The future of satellite audio drama

The audio drama audience in English-speaking countries such as the US, the UK, and New Zealand in the second decade of the twenty-first century faces an embarrassment of riches. Technological advances such as the podcast have made the creation of audio drama easier, less expensive, and potentially more accessible and democratic. While the modes of making audio drama have changed with the technological upsweep to either resemble film location recording or satellite audio drama, as opposed to the traditional studio recording sessions, these practices have not been uniformly adopted. So too have some audiences adapted to listening to audio drama in the car or on MP3 players, but many still listen on more traditional equipment in more traditional settings if provided with the opportunity. Concentrating on three case studies (Misfits Audio's Snape's Diaries, Cooperantem Audio's Der Tickentocker, and BrokenSea Audio's Maudelayne series 1), we look to the future of satellite audio drama in English—will it survive as original one-shots, serials, fan audio, or another category? Will it remain free to download and if so, how will it sustain momentum in an increasingly commercialized online world? What will its relationship to more traditional forms of audio drama as well as to terrestrial radio drama (such as the BBC) evolve into, if anything