For the past few years, I have been working on a struggling podcast called After Hours. It was originally set up as a listener created podcast to support and pick up some slack from another, better established (and now dead) podcast called Starting Now.
Starting Now was one of the earlier podcasts out there, focusing around the Pregame warm up sessions of a group of 30-something gamers. It was a very open, round table format, and always managed to stay interesting, making it feel like you were actually part of the conversation. For obvious reasons, this drew together a good sized listener base, of people all across the world (one of it's most die hard listeners was from Denmark). All-in-all, this meant that for a community driven podcast to work, it would have to be done via cyberspace.
Our first attempts involved a pair of $10 microphones, Audacity, and a cheaper (free) program similar to Teamspeak or Ventrilo. Our first few episodes were mostly one-on-one affairs, discussing a specific, gaming related topic. Then we hit upon gold, when I podcasted (this time using Garageband; say hello to good audio) an interview of a good friend of mine, and the steps leading up to his introduction into the world of gaming. This 'cast was an immediate success, people said that they loved it.
Time went by, and eventually Starting Now fell apart, the crowds dispersed, and now it is little more than memory. Except for one lone podcast-er, me. Shortly before everything fell apart, a plan had been devised to set up a specific date, a timeline (4-8 hours when the hosts would be free) and a topic, so that people could "call in" somehow (Skype was mentioned) and discuss it with the hosts. Something like Podcast talk radio.
Now, with some free time coming up on my hands, I feel like I'm in a good enough position to start it up again. There are only two problems.
1. A proper set up for doing it, as well as a set of hosts.
A Podcast is nothing without a set of good hosts (EP, anyone?), and I'm still not certain of the best setup for achieving this would be.
2. Publicity
The thing about podcasting is that without listeners, it's a whole lot of work and effort for nothing. With this type of podcasting, it is actually impossible to do without some kind of listener base (a call in show without calls is much like a vending machine without anything inside...)
Does anyone (professional, or not) have any advice (professional or not)?
