, according to a new survey.

Some 12 per cent of internet users say they have downloaded a podcast so they can listen to it or view it at a later time, up from seven per cent between February and April, the study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found.

The telephone survey of 2,928 adults was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates between Aug. 1 and Aug. 31 for Pew, a non-profit research group that examines the social impact of the internet.

The survey also found that men are more likely than women to download podcasts, with 15 per cent of online men responding they had downloaded one, compared with just eight per cent of online women. The margin of error on the sample is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Those who have used the internet for six or more years are twice as likely as those who have been online three years or less to have downloaded a podcast, the survey also found.

Next new thing 

The range of content available to those interested in podcasts has exploded over the past two years, but the volume of downloads suggests their use has not broken through to the mainstream of everyday internet users.

Podcasting is a relatively new phenomenon that started in the late summer of 2004. Among digital audio formats podcasts are unique in that they can be downloaded automatically using software capable of reading feed formats such as RSS (Really Simple Syndication).

Within six months of its inception, programs available through podcasting grew from about three dozen to well over 3,500.

While early podcasters typically distributed syndicated audio files and radio shows, podcasters now routinely deliver many kinds of digital multimedia content, including video, images and text.

In 2005, the New Oxford American Dictionary declared "podcast" the word of the year, with the accompanying definition of a podcast as "a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the internet for downloading to a personal audio player."