Why do I listen to US National Public Radio nowadays? It could well be my age but I don't think that's the reason. I believe it has more to do with the organization's quick adoption of new technology.The people at NPR have rapidly made use of podcasting as a way of sharing their extensive resources. The shear number of programs is quite overwhelming.
This sort of reverses the trends of the last 60 years. In North America, radio became quite isolated and independent as early radio networks morphed into being television broadcasters. Commercial radio moved to music formats with primarily local news and information.
Now, with the rising popularity of podcasts, public radio broadcasters have the unique advantage of making use of their relatively large collection of resources. Here, I'm also thinking of organizations like BBC and CBC. All of these offer an amazing amount of podcast material.
Take a look at the npr.org site. In fact, I challenge you to look through NPR's listing by clicking on the image of screen capture. If you cannot find something that interests you, leave me a comment. Actually, if you do find something that interests you, then leave me a comment too! (In order to do this, simply click the word 'comments' as found in the 'posted by' row below.)
Contrast this enormous collection of iPod and mp3-player material to most commercial, terrestrial radio stations where you'll probably not find a single podcast.