Ricky Gervais has announced that the second series of his podcast will be charged for. The prices are supposedly $6.95 per series or $1.95 per show ( the same price as an episode of Lost! ), available on iTunes and Audible ( who are desperate to get into podcasting - I wonder how much they paid upfront for this ). So, could this be the beginning of the long predicted "monetization" of podcasting. Hmmm, I dunno, but it will definitely set some events in motion - I can just hear the cogs turning in every podcaster's head - "what if i charged for mine?". Well, I think the very big podcasts who provide something unique, with content that can't be got elsewhere ( like gervais ), will be able to charge, but I still think that advertising and sponsorship will be the most common model for most podcasters to pay their bandwidth bills. Either way, it will be interesting to watch, especially if Gervais converts a healthy proportion of his claimed 250k+ listeners per show. Gift Grub podcasts for a Euro, anyone? IrelandDigital for 10c?:-) 9:22:53 AM  comment []