Hello and welcome to not so much the latest episode of the UK Blu-ray Review Podcast, as a statement about it probably being the last.
I am, as they euphemistically say, suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly "between jobs" which means that it’s hard to justify the outlay, both financial and in terms of time, that it takes to produce a reasonably complete podcast episode each week. My priorities need to be around getting more work that actually pays the bills.
I had originally intended to keep the podcast going "come what may" for 6 months to see if it took off or not, but after 12 weeks the download figures for the podcast have remained at the same very low levels as when it started at the beginning of January. In fact if anything, they are slightly lower now even after the slight boost the podcast got when iTunes finally started listing it.
I started the podcast for myself – I thought it would be fun (which, mainly, it has been), and I also thought there was a need for something like it with nobody else doing what I thought was required. But I seriously under-estimated the time it would take up each week, and completely over-estimated the interest there would be in it (which appears to be almost non-existent :-(). It’s hard to justify keeping it going. The competition last week was a last feeble attempt to grow the audience but it attracted precisely zero entries, so clearly wasn't an avenue that was worth exploring further.
I’m going to be taking the next few weeks out to kick-start some other projects instead of spending every minute that I’m not working trying to get the next weekly podcast out and ready on time.
I WILL be back on 17th April, either with a regular episode of the show and an announcement that I’m rebooting the podcast and it’s returning, or definite confirmation that it won’t be back and has to be regarded as a failure and mis-step on my part.
In the meantime I’d like to thank those few who gave me feedback on the podcast, either through wonderful reviews on itunes or through enthusiastic comments on the blog or through private messages on the one forum - AVForums.com - that didn’t automatically ban any mention of the podcast for fear of 'competition' to their own forums or web sites. I hope those of you that offered encouragement and support understand that it’s hard to justify the time, effort and expense required when the downloads each week are, to be frank, barely scraping double figures.
I’m starting to understand why pretty much all the podcast publications and blogs have vanished over the last year or two, and why the UK DVD Review podcast which inspired this one gave up on the format after nearly 3 years of podcasting. It’s hard to get an audience when there’s so much on offer from the BBC and mainstream media and so little chance to publicise your existence. I still think the format was correct, but without any means of actually marketing the podcast it's hard to get any kind of meaningful audience - meaningful in the sense that it justifies the time and effort required to keep it going.
There will be an update on the situation on Sunday, 17th April – a month from now – so please check back then, for a final statement.
Thanks,
Ian Smith
You should be proud of what you did - even if not that many people heard it. It is clear that this took a lot of time to put together.
ReplyDeleteGood luck in job hunt
JM
It was good while it lasted, no one else is doing anything anywhere near as good as this and for that reason it will be sad if you (understandably) call it a day.
ReplyDeletebest regards
Thanks guys.
ReplyDeleteI haven't given up on it yet. A lot depends on what happens over the next 4 weeks (and probably will drag out much further than that given the current state of the market) but I've been in a Catch-22 with just not having the time to get on top of possible ways of improving audience share vs getting a podcast out each week that is of the sort of quality/content I wanted.
With the sudden cancellation of the project I was working on, which was relatively local with a fairly "short" 8 hour working day (and daily 2.5 hour commute, which allowed the time in the evenings to watch a title a day) it's hard to know which way this one will go.
If I end up in my more usual scenario (projects where you're "not a team player" if you're not doing 10-12 hour days :-(, with longer commutes on top then the podcast has no chance of surviving at all.
But if I end up with a similar project that has a "realistic" 8 hour working day and short commute the podcast will probably continue once I've had time to get things sorted out.
Very hard to tell which way it will go at the moment, but given the current marketplace I'm not overly optimistic.
Just discovered the podcast and enjoyed it. Would like more, hope you find a way to continue it.
ReplyDelete- Glen.
Hey Ian, sorry to hear the podcast might be coming to an end. It's an excellent podcast and I think it just needs to be marketed better - I know you've tried and had difficulties with this but I firmly believe that, once you manage to reach out to enough people, the quality of the content will keep them coming back and you'll end up with a huge listenership. I told a Blu ray collecting friend about the podcast and he instantly bacame a regular listener - I'm convinced this will happen on a bigger scale!
ReplyDeleteHere's an idea - if your struggling to put the podcast together with your current job demands, why not offer a pared down version in the meantime, in which you simply review one disc. It could be a long, in depth review of either a new or old Blu ray that you like or dislike. Or perhaps review one new disc and one old favourite, and not worry about the charts and suchlike. I'm just thinking of ways you could put your thoughts across, which are always interesting, without spending loads of time on it. I would certainly still tune in, and I'm sure others would too.
Good luck with your new projects and I hope you'll find a way to keep up the excellent 'UK Bluray Review Podcast'!
Hey Ian, sorry to hear the podcast might be coming to an end. It's an excellent podcast and I think it just needs to be marketed better - I know you've tried and had difficulties with this but I firmly believe that, once you manage to reach out to enough people, the quality of the content will keep them coming back and you'll end up with a huge listenership. I told a Blu ray collecting friend about the podcast and he instantly bacame a regular listener - I'm convinced this will happen on a bigger scale!
ReplyDeleteHere's an idea - if your struggling to put the podcast together with your current job demands, why not offer a pared down version in the meantime, in which you simply review one disc. It could be a long, in depth review of either a new or old Blu ray that you like or dislike. Or perhaps review one new disc and one old favourite, and not worry about the charts and suchlike. I'm just thinking of ways you could put your thoughts across, which are always interesting, without spending loads of time on it. I would certainly still tune in, and I'm sure others would too.
Good luck with your new projects and I hope you'll find a way to keep up the excellent 'UK Bluray Review Podcast'!
Hi "Anonymous",
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words.
Time isn't the problem as of the end of this week (when the current contract finishes), it's more a case of not knowing when I'll have income coming in again so that spending money on Blu-rays isn't exactly a high priority. The main reason for putting the podcast on hold pending news on the work front was that in the past I've ended up having to take contracts abroad or that mean working away from home all week, which would make it impossible to find the time for the podcast. The usual pattern is that I watch the Blu-rays during the week and then write the script on the Saturday and record on the Sunday. Long commutes away from home would put paid to that.
However, with things still in limbo (ie I've not got so much as a sniff of an interview in the offing at the moment) I will probably do something along the lines you suggest, at least for the next few weeks. I am currently planning on a new podcast this Sunday which may cover 2-3 new titles along with a "random retro review" to pad things out.
Stay tuned for more info.
Ian