Podcast Length

[jeffoest]

We just did our latest weekly podcast and found even after editing it turned out to be about 39 minutes. We have been trying to stay within 30 minutes for reasons that I pointed out as a listener in a blog article I wrote more than a month ago or so.

We kind of feel a bit bad that we went over our goal but I wanted to ask the community what your thoughts were on podcast length. I sort of figure after about 30 minutes or so (obviously depending on the person and what they are doing while listening) most folks will start to drop off.

But that's only MY listening experience with podcasts! What do other members think about the length of a podcast? Maybe this just isn't a big deal.

[Cat]

I personally find 30min and longer to be quite long - I listen on my computer when I have time, so the longer it is the harder it is for me to keep listening.

However, some podcasts are really interesting and I don't always notice the time go by!

But if I had a choice between a 25 minute podcast to a 45 minute, I would pick the 25 min one. (of course depending on Content)

Hope that helps - its just my humble opinion.

[cc_chapman]

It TOTALLY depends on the content to me.

I listen to most podcasts during my commute or in the gym. If it's solid content then I'll listen to the whole thing. But, I've also been known to fast forward or skip anything that gets boring since I have way to many podcasts to listen to.

30 minutes is a perfect length.

15 is even better because I can listen to more of them.

It all depends on my interest in the topic.

The basic rule is that there isn't any rule.

[JakeGrim]

I like to keep mine about 15-20 mins. I'll go longer if I've attached music, or have the content to fill the time. Most nights, I clock in at 16 minutes. This includes the opening, the core, the review or second topic rant, and the contact info.

You know, for a show that's supposed to be random, I do have a lot of structure.

[pdadave]

I keep mine right around 5 minutes. Then again, it is more of a week in review show, so it is a little different than many other podcasts.

[Insomnia Radio]

Well, as you all know, I pretty much blow the 30 minute mark out of the water. My 20th show was a two part, 110 minute music fest...

However, I only podcast once a week with the typical length being 60 minutes.

If you are podcasting three times or more per week, 30 minutes is a bit lengthy. 20 seems to be the sweet spot for me....

Like CC said tho...it truly depends on the content.

My advice? Don't compromise your show. Don't edit out material to fit a timeline. It's your space, bandwidth, passion, and rules...

Podcast your heart out.

[radioclash]

As we all know size is everything - and Radio Clash has pushed the hour mark on occasion, usually around 45-55 min mark. I thought it was WAY too long...and was dropping tracks or doing a lot of editing to try and get it down...

I opened this discussion up on my blog and surprisingly the consensus was that it's fine as it is. I think it depends on the show, if you've got loads of content (and ramble on like I do!) then it's OK, but I think you have to break things up somehow - a 45 minute rant can be abit long with nothing else...but that's what stand up comedians do and it's fine, so even then ;-)

[ferg]

I started off hoping to target a 10 minute podcast. I figured it could be really packed full of content, and no one would get bored.

However, I found that I had to do a lot of editing to get it down to that length, and it ended up sounding kind of choppy.

Also, I started podcasting with my wife, and the back-and-forth extended the length a bit.

I listen in my car, so, if it's a good podcast, the longer the better, although about 40 minutes is perfect, as that's roughly the length of my commute.

I've decided not to bind myself to a timelimit. We outline the show before hand, targetting 30 minutes, but, if it goes over, oh well. Our latest show was about 55 minutes, but I thought the content was interesting enough to hold people's attention.

[thefly]

I've got an hour commute, so I can usually fit in one or two good, long podcasts. I am excited about the iPodderx "convert to bookmarkable" feature. But I haven't started doing that yet.

Personally, when I record, it's when I'm driving and by myself. Unless I'm on a rant and have a lot to talk about, I'm usually spent after recording ten minutes. My listeners keep telling me they want them to be a little longer though. So I'm shooting for 15.

[hobokenrockcity]

Similar to Insomnia Radio and Radio Clash, I'm doing a show around the one-hour mark. Since I only do one show a week, if it were any shorter it just wouldn't feel like enough. It also wouldn't feel like a true indie rock radio show, which is the style I'm going for.

