I am thoroughly hooked on Invisibilia.

One of the new crop of podcasts from National Public Radio (NPR), Invisibilia delves into the hidden forces that influence our lives. I listened to the first episode based on a recommendation in a blog post listing worthwhile podcasts. By the end of the episode, I was moved to tears. I had to pull my car over; driving and crying isn’t safe.

Since then, I have been binge-listening. Invisibilia was broadcast weekly with podcast episodes made available after the broadcast, but the first season wrapped up in February, well before I started listening, so I was able to grab them all at once. The show is even more compelling than the first mainstream podcast hit, Serial, also from NPR. While Serial’s weekly exploration of its miscarriage-of-justice tale was riveting, it didn’t pack the emotional wallop of Invisibilia. I have also found two co-hosts (at left, Alix Spiegel (l) and Lulu Miller) make for more engaging listening than one.

Podcast listeners must agree. Back in February, according to Poynter, Invisibilia replaced Serial as the most popular podcast in iTunes’ rankings.

The production values in Invisibilia are stellar—which you would expect for a program that also airs on 260 public radio stations across the U.S. Many of NPR’s podcasts, though, are original podcast-only content—including Serial—and NPR and its affiliates are clearly investing in these productions, too. NPR is not alone. Other media properties, like Slate, are also producing podcasts with the help of professional editors and dedicated staff.

For an independent podcaster like me, the prospect of competing with these programs for audience’s share of ear is daunting. One podcaster warned that the success of shows like Serial and Inivisibilia “are reserved for the few elite media properties that have a vital component: a built-in audience. Without that springboard, your show is a hobby with a tiny listenership.”

When mainstream media first embraced podcasting, it was strictly a means of expanding the audience for broadcast programming. Here in the Bay Area, for example, the local CBS radio affiliate includes a 3-4-minute chat with football legend John Madden each weekday during a morning sports report. At the conclusion of the segment, the audience is reminded of the two times each day they can tune in to hear Madden’s observations; they can also subscribe to the podcast.

There’s no question that podcasting is on the rise. Forty-seven million Americans over the age of 12 listen to a podcast at least once a month; in total Americans consume 21 million hours of podcasts every day, according to Edison Research. This growth has been incremental since podcasting’s birth 11 or so years ago. Serial and Invisibilia’s success have boosted awareness, but don’t account for the continued growth in hours consumed, number of people listening, and number of shows available.

The question is whether mainstream media’s sudden focus on top-tier original content threatens the independent podcaster. Will the high production values of Invisibilia keep listeners from spending time with shows produced in someone’s home office in their spare time? (My travel rig, shown below, cost less than $1,000, not including the laptop.)

I’m not worried.

Mainstream media has recognized the growing popularity of time-shifted audio and the ability to deliver general-interest programs to sizable audiences without needing to convince hundreds of local radio stations to air the show. The fact that general-interest shows are finding an audience as podcasts can only be good for the independent podcaster as audiences begin scouring directories for new titles.

One key difference between shows from NPR, CBS, and other traditional media and independent podcasters (besides the budgets to crank out high-end audio) is the audience. While much of the content from big networks has broad appeal, independent podcasters tend to target niches. That was podcasting’s promise from the very beginning: You can produce a show for next to nothing that attracts a small target audience, the kind of show no radio station would ever agree to air since the audience is too small.

How small the audiences of these targeted podcasts remain depends how well the content serves the needs of its niche and how good the podcaster is at promoting the show. While some podcasters may complain that, without a built-in audience, they are doomed to “tiny listenership,” nobody ever made the same dire prediction about blogs. Bloggers with no name recognition have attracted millions of readers. So have hosts of YouTube shows. There’s even already an emerging Periscope star.

There is no logical reason to assume podcasters can’t achieve the same kind of success.

Podcasting is not like Broadway, where every production is judged against every other show in town. It’s more like television, which accommodates big-budget scripted dramas alongside low-budget reality shows and no-budget public-access programming. There’s room for all kinds of content in the world of podcasting, and each can find its own level. Consider that mainstream podcasts are commanding some of the highest advertising rates anywhere—from $25 to $45 CPM—for shows with at least 20,000 downloads per episode. At the same time, shows with significantly fewer listeners are inking different advertising deals with companies seeking to reach their very narrowly defined audiences.

Besides, according to the Edison report, people who listen to podcasts listen to more podcasts than any other kind of audio content, including their own music collections, AM/FM radio, and streaming media. If a podcast fan finds a new podcast she likes, she’ll just add it to the queue, and those 21 million hours of podcasts heard every day will grow to 30, 40, 50 million.

Invisibilia and Serial are the proverbial tides that can only lift all boats. With luck, that will include the FIR Podcast Network, which launches a new website within the next week or so in the hopes of attracting more listeners from within the organizational communications niche.

When you’re done listening to Invisibilia, give one of our shows a try. Our production values don’t come close, but for communicators, our content is gold.