View this article at: http://dev.macnn.com/articles/06/03/07/japanese.radio.podcasting Tuesday, Mar 07, 2006 3:25pm Japanese broadcasters turn ... Radio broadcasters in Japan are facing a decline in ratings due to fewer listeners, and are placing their hopes in podcasting to make up the difference. "Podcasts can capture narrower sectors of the audience that cannot be reached by the radio," Yukihiro Okada, head of program production at FM Inter-Wave said. Some companies are viewing podcasts as a promising advertising medium as well, according to a report from The Japan Times. Japanese radio firm IBC Iwate Broadcasting in August became the country's first AM station to release podcasts. IBC Iwate Broadcasting promotes culture by teaching listeners words and expressions unique to the local Hanamaki dialect, which is spoken in Iwate Prefecture. The number of registered listeners of the company's podcasts has already surpassed 10,000, according to the report.