We are delighted (really) to be creating audio guides to the South Downs. Audemos are producing six short audio guides to delight and enchant walkers, riders and visitors to the rolling hills of Southern England.

The series of short audio pieces is entitled ‘LANDSHAPERS’ and together they tell the story of how the Downs have evolved over 6000 years of human intervention to become one of Britain’s most celebrated landscapes. Richly textured with sound design, the audio guides feature renowned archaeologists, geologists, and ecologists as well as farmers, historians, shepherds and wood colliers (charcoal makers to you and me). The series will take listeners on a journey starting with the chalk formation on the sea beds of the cretaceous period, through the arrival of the first humans, the impact of the industrial ages and right up to date with modern agriculture.

The series of six programmes are currently in production and will be launched in the Summer of 2008. They will be available as downloads from www.visitsouthdowns.com, and distributed on MP3 players in Tourist information centres from Eastbourne to Winchester.

eMarketer says a number of factors are driving growth of the podcast user base:

• Greater ease of consumption for podcast content
• Growing awareness of podcasting
• Terrestrial radio’s use and promotion of podcasting
• Increased penetration of portable players
• The evolution of smart phones and proliferation of affordable mobile data plans

I wonder if podcasts will even be called podcasts in two years time.

Check the full report here.