Author Topic: EP Metacast #3  (Read 62018 times)

Heradel

  • Bill Peters, EP Assistant
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Reply #75 on: March 27, 2008, 04:54:20 AM
Sorry it's taken so long to reply, my internet has been down since last post.

But I wanted to say, I'm well aware of the many issues concerning ads, and why things are done a certain way. I'm also aware of what TWIT and Prairie Home Companion have done, and I'm actually hoping Escape Pod doesn't go down that same path.

I actually stopped listening to the Prairie Home Companion podcast, partly because of that annoying mattress ad that played at the beginning of the podcast every week. Even though I know that Mr. Keillor was paid to do those ads, I still lose some respect for him and his show.

He does them for the regular show too, so not sure if you're stateside or elsewhere and have ever heard the whole thing. The PHC podcast is just the Tales from Lake Woebegone, and the style of ads he does is a deliberate choice to bring it more in line with the kind of old-timey show he's imitating. Personally I don't mind him doing it, but my mom's been playing PHC since I was born, so I'm used to it. 

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As for TWIT, I'm not really a fan how Leo sneaks ads into the middle of podcast and they end up talking half the show about audible.com. Again, I know it's just an ad but it gets annoying after a while. Also, it feels kind of insulting to the listener, as if the only way anyone would listen to ads is if they are in the smack dab middle of the content.

If you get it off of AOL radio the ads are cut out, but personally I really like those Audible ads because of the book discussions they rathole into. It's very clearly delineated as an ad from the rest of the show, and they've had Doctorow on, so I don't think you can say the ads affect their editorial. He makes the ads entertaining, and I don't really mind (but then again I use Audible, so I just usually mentally glaze over the little bit of actual ad copy).

I Twitter. I also occasionally blog on the Escape Pod blog, which if you're here you shouldn't have much trouble finding.


eytanz

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Reply #76 on: March 27, 2008, 09:31:59 AM
Sorry it's taken so long to reply, my internet has been down since last post.

But I wanted to say, I'm well aware of the many issues concerning ads, and why things are done a certain way. I'm also aware of what TWIT and Prairie Home Companion have done, and I'm actually hoping Escape Pod doesn't go down that same path.

I actually stopped listening to the Prairie Home Companion podcast, partly because of that annoying mattress ad that played at the beginning of the podcast every week. Even though I know that Mr. Keillor was paid to do those ads, I still lose some respect for him and his show.

He does them for the regular show too, so not sure if you're stateside or elsewhere and have ever heard the whole thing. The PHC podcast is just the Tales from Lake Woebegone, and the style of ads he does is a deliberate choice to bring it more in line with the kind of old-timey show he's imitating. Personally I don't mind him doing it, but my mom's been playing PHC since I was born, so I'm used to it. 

I don't mind the PHC ads because even though they're narrated by Keillor, they are very clearly seperate from the show. As long as it's just a short spot, I don't care if it's narrated by the same guy who does the show or not.

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As for TWIT, I'm not really a fan how Leo sneaks ads into the middle of podcast and they end up talking half the show about audible.com. Again, I know it's just an ad but it gets annoying after a while. Also, it feels kind of insulting to the listener, as if the only way anyone would listen to ads is if they are in the smack dab middle of the content.

If you get it off of AOL radio the ads are cut out, but personally I really like those Audible ads because of the book discussions they rathole into. It's very clearly delineated as an ad from the rest of the show, and they've had Doctorow on, so I don't think you can say the ads affect their editorial. He makes the ads entertaining, and I don't really mind (but then again I use Audible, so I just usually mentally glaze over the little bit of actual ad copy).

TWiT is more problematic - I enjoy the audible ads because, as Heradel comments, they often develop into actual discussion - sometimes, as when Doctorow was on, actually being quite anti-Audible in tone. And they're still signposted enough so that it doesn't get too confused with the rest of the show.

On the other hand, some of the other TWiT shows (such as Munchcast, which I listen to occasionally) have really annoying integrated ads, where Leo is very much in salesman mode throughout, and since there is no panel they never develop into anything interesting. Those bug the hell out of me. Especially since now they're advertising a "fruit and vegetable wash", which I believe is a snake-oil product that doesn't do much except that advantage of food-safety and hygene hysteria and delivers some meaningless results. And in early ads it was abundently clear that Leo never even tried the product, as he didn't really know it was (he thought it was a vegetable washing device, not a vegetable detergent). So yeah, I really dislike those.

I do agree that I like the way that EP currently handles ads; I wouldn't like them becoming more subtle though I don't mind Steve commenting on them if he has something to say.