Mike C.
www.hobokenrockcity.com

[PodRod]

I've found that the average podcast length seems to be 40 minutes. I think that's what Dawn and Drew's usually is, anyway.

[camilian]

I have tried to keep mine around 5-10 minutes, but have not been very successful. With interviews it is very hard to keep things short and when you have some one great on (this week I had on Stuckey and Murray - think Tenacious D but nastier) you can't really cut them off.

I still try for under ten, but that is also the nature of my show.

[Craig]

As everyone here has already pointed out, there's no set rule. It basically depends on what your listeners (not anybody else's) are willing to put up with. And that in turn depends on the nature and frequency of your show, the quality of the content, and how interesting you are to listen to.

There are a few podcasts I subscribe to where I really couldn't care less what the host is talking about; their personality alone is enough to keep me interested. On the other hand, I've unsubscribed to podcasts with content I WAS interested in because the host was either obnoxious or boring. (And I'm sure I've been guilty of both.)

So pay attention to your listeners, if that's who you're producing the show for...they'll tell you when your're giving them too much or too little. And focus on having fun above everything else, because when you're enjoying yourself your listeners will be also.

Craig

[Michael B]

If you have a good show I don't care how long it is and Jeff, you and Pat don't need to worry about a thing. 30-40 mins from you is great. Keep up the excellent work and don't worry about watching the clock.

[jeffoest]

Michael B, Thanks for the very kind words!

Thanks all - a lot of really GOOD input and insight into this issue. My gut says to continue to keep the length to 30 minutes max for awhile (while not getting too worked up about clock-watching) and try to get some feedback from listeners as time goes by...

[yaz]

****, 15 minutes? 30 minutes...geez, we do an hour and a half everyweek, and some of our listeners want a longer show...and more of them...go figure...

[jeffoest]

Wow! If you don't mind my asking - how do you get listener feedback?

We are getting "reasonable" download volumes and offer access points (email addys and feedback line) but don't hear from anyone...

[travishoffman]

We try to stick to the fourty minute mark but usually end up around fifty minutes. If you HAVE the content for an hour do it, but if you set your mind to doing an hour or any amount of time for that matter and can't find content to fill it...just stop recording. You're gonna have people loosing interest. I don't think there needs to be a set time for a podcast but typically anything over an hour might be hard to sit through. Who know though. I always find 40-50 minutes good for ours. I guess my real point is though, Would a cow eat it's own cheese?


....mmmm cheese.

[thefly]

i dunno. I mean I guess cow's aren't too big on the four food groups considering they are two of them already.


Mmmmm. Cheese.

[Big Mike]

Always under 10 minutes. I think my head would explode if I did anymore.

[robulon]

i like the fact that the length can be dynamic, say, a 15 minute podcast one day and a 1 hour the next, as well as the regularity being freeform too, thats what makes the medium so good, freedom! :P

[thefly]

i like the fact that the length can be dynamic, say, a 15 minute podcast one day and a 1 hour the next, as well as the regularity being freeform too, thats what makes the medium so good, freedom! :P

That is a nice thing. You don't have any P.D. on your *** to wrap it up.

And if the listener feels that way, they can just hit "next".

*nods*

[yaz]

well, we always say we don't know what we're going to talk about and we wind up with an hour and a half show, in the beginning we were doing an hour and felt it was hard to do that much, now we kinda have to cut it short or else i think we'd get two hours...as far as feedbackwe get it on our site, through voicemails people leave us and emails they send us...also, for some reason there are people out there that want to listen to us for four hours a day five days a week, i can't even stand myself that much...

[Version3]

We've also been hoving around the 1 hr mark.. crossing it the last few shows. no complaints, just requests to do more shows per week. We fit in a second one on occasion, but if we were to go to a daily type show, I don't see how anyone would listen to 1 hour per day. -then again, there are a lot of die hards that listen to all 3-4 hours of daily radio talk shows, so who knows, right?

[pzarquon]

I find my personal preference as a listener is 30 minutes, tops. I do a lot of podcast surfing/next clicking anyway, but even when there's a show that really captures my interest, half an hour fits in well with... well, the other things one has to do in a day besides listening to podcasting.

