Report: Podcasting Attracting Real Money

Landing an interview with President Obama earlier this summer has yielded big benefits for Marc Maron's "WTF" podcast.

CBS News reports since that episode ran in June, "WTF," already one of the most popular podcasts on the Internet, has attracted an additional 200,000 to 300,000 downloads per episode, according to Brendan McDonald, who produces the show and co-created it with Maron. It's the latest sign of the growing acceptance of the medium, which Apple first added to iTunes in June 2005.

"I don't believe podcasting will replace traditional radio, but I believe it will serve as another option for people who are becoming increasingly used to a wide variety of media choices," McDonald said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch. "It's not replacing radio just as Netflix isn't replacing broadcast TV, but it will offer a similar counterbalance."

For Maron and other popular podcasters such as Adam Carolla and Jesse Thorn, podcasting has proven to be lucrative and a way to further other endeavors such as live performances. McDonald said he and Maron could earn a living solely from the show if they chose to do so.

MaximumFun.org, Thorn's for-profit podcast network, which he says is profitable, got its start after he sold a 1963 Dodge Dart to buy a sound mixer and two microphones.

Advertising spending on podcasts is expected to reach $34 million in 2015, an increase of about 10 percent from 2010, according to Zenith Optimedia, which tracks ad spending. But some in the podcast industry say that estimate is too low.

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