A podcast is a series of
digital-media files which are distributed over the
Internet using
syndication feeds for playback on
portable media players and
computers. The term podcast, like
broadcast, can refer either to the series of content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting. The
host or
author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.
The term is a
portmanteau of the words "iPod" and "broadcast",the
Apple iPod being the brand of portable media player for which the first podcasting
scripts were developed (see
history of podcasting). Such scripts allow podcasts to be automatically transferred to a mobile device after they are downloaded.
Though podcasters' web sites may also offer direct
download or
streaming of their content, a podcast is distinguished from other digital media formats by its ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded automatically when new content is added, using an
aggregator or feed reader capable of reading feed formats such as
RSS or
Atom.