Here comes the next phase of podcasting
Here comes the next thing in podcasting… A mass podcast you have to pay for…
The Ricky Gervais Show, one of the most popular podcasts on Apple Computer’s iTunes Music Store, is moving to a paid-only format to be sold by audio book specialist Audible.
Audible plans to announce on Tuesday that it will start selling episodes of Gervais’ show beginning with a new “season two” collection of episodes, which will begin next week. Audible will charge $1.95 per episode or $6.95 for the season, which will include at least four episodes by the creator and star of television’s “The Office.” Audible’s exclusive deal also runs for a “season three,” which will start in the fall.
Now, The Ricky Gervais Show has been one of the top-rating podcasts on iTunes. The whole show is prety loose, very like that jokey style of morning-show radio. I’m not sure people are going to pay for it. My feeling is that people might pay for more ’solid’ podcast content, particularly something that would benefit from two or more listens.
But we’ll see, won’t we? If it were me, I think I would have done a sponsorship deal for the show. After all, they have a lot of listeners. They might not have that many left after charging $1.95 an episode.
My guess would be *definitely* not have that many left. People are cheap, that’s all there is to it. If they want to retain their listenership, a smart move would be to post maybe five minutes worth of excerpts of the main attraction on the existing feed with a note at the end tempting the listener to buy the complete version.
Hey Chris, Yes, people are cheap.
Y’know, though, perhaps I was being a bit rude in the article above. Somebody has to pay for the bandwidth, so a nominal charge would be ok for many, I would think. But 1.95 is a lot for a single episode. I reckon 0.25 or 0.49 might be a winner. (shows you how cheap i am..)
I like the idea of paid programming, though I would not pay for the Ricky Gervais Show. I understand advertising and do not mind it on occasion, but I find that I am putting a higher and higher value on my own time as I get older (and more successful).
I use a Mac because it is not only beautiful, but also less trouble and consumes less of my time. I read books and professional journals because they inform me efficiently and do not waste my time with distracting pictures and sales pitches.
I have purchased a number of videos from iTunes and am responsible for a few hundred of their billion song total because I love good music, quick search engines, and the ability to have quality entertainment without a trip to the store and an often fruitless search for the album I desire.
In other words, if I could listen to a Hayek lecture on economics, Coach K (Duke University basketball coach) talk about motivating athletes, or Rudolf Schulten talk about how he came up with the idea for a pebble bed nuclear reactor, I would gladly pay for the privilege of the listen without any commercial interruption. I pay about $1.95 for a large black coffee without any trimmings – that certainly seems reasonable for an hour or so of information or entertainment.
Of course, part of my understanding is the realization that my tastes run to topics that would probably not receive much sponsorship in the first place. The other problem is that two of the three listed above are already dead and may not have recorded anything that could be sold. However, they might have recorded some great stuff that could be sold for enough to make the effort of finding and digitizing worth while. Imagine the possibilities!
Rod Adams
http://www.atomicinsights.blogspot.com
Hey Rod,
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I guess I’m with you — I’m happy to pay for the right content. Why am I down about Gervais’ charging? I guess because it is like a commercial radio breakfast show, which is not somthing that *I* value highly or would bother to listen to.
But then again, I do make my own podcast, and I’d like to be rewarded for it. So, a *good example* of being able to charge for a podcast would be really inspiring to see, and I guess I feel that Gervais doesn’t quite get there.
I’m sure it will come in time. There are times of change.
Hey just came across your page, which I guess is quite interesting now we’re more than a month into the Gervais experiment with paid podcasting. You’d have to say it’s working. The podcasts are outselling most of the music on iTunes in both Australia and the UK, the series has been extended, and although pirating of the show has happened it doesn’t appear as widespread as was predicted. All in all I guess it’s a win for people who wanted to see paid podcasting take a step forward towards reality.
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