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The Problem with Podcasts
Why does every podcast have a six-minute lead of proverbial throat-clearing, self-promotion, and advertising? I can understand that mega podcasts like Joe Rogan’s have to deal with this — advertisers are throwing money at people like him and Tim Ferriss.
The problem is more acute with relatively smaller podcasts. I listen to many “intellectually curious” podcasts that focus on subjects such as science, history, design, and architecture. They seem to be the worst offenders, though not as bad as some sports-focused shows.
Will the podcasts give me an ad-free experience with subscriptions? The answer is no. I thought the whole point of podcasts was to free us from the past, aka the “radio,” and its format tyranny.
It’s not just podcasts—streaming nowadays is no better than television. Netflix, the company that invented binge-watching, now releases episodes once a week, like old-school TV. Independent blogs and newsletters are less personal and more like old media.
The more things change, the more they stay the same!
October 22, 2024. San Francisco
18 thoughts on this post
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Hi Om – For the last couple of years, I have begun to gravitate towards personal blogs. Those that resemble the early days of blogging.
Like this one.
I’m hopeful that this is a trend, and not simply my rediscovering of a marginal and tiny group of folks (all seem to have software development skills).
I think it is time to separate the media from personal expression. Old blogs were great because they were non-media and saw the world in their unique sort of way.
Thanks for coming and reading the blog.
All I know is that the more Podcasts become like old media, I’m listening to less and less podcasts
I literally can’t stand dynamic AD insertion. ADs are one thing, but when they get randomly dropped right in the middle of conversation?
I flat out unsubscribe to podcasts when DAI does that to me.
It’s awful
The day the ad companies figure out a way to circumvent/disable the 15sec skip button is the day I stop listening to podcasts forever.
100% agree
If I couldn’t skip past ADs, I’d be gone already
I actually the whole medium will die if they try to force everyone to sit through ADs.
It is getting worse by the day. I just listened to a podcast that was about 7 minutes of “filler + ads.” I am glad I can fast forward some of this in my podcast app of choice (PocketCasts.)
In some cases, if there is not a subscription to the initial podcast there is often one “If you want to learn more” so in essence you are not getting the full report, understanding, or knowledge, unless of course you sign up. Once you sign up then all you have to listen to are the advertisements which the podcaster can then claim people pay to listen to me, so I am important. I have run into one or two that were worth it but it still bugs me when I think of the ‘radio’ experience I believe it was intended to be. I don’t mind the advertising, I do mind the subscription.
Walter
You have hit the nail on the head. I think a lot of this is for the “advertising benefit” and not from a listener’s perspective.
As a bit of a counter point, i kind of like a once a week release schedule for shows.
It gives people time to talk about the events and theorise about upcoming episodes.
If you really enjoy binge watching I don’t think there’s much wrong with binging at the very end(asides from possible spoilers)
Desmond,
That perhaps makes my point. That was the behavior that was associated with appointment TV. On demand and streaming were supposed to be the end of “appointment TV” and all the chatter was for “live events.” But we are back to the future, or something like that.
Just curious, what are your favorites?
Oh, it all depends on what topic. I am a big fan of
and the list goes on and on….and changes every few weeks.
I completely relate to your thought. I’ve been hesitant to listen to podcasts for the same reason. They’re starting to feel more like radio, with constant interruptions, rather than offering a chance to listen to something seamlessly. It seems like almost all content online is following this trend now.
Indeed. I think the problem is that we have a singular model of monetization and sadly that means mimicking the old models, but worse.
Here here. I find the long intros especially infuriating with podcasts on ADHD — your target audience (me) is going to get bored and leave, folks!
Even without ADHD I have left podcasts because I got impatient with this nonsense.
The podcast landscape is becoming overwhelming. With so many options, it’s difficult to choose what to listen to – a classic case of analysis paralysis. Even when you find a good podcaster, the quality often varies between episodes, with some being insightful while others feel repetitive or dull.
The main challenges are:
– Discovering worthwhile content
– Finding consistently good shows
– Staying engaged long-term
I hope podcasting doesn’t follow YouTube’s path, where quality content exists but is buried under mountains of mediocre material. We need fewer but better choices, along with trusted curators (like you or Tyler Cowen and others who we have followed content-wise for a few years ) who can recommend content based on our listening patterns.
Also side note I’m enjoying the long-form content you’re producing with Fred lately
Vikram
YouTube is much better at surfacing good stuff. Sadly, they offer related crap too because their motivation is to keep you glued to the screen so you see more ads. I am able to understand their motivation. I also turned off all history and all recommendations on YT and have a pretty decent experience. I normally use that as my podcast place as well. It is not too bad if you really work hard.
On podcast front, I am working with a friend to see if we can do a 10-minute condensed summary of the podcast, delete ads and just preview before spending time on something.
As for the written word — which is my primary medium, I think we are going to revert to the old blog style model — lot’s of small, short pieces, with occasional deeper, longer pieces. I am happy to be going into that mode as well, because I think the whole new social-publishing model is not working anymore. It is all ragebait or nothing.