Vital Signs - oops
Nielsen/NetRatings gets us excited with a report showing robust growth in podcasting and then qualifies it in subsequent conversations when asked questions by, well, people who can ask questions. The right ones, that is. Frank Barnako pops the balloon here. Many interested parties are incredulous, such as Robert Scoble. I, on the other hand, think the report shows such a high degree of fascination with podcasting and therefore the need for speed in releasing the report that a lot of approvals got rushed. Facts didn’t get checked, appropriate comparisons were not made. I know none of us have ever made mistakes like that. 
Let’s look past the obvious errors, though and consider what makes a report like this hit the streets a review or two early. Something is going on in podcasting and everyone knows it - even Nielsen/NetRatings.