Edwards launches first base-focused video podcast in DoD

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Eric M. Grill
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
More than 16 months after Edwards launched its first audio podcast, the base launched video podcasts on its public Web site Wednesday morning.

Podcasting is an Internet publishing technology that allows users to subscribe to an automatic feed of audio and video files.

The first video posted in the new podcast was the most recent episode of "Dateline Edwards," an award-winning news magazine program produced by the 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs office. In 2006, it was awarded third place in the Air Force Media Contest in the Television Information Program category.

"We're very proud of 'Dateline Edwards' and have been looking for ways to expand its distribution," said Dawn Waldman, 95th ABW Public Affairs chief of electronic news. "Soon after we started the show, it was picked up by the Pentagon Channel, but was still unavailable for most television viewers. The new video podcast now allows anyone with an Internet connection to automatically download the program to their home computers."

Wednesday's launch marks another milestone for Edwards.

"The audio podcast was the first base-specific podcast in the Department of Defense, and it's still the only one," said 1st Lt. Brad Kimberly, 95th ABW Public Affairs deputy chief. "The new video podcast follows the same precedent we set back in 2005. It is the first video podcast produced about a specific installation in the DoD."

Searches through several podcast directories on the Internet revealed Edwards is the only installation producing podcasts focused on its mission, Lieutenant Kimberly said. Other official podcasts, produced by the Air Force News Agency, provide news and information about the Air Force as a whole.

Bandwidth limitations prevented launch of the new video podcast until recently.

"We've been ready to launch this video podcast since November 2005, but because our Web site was hosted locally, we were unable to post large video files without degrading network services on the base," Lieutenant Kimberly said. "Now that the Web site has migrated to the Air Force Public Web, we can finally post these files without worrying about these bandwidth issues."

To take advantage of podcasts, the public must first obtain an application that can manage podcast subscriptions. Some of the more widely-available podcast application software can be found by going to Edwards' podcast Web site at www.edwards.af.mil/news/podcast.asp. A list of software is located at the top of the center column.

Once the podcast software is installed, the user needs to subscribe to podcasts of their choosing. Instructions for automatically and manually subscribing are available on the Web site. The software will then automatically check the podcast for updates and download any new content.

"In the 16 months since we launched the original podcast, the numbers of downloads have exceeded our wildest expectations," Lieutenant Kimberly said. "On the average, our audio podcast is downloaded 2,000 times per month. Our hope is that even more people learn about the amazing things we are doing at Edwards through the video podcast."