SkepticGuy
Dec 22nd, 2005, 05:59 AM
(Not quite a new show announcement, but this seems the best forum, and there are new shows every day.)
Back in September, AboveTopSecret.com (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum) started experimenting with community podcasting, and we can now say it's been an amazing success.
We are the Internet's most popular destination for "alternative topics" such as conspiracy theories, secret government projects/agencies, paranormal studies, extraterrestrials, and much more. We have nearly 2 million posts and 50,000+ registered member accounts. In Spring 2006, you'll even find us on TV with a weekly prime-time cable network show.
The podcasting service started as a simple single-feed affair that allowed members to upload MP3's. Our custom code dynamically built iTunes-compliant RSS for a 100% current feed.
Today, we've surpassed 1,000 member podcasts and have grown to require ten feeds to compartmentalize all the various topics.
December's stats currently show over 14,000 unique feed subscribers (accessed the feed(s) three or more times) with more than 75% subscribing to multiple feeds. Additionally, during the first three weeks of December, there have been over 70,000 complete downloads of podcast episodes, a total of over 19,000 unique listeners, and over 200 gigabytes of audio served.
We believe our success is directly related to our strategy of building a tightly integrated podcasting service into our discussion board community. All podcasts are featured on a Podcast Page (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/podcasts.php) where users can easily find new episodes, and also integrated into the discussion board in our Member Podcasts Forum (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/119/pg1/srtpages) where listeners can post comments and ask questions.
Additionally, we've created PODthreads (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/podcasts.php?feed=threads) where our podcasters can respond to a podcast with a podcast, creating a unique collaborative podcast discussion thread accessed via a dedicated RSS feed. Some of our popular PODthread feeds:
Why is Religion Dying? If it is.. (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/podcasts/466.xml) 30 replies
Skeptic Overview 17: The Podcast Contest Finalists (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/podcasts/1056.xml) 13 replies
CDC's Proposed Quarantine Rules (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/podcasts/988.xml) 7 replies
The Biggest Pitfall on ATS (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/podcasts/939.xml) 9 replies
Who are you? What do you want? (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/podcasts/858.xml) 11 replies
GEEK ALERT: Quakes trigger Quakes (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/podcasts/556.xml) 8 replies
Now, to be sure, many of our members are not well-versed in "production values" as the vast majority of our submissions are simple voice recordings. But what comes across is a inherent credibility through an obvious honest passion in what our members are talking about. And given our growing stats (70% of the subscribers are non-members), they must be doing something right.
So put on your tin-foil hat, stop by AboveTopSecret.com (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum), and discover that being a paranoid conspiracy theorist isn't what you thought it was.
Back in September, AboveTopSecret.com (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum) started experimenting with community podcasting, and we can now say it's been an amazing success.
We are the Internet's most popular destination for "alternative topics" such as conspiracy theories, secret government projects/agencies, paranormal studies, extraterrestrials, and much more. We have nearly 2 million posts and 50,000+ registered member accounts. In Spring 2006, you'll even find us on TV with a weekly prime-time cable network show.
The podcasting service started as a simple single-feed affair that allowed members to upload MP3's. Our custom code dynamically built iTunes-compliant RSS for a 100% current feed.
Today, we've surpassed 1,000 member podcasts and have grown to require ten feeds to compartmentalize all the various topics.
December's stats currently show over 14,000 unique feed subscribers (accessed the feed(s) three or more times) with more than 75% subscribing to multiple feeds. Additionally, during the first three weeks of December, there have been over 70,000 complete downloads of podcast episodes, a total of over 19,000 unique listeners, and over 200 gigabytes of audio served.
We believe our success is directly related to our strategy of building a tightly integrated podcasting service into our discussion board community. All podcasts are featured on a Podcast Page (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/podcasts.php) where users can easily find new episodes, and also integrated into the discussion board in our Member Podcasts Forum (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/119/pg1/srtpages) where listeners can post comments and ask questions.
Additionally, we've created PODthreads (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/podcasts.php?feed=threads) where our podcasters can respond to a podcast with a podcast, creating a unique collaborative podcast discussion thread accessed via a dedicated RSS feed. Some of our popular PODthread feeds:
Why is Religion Dying? If it is.. (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/podcasts/466.xml) 30 replies
Skeptic Overview 17: The Podcast Contest Finalists (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/podcasts/1056.xml) 13 replies
CDC's Proposed Quarantine Rules (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/podcasts/988.xml) 7 replies
The Biggest Pitfall on ATS (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/podcasts/939.xml) 9 replies
Who are you? What do you want? (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/podcasts/858.xml) 11 replies
GEEK ALERT: Quakes trigger Quakes (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/podcasts/556.xml) 8 replies
Now, to be sure, many of our members are not well-versed in "production values" as the vast majority of our submissions are simple voice recordings. But what comes across is a inherent credibility through an obvious honest passion in what our members are talking about. And given our growing stats (70% of the subscribers are non-members), they must be doing something right.
So put on your tin-foil hat, stop by AboveTopSecret.com (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum), and discover that being a paranoid conspiracy theorist isn't what you thought it was.