Wizzard Media has announced the launch of 22 new iPhone Apps available for sale in the App store, including an App for Tiki Bar TV. This brings the total number of Apps on the Wizzard Media Network to 152, with more being uploaded weekly. The price of the new Apps range from $1.99 to $3.99 each.
The Tiki Bar TV App (2.99) delivers all the latest episodes of the wildly popular Tiki Bar TV comedy video podcast series starring Dr. Tiki, Johnny Johnny, and Lala. The show first started releasing its 5 to 10 minute episodes in iTunes on March 13, 2005 and since then its popularity has gained the cast recognition in Forbes and Business Week as innovators and leaders in video podcast entertainment.
Like the Tiki Bar TV App, the twenty-two newly launched Apps are iPhone companion Apps for popular podcasts on the Wizzard Media Network. They offer audiences one-click access to the podcast episodes directly on their iPhone or iPod Touch, exclusive bonus content and new social communication features, creating an unprecedented level of audience engagement.
Wizzard has created an iPhone App that can be quickly customized for each podcast and allows podcast publishers to generate a new revenue stream by marketing their own iPhone App directly to their audience. Once they have converted enough of their current audience to App users, they can then drive future reoccurring episode and subscription sales through a process called in-App purchasing. Wizzard shares in the revenue with the podcast publisher.
Wizzard announced 2009 third quarter network numbers of 12,281 podcast shows, 900,000 episodes, downloaded 332 million times in the third quarter by over 18 million unique monthly audience members. Approximately 70% of the audience for podcasts subscribe through iTunes from which users download podcasts for their iPhone and iPod.
“Now, podcasting becomes a platform that converts audiences to revenue, accelerated by the micropayment billing process that Apple has created with the App store,” says Dave Mansueto, co-founder Wizzard Media. “We believe this new process is the future model for how digital media is published, audiences are grown and revenues derived.”
“We know there is strong demand for the podcasts we distribute seeing downloads grow from 400 million to well over 1 billion in the last three years and monthly audiences grow from 4 million to 18 million,” says Laurie Sims, President of Wizzard Media. “Now that we have a method to charge for podcast content and offer reoccurring subscriptions, we believe there is dramatic change ahead for the podcast industry. Unlike most Apps in the App store, podcasters have a distinct advantage to successfully market their App in iTunes due to the fact that they have already built a substantial audience for their product through iTunes.”
