HEAR NOW FIRST BIG MEDIA, NOW THE LITTLE GUY MAKING PODCASTING A REAL EXPERIENCE.

Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer

It's another episode of Wichita Rutherford's weekly podcast, ``5 Minutes With Wichita,'' and the secret word is ``painting.''

So what happens when guest Ronnie McCoury, the master mandolin player of the Del McCoury Band, says the secret word? Wichita clobbers him.

The shtick is part of a routine that has made ``Wichita'' - a humorous interview show with celebrities from the bluegrass and NASCAR worlds - a star in the ever-expanding galaxy of free, independently produced audio downloads for MP3 players, computer desktops and, soon, mobile phones.

As everyone from major media giants to local radio stations is jumping on the podcasting bandwagon, people increasingly are embracing this free, easy-to-use technology for its wide-ranging possibilities. While some view podcasting as an alternative to lackluster radio programming, others see it as having the potential to be an effective marketing tool in the Internet age.

It's proving to be both.

Created by former MTV VJ Adam Curry and David Slusher of evilgeniuschronicles.org and popularized in 2004, podcasting has been quick to catch on as a kind of audio blog, or personalized Web log that could be accessed time and again.

In the podosphere, as in the blogosphere, the new technology has risen as a challenge to the mainstream; a kind of rebellion of the common man against the corporate radio giant, says Andrew Leyden, who runs podcastdirectory.com.

``Radio is about as exciting as mayonnaise on white bread,'' he says. ``You don't hear anything new.''

But in the rabble of podcasting is a cacophony of emerging new voices that are producing fun, interesting and diverse programs you wouldn't otherwise hear.

In ``Chicken Fried Radio,'' for example, self-described Texas hipsters T.E. and Ryan take an irreverent approach to the week's weirdest news.

For the latest on the video gaming industry, there's ``GameOn.''

And ``The Mixtape Show'' features hot tracks, interviews and commentary on all things hip-hop.

``I swear there are podcasts for just about everything, from 'Battlestar Galactica' to biker bands,'' Leyden says.

He ought to know.

A little over a year ago, Leyden founded podcastdirectory.com, one in a growing number of online databases that offer people a searchable index of podcasts, running the gamut from NPR and Air America Radio to ``This Week in Tech'' - to sex.

``Yes, wherever technology goes,'' Leyden says, ``sex is sure to follow.''

It appears anybody can create a podcast. A majority of the adult-themed podcasts are guys, sitting around with beers while they review porn.

Still others feature people recapping their previous night's sexual escapades.

It should come as no surprise that all that dirty talk inhabits the same Web universe as ``godcasts,'' religious-themed podcasts such as ``The Catholic Insider,'' whose tag line is, ``Podcasting from the heart of the Catholic Church.''

The show is hosted by Roderick Vonhogen, a priest from the Archdiocese of Utrecht in the Netherlands.

Recently, the young clergyman journeyed to Germany to report on World Youth Day. In previous episodes, he has shared his views about ``Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace'' and the new ``Harry Potter'' book. Before podcasting, The Rev. Roderick would have been just another priest. Now he has a voice that's heard all over the world at catholicinsider.com.

But if this is a rebellion, it's one that's quickly being co-opted by the very corporate power structure it challenges. NBC News, Clear Channel Radio and Fox Broadcasting all have embraced podcasting in a big way, by offering their programming. CBS.com recently made available episodes of its long-running daytime drama ``Guiding Light.'' Plans are currently in the works to make selected prime-time series podcasts as well.

Even radio giant Howard Stern and President Bush are doing it.

Podcasting is so popular it's now playing a role in how business is done in the age of the Internet. In May, BMI, the performing rights organization that represents songwriters, composers and publishers, launched ``See It Hear First,'' a monthly podcast that features unsigned bands from different genres.

The podcasts are available at bmi.com/podcast with a link to the Apple iTunes free podcast directory.

Samantha Cox, BMI's senior director of writer and publisher relations, likens the podcasts to electronic versions of the organization's ongoing Pick of the Month showcase, which aims to get unsigned artists signed.

``This totally works in the same way because this goes out on e-mail to the entire music industry, from music supervisors ... to press people,'' Cox says.

It's already working.

Because of an appearance on the debut ``See It Hear First,'' which reached nearly 50 countries, Georgia pop foursome Someday New found a booking agent, producer and attorney and are now on the verge of getting signed, Cox says. ``They're on everyone's radar now in the music industry where they wouldn't have been before.''

Besides rooting for new artists, BMI is making its artists available to podcasters - the people creating podcasts - for a fee. Blanket licenses are sold so that podcasters who want to play music can do so as long as it is from the BMI repertoire. Other performing rights organizations such as the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC) have their own set of rules about licensing.

While it supports new ways for fans to discover music, the Recording Industry Association of America states, in an e-mail, ``Podcasts are downloads, and as such, do not qualify for the statutory licenses that are available to webcasters, simulcasters, satellite radio and other digital transmission services.''

This doesn't surprise Annalee Newitz, policy analyst for the San Francisco-based privacy rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

``They're really just dragging their feet with new technologies and they're not getting the message that this is more like radio than it is like buying a CD,'' she says. ``People tend to listen to a podcast and then nuke it. They don't keep them, usually.''

Even as the debate continues, podcasters are making the best of what they've got. In addition to offering NPR and PRI features, public radio giant KCRW podcasts more than 20 shows, including its signature music program ``Morning Becomes Eclectic'' hosted by Nic Harcourt. The show features select live sessions of unsigned and independent artists, all of whom have given their permission to the station to appear in its podcast.

Most programmers just stick with talk, which tends to be what dominates the podcasting world for now. But the technology is evolving, and fast.

Silicon Valley venture capital funds are plowing millions into start-up projects by Curry and odeo.com, both of which aim to popularize and commercialize podcasts by simplifying the software it takes to create and download them. Also doing their part to bring podcasting to the mainstream are personalities like Wichita.

And he's making money while he's at it.

``It's going well,'' is all Wichita says.

His podcast is heard 8 p.m. Wednesdays on Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 37, with plans to expand it to a one-hour daily show. ``They're calling me the Larry King and Johnny Carson and David Letterman of the podcasting world for bluegrass and country,'' he says. ``I tell you, it's weird.''

Sandra Barrera, [phone]

sandra.barrera(at)dailynews.com

You can find the podcasts talked about in this story at podcastdirectory.com, Apple's iTunes (iTunes software needed) and kcrw.com.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) The world in hand

Seems like everybody's podcasting

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

(2) Wichita Rutherford's ``5 Minutes With Wichita'' podcast, which features interviews of celebrities from bluegrass and NASCAR, has made its host a star in the ever-expanding podcast universe.