LabRats #093: at New Media Expo 2007, II

Podcasts are changing the way we get our news and entertainment, and classic television, be it network, cable or satellite, has had a terrible difficulty catching up. The one neat thing about them: they can be as local as anything. Remember Wayne’s World? The two guys with their own cable show? They were limited to their neighbourhood (or to whatever stratosphere their successful movie would take them later).

Unlike the massive Hollywood productions, where even the most idiotic soap opera has to go through numerous submissions, re-writes, castings, re-castings, pilot broadcasts, and whatnot, a podcast needs only a few creative people and a second-hand camera you can rent in your local video store.

It’s the idea that counts.

Another beauty: the creators haven’t got armies of accountants who think of themselves as creative geniuses, and who tell the creators this is how it ought to be done, because the last series they supervised was a massive hit. Little do they know that if it really, really was a hit, it was either because classic television has dumbed down its audiences beyond belief or, in a best-case scenario, it happened despite of them, not because of them.

The evolution of podcasts does not necessarily mean death for classical television as we know it. But it ought to be a wake-up call. The increasing numbers of viewers who turn away from their TV sets and watch all kinds of podcasts should be a message powerful enough.


Good Night Burbank

After all, when movies came along, they were supposed to be the death of live theatre. They were not. Radio was the death knell for newspapers and magazines. It was not. Television would kill radio. It didn’t. The previous media and their creators saw the writing on the wall and came up with ways how to change their – and their consumers’ – habits.

In this installment of LabRats, Andy Walker and Sean Carruthers explain that one can even make money on podcasts: if you’re creative enough and develop a huge enough following, product placements and other ads are sure to come your way.

For those of you interested in getting started with your own podcast, be it audio or video, consider the following equipment: Samson Microphone, Garage Band, MacBook Pro, Sony HDC-F950 Camera, Sound Devices 722t, and the Canon HV20 HD Camera.

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