The beauty of audio is that you can do other things while listening, sure, but even as background noise, I'd find an hourlong show trying. I imagine I might "hear" the show, but I'd have tuned out and stopped "listening" for a while before the 60 minute mark.

I figure I'll try to keep my own show to half an hour, as a result, even though I know people have different tastes and preferences.

Variety would definitely be one way to make a long show more palatable. Sixty minutes of one droning voice is too much. As my voice sucks, I also make it a point to mix all sorts of things into my show, from music to interviews to random ambient noise.

--
Ryan
HawaiiUP - Podcasting in paradise.
http://www.hawaiiup.com

[Dailysonic_Adam]

Dailysonic puts up a 30-40 minute show monday through thursday (featuring news, features, interviews, music reviews, etc.), and on fridays we put up an 60 + minute mix of music (to last our listeners the weekend).

[stupod]

With the increasing frequency and length of the shows that I normally listen to I am finding that I am skipping through the audio more and more each week.

For example:

* Daily Source Code - I skip the Hit-test every time and if the mashup doesn't grab me in 5 seconds then that's skipped too. The show is also getting way too boring when Adam talks about his studio stuff which in truth doesn't leave much.

* Mr X - I have got a back log of shows to listen to but the prospect of listening through 4 x 1 hour shows sounds more like a chore. Maybe, I will give the downloaded podcasts a miss and just catch the show now and again. 1 hour shows are way too long. (btw I love stella artois)

* Mr Vobes - Great show but 7 x 30+ mins is a lot of time fella. I skip through the music more and more and the documentary segments (sorry rich).

* Dawn and Drew - If they podcasted more regularly then I would stop subscribing for sure. 1 or 2 shows a week is my limit. However, I can see these guys droping from my subscribe list in the next couple of months because the show is not really developing + the attention has spoilt them in my oppinion.


Geoff (yes I'm stupod)

p.s. send me ya logs I'll send you some stats for your show :)

[simulacrum]

Perhaps i just have a short attention span - but for a speech podcast, i find 15-20 mins MAX to be enough.

I think there a number of podcasts that last 20-30 mins that could cut out the waffle and ramblings and be edited down to a snappy 10 minutes.

(Shows playing music are obv a different issue)

Much of the appeal of podcasting to me is the amount of different stuff i can listen to in the short amount of time i have!

Chris

[mjewell]

Ours comes to 1hr, but it's only done weekly and we're doing it in 4-episode seasons, so we can have a break to write scripts/record. Then again, it's meant to be background listening, so doesn't need demand quite so much concentration ;)

[joelthecomic]

On our show we do around 70 minutes, even though we'd like to do more. Why? So people can burn the shows to a CD if they don't have a portable MP3 player. In this regard we're really aiming to have an audience of people who may not listen to a podcast normally. We're trying to get people who can't subsribe to a RSS feed, but know how to download a file and burn it.

Of course, our show is a comedy talk show, not unlike a morning radio show, and the length (70+ minutes 1-3 times per week) is closer in format to that. If you're just looking to give some info and do it daily, then a shorter show is probably sufficient.

There are bandwidth and server space issues to consider as well. Personally, I don't think I'd waste time to download a really short show unless it was something fantastic that I couldn't get elsewhere. You can download one of our shows in under 2 minutes on broadband, so you certainly get a quality show that's long enought to get you through the ride to and from work.

Now go listen!

[wlw-winegeek]

I try to keep mine limited to 15 minutes, and so far have had no problems.

As a listener, I appreciate the shorter podcasts. While listening in the car, if I need to stop mid-cast and pick up again, and need to scrub through the show, it's a lot easier.

There's nothing wrong with longer podcast programs; I'd just say if you have an hour-long show, break it up into 15 or 20 minute segments. Doing so also makes it easier for a listener to ship off a bit of your show to someone else who might be interested and thus become another listener.

Of course, what do I know? I think I have about 3 people listening to my show. :D

Bill Wilson
http://wlw-winegeek.com/