With the 200th episode of Boagworld only 5 weeks away we are asking ourselves whether it is time to change the show. What do you think? Update: Introducing ‘Boagworld Bitesize’.
If you have been unfortunate enough to hear the early episodes of the podcast you will know how much it has changed. However, with the 200th episode coming up we are thinking about changing again.
Update: We are pleased to introduce Boagworld Bitesize
Thank you all so much for providing your feedback. Although opinion has been split, it has still been very helpful.
After a lot of thought we have decided to introduce a new version of the podcast following the 200th episode.
This will not affect the current show that will continue to be released every Friday. However, we recognise that not everybody finds the current show to their taste:
- Some find it too long
- Others get annoyed by the banter (especially at the beginning)
- Others are only interested in specific parts of the show (e.g. the interviews)
We are therefore introducing ‘Boagworld Bitesize (itunes link – RSS link)’, which will be released three times a week. Each ‘Bite’ will be approximately 20 minutes long and will include one of the three sections of the main show. For example a ‘bite’ could consist of the news, an interview, a feature or a review.
This gives you the listener a choice. You can either subscribe to the existing show which is normally about one hour long. Or you can subscribe to the shorter ‘bites’. You also have the option of just downloading whichever ‘bite’ takes your fancy.
Hopefully this will increase our audience without alienating existing listeners :-)
Original Post:
A lack of time
We still believe passionately in audio podcasting. It allows people to consume content in places where it would otherwise be impossible. For example, you cannot watch a video podcast while driving a car, or read a blog post working out at the gym.
However, the primary reason for people not listening to the show is that they do not have time. Unless you commute everyday it’s not easy to find an hour to listen to a full show.
Three shows for the price of one
Therefore we are considering segmenting the show. Instead of you getting a one hour show each week, you would get three, 20 minute shows.
Each show would be associated with a blog post. So for example on any given week you might get:
- One news summary post/show which rounds up the big stories of the week.
- One interview with a web personality.
- One review of an application useful to web designers or website owners.
Other weeks might include a feature instead of an interview, or a listener question instead of a review.
This would enable people to pick and choose what they listen to. If you only had 20 minutes to spare in a week you could listen to the news. However, if you already read a lot of blogs (and so are up on the news) you could listen to the interview instead.
You would also have the option to read any segment instead of listen to it or download all three and effectively get a complete show similar to the one you get today.
So what do you think?
Of course we don’t want to do this if you guys hate the idea. This is for your benefit not ours. In fact it would he harder work for us!
Should we change it? Would you like to listen to the show but don’t have the time? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
One last point. If you comment below please say whether you listen now or not. It will help us understand where you are coming from.
