PodcastProfile: AAR, Rachel Maddow Show &Small AAR Shows

[Charles]

Here is a concrete example of "Podcast Awareness" about a short program from small media(versus micro or very small media which includes podcasts) that I happen to know and have been told about. First I should say that I am not or have ever been an AAR employee in any way. This is my article that is based on research, discussion and on known and little known facts:

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The small underdog Air America Network Is Not the one that is podcasting ALL of their shows. It is being done by the grassroots listeners site Air America Place who have been archiving AAR shows as MP3's from the beginning of Spring 2004. Of course this is done with first the unofficial ok from AAR then later with its official ok. It was a natural progression for AAP to also podcast the shows. They(one archivist) takes a satellite feed & semi-automatically records, edits and puts it into podcasts. They make them available as fast low fi MP3 downloads or as medium fi bit torrent podcasts.

Here is the part that people don't know about. The listings/tags on the AAR shows was poorly done making them all look pretty similar(The Air America...). Any show with a poor listing/tag on it will tend to be barely visible and languish. I know that the listing, tag & information for The Rachel Maddow Show podcast was changed to accurately reflect the show. Of course this was approved by Dr. Maddow who is a smart cookie.

Once that happened it went from the #500's to in the top 100. Once it was widely known that it was listed it made to the top 50. Of course it also helps a lot that that show is extremely well done by only a few very dedicated hard working people. People will not continue to support a mediocre show that is not on regularly.

I have no problem with a underdog small short(37 mins)show like that on in the middle of the night, that is only on about half of the AAR stations, being in the top 50 or top 10. For that matter I don't have a problem if someone associated with the other small AAR underdog shows on the weekend gets any of them on the ball regarding podcasting.

Except for Rachel Maddow & Morning Sedition a lot of people think that AAR's best shows are their lesser known small weekend shows like Ring Of Fire, Laura Flanders, Politically Direct, Eco Talk, So What Else Is News, Liberal Arts and Chuck D's new show On The Real.

What most people don't realize about most popular radio programs, no matter where they come from is that they are quite long(almost 2 hrs for a 3 hr standard time slot). That length is very unpopular as a podcast. People even complain about a 1 hr podcast being far too long which is why most podcasts are approximately a half hour. The bottom line is that 3 hr time slot radio programs, no matter who does them is not a good fit for a podcast so screaming fire about them is an over reaction.

This is just one example out of several podcast profiles I know about. I'll do another very different but also successful podcast profile in a couple of weeks.

[kickasspodcast]

Well I couldn't agree more with you about the the production and competency of Rachel Maddow. I also think that this is the biggest reason for the show:

[quote]Of course it also helps a lot that that show is extremely well done by only a few very dedicated hard working people.


This just might be an understatement. Rachel Maddow has the best U.S. News show on the planet. She tells you more in 37... minutes than you will get from watching CNN for an entire week. This is not being hyperbolic at all. It is a supremely informative show. If you listen to it, you too will be the guy who tells people stuff only to hear "really, I had no idea".

The whole AAP since the spring of 2004.. Well thats when Air America began so it kinda makes sense that they would start at the beginning. Another thing.. I am sure its different everywhere.. but rachel maddow comes on for the entire east coast at 5am and is pretty much carried in all the major NE markets.

About people thinking the best shows are on the weekend? I never heard any of that, I am on the AAR boards all the time, if anything I think the weekend lineup for AAR is lacking severely.

The 2 best shows to me on AAR (Air America Radio) are tied for 1st place in my book. Each has its immense informative nature but with totally converging styles. The Randi Rhodes Show is amazing, I podcast it almost 4-5 days a week. It is a 4 hour show cut down to 2:30 min and it is really great to hear my common sense girl from brooklyn. The Rachel Maddow show is the opposite... Concise and for the most part, very limited as far as opinion, she is so good because she covers so many stories and facts in such a short time.

As far as podcasting being too long, or too short.. I think that depends entirely upon who's listening. If you work 3rd shift and have 8 hours to blow on your iriver you don't care. If you are on the go,go,go maybe you want a shorter podcast.. but then alot of the podcasts that are less than 30min tend to be either anecdotal or whimsical at best. I used to listen to books on tape on my mp3 player.. some of the Dean Koontz or Patricia Cornwell books were 16 hours+ i know that is extreme but it just goes to show that if you have REALLY good stuff people wont mind if its a bit long.

The fact of the matter is, different directories will list and sort and catagorize in different ways. It is only a matter of waiting and seeing which ones flourish to see what is the 'mainstream' preference. I think alot of people who are getting into podcasting are getting into it in part because it ISNT radio. It is thus not suprising that there would be a large group of people who wish to improve and refine podcast classification.

A really nice essay, I am a big fan of AAR, I think they are severely under rated.. just so you know here are my fav AAR shows in order

1:The Randi Rhodes Show
1:The Rachel Maddow Show
2:O'Franken Factor
3:Morning Sedition
4:Liberal Arts
5:Mike Malloy


Thanks for the post!

Jack

[docsnavely]

I will say, for someone who critiques others on their amount of time spent on PCA, you sure have been giving very lengthy (and long winded IMHO) replies lately.

No offense, but just some hopefully constructive criticism. It's kinda hard to keep interested in a thread when there are alot of long, drawn out replies.

[kickasspodcast]

It's kinda hard to keep interested in a thread when there are alot of long, drawn out replies.

Wow dude...I dunno how to even reply to this. I am sorry I write too much, I guess I really am an *****le.

However this site may help you!

http://www.ritalinla.com

Jack B.

[docsnavely]

It's truely sad when I try to give you some constructive criticism, and you give me a link for ritalin.

I guess not everyone is willing to improve upon their writing skills. If you do decide to take any criticism whatsoever without acting like a child afterwards, let it be this.......

Instead of shortening your long winded replies like I stated, how about just adding some entertaining content and then proofreading your posts to fix any grammatical errors they may have.

i.e. "There" is referring to a place when They're is short for "they are"

Errors detract from the subject you're trying to pass to the reader. Content is everything. Remeber that for your show as well.

Now please, I'm waiting for the oh-so witty comback I know is to follow!

[kickasspodcast]

We must have different definitions of "constructive".


:roll:


jack b.



PS. can you please just try and talk about the thread topic? Is that too much to ask?

[docsnavely]

Constructive criticism is the process of offering valid and well-reasoned opinions about the work of others, usually involving both positive and negative comments, in a friendly manner rather than an oppositional one.

I thought I was being friendly. I was possibly being too oppositional, but I do believe that we have the same definition now. If not, where are you getting yours from?