Advertisements - Are they disruptive & ruining the show?

[Burnt State]

I do. I once mentioned that maybe you could make a sticky of this common refrain or even post the link to the numerous discussions that have already been posted but then I thought better of it because probably nobody would read it and it would come off as defensive and you needn't be defensive about it. By now I'd be pretty tired of Konstantly ( w/a kapital K ) explaining the dynamics involved to new posters even though I'm sure their observations are earnest and not meant to be dismissive.

Please listen to the wisdom of the guy quoting Winnie the Pooh! This topic just needs to have its own sticky space. What's been needed to say about the ads has been said for umpteen times already. So says the poll at this point in time 9-1.

 

[andersonglk]

Every show I listen to has ads, because as stated above the quality is far superior to most shows that are free with no ads. The shows I am loyal to I pay for. I would gladly pay for an ad free version of The Paracast. I often listen while riding my bike and cannot fast forward.

That being said, the issue for me is not the ads themselves, but the way they disrupt the flow of the content. I don't think any long time listeners will say that the flow of the show has improved since the ads were introduced. Those ephemeral moments that make talk radio so great, when something unexpected takes hold and the conversation takes an interesting turn, is COMPLETELY destroyed by the intrusion of the ads. Shows that could be great end up being just okay.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Let me remind you that we have actually had ads on the show from the earliest days. But when we joined GCN, the breaks changed from roughly every 15 minutes to 9 to 11 minutes. But there is very little of that break during the recording session. The guests do not hear the ads or the introduction and closing bumpers; as one segment ends, the next starts almost immediately, so we do mostly pick up where we left off, with a fast introduction to bring listeners back on board.

 

[andersonglk]

With the old format, the breaks were not nearly so disruptive to the flow of the show. Again, it's not the ads themselves I object to as the jarring breaks in conversation. I understand that the segments continue on whilst recording, but having to constantly (it feels like it happens constantly) stop the conversation kills the momentum. Unfortunately, every time this issue comes up on these forums, the small but very vocal minority on these boards drown out the multitudes of one time posters that take the time to sign up and log in simply to voice their opinion on the ads. Every time this happens they get ambushed by people insisting that their opinion on the ads is invalid, the ads are fine, just fast forward them, etc., and I would guess that very few stick around the participate in other threads.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Nobody says it's not valid to criticize the presence of lots of ads. But you should read the responses, which is that this is quite normal for a networked radio show in the U.S. We follow the same ad schedule as hundreds of shows, and that includes local talk shows. So basically our format is not extreme, but quite normal for this business.

Obviously when you do a station break, the conversation has to stop, but we keep the halt brief for the guests, so they usually pick up after the next introduction. With live shows, the guest has to wait three or four minutes after each break, plus six minutes for news at the hour. So we are better off doing it prerecorded.

I've explained why we chose this business model, despite the limitations, and what we're doing to try to offer alternatives to listeners. From time to time, I have mentioned this on the air, so none of this should come as a surprise. Go and check the 70 shows on GCN. They all follow essentially the same ad schedules — all of them.

But in passing, I also wonder if all the other radio shows following similar ad schedules get messages of this sort if they have online forums. Just curious.

 

[Wade]

Regardless of what the better procedure is, and I have no reason to disagree with you, I pointed out in one of the myriad of threads on this subject that this type of break is foreign to most ears and may be why some consider the advertisements disruptive. It's really the breaks that seem disruptive. We ate far more accustomed to the familiar elevator music fade out so all involved know what's coming. Although you do a good job at letting the guest know that there is a break coming, you don't get them all...nor should you be expected to.... it does come across as Rather jarring. I'll just reiterate what I suggested before when and if it was ever to change I suggest using Chris's music for bumper music. Although unlikely I do wonder if it's possible some guests may be turned off from appearing because they don't understand the procedure and that the "real time" breaks arent lengthy and there is little lost as far as one's train of thought.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

We do have bumper music at both ends. It's not really possible to do ducked fade in or fade out because of the technology in our setup. When possible, the guest is warned, but listening to other shows, most never hear the background music when it comes so the host is usually far more abrupt than we are in shutting down the conversation.

 

[andersonglk]

Gene said: Nobody says it's not valid to criticize the presence of lots of ads. But you should read the responses, which is that this is quite normal for a networked radio show in the U.S..
.
But how many of your listeners are listening on the radio as compared too the podcast format? I would guess the vast majority are getting the show through the website or through iTunes. It seems that the revenue generated from being a networked show is good enought to ignore your core audience's wants .

.Gene said: Go and check the 70 shows on GCN. They all follow essentially the same ad schedules — all of them.

I've never listened to another GCN show. I am a Paracast fan, not a GCN fan.

Sorry for the vitriol, but I just hate to see a show I've been such a fan of get destroyed by jarring ad breaks. I really love the Paracast and, again, would gladly pay for an ad free show. I will stop posting in this thread.[/quote]

 

[andersonglk]

Sorry, I don't know how to quote. Also I wanted to say that I appreciate that you take the time to read and post so often on the forums Gene.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

When you click reply, it includes the previous post.

I realize that people have different opinions about the ads.

The reason we went with GCN is distribution and credibility to potential advertisers. GCN doesn't pay us, but gives us ad slots that we can sell and earn some money. They've also added more mainstream talent and a new affiliate relations person. More shows might attract more mainstream advertisers to the network.

A key reason why I'm going through financial trauma is that we don't have a sales and marketing person to get the message about my two shows out to potential advertisers and local radio stations. I try my best, but sales and marketing won't make it to my resume. If someone is willing to step up to the plate, even part time, and work on this with me, I expect a lot of the problems would soon be history.

Going all-subscription is out of the question. I realize many listeners just don't have the disposable income, or aren't interested, in paying for a show. We'd lose a large number of listeners overnight, and I promised on Day One we'd always offer a free version of The Paracast. But now that GCN seems amenable to some sort of premium option, we might be able to offer ad-free as an alternative. It'll be the same show, but no ads to fast forward through, not even ours.

 

[Derek Wood]

I get the ads. A necessary thing. I listen to podcasts while I drive and I simply skip forward.

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

 

[Derek Wood]

And some ads crack me up: Gene saying "are you rea...dy for a speed boost! Lol so funny. And that American dude snarling that he lost ten pounds eating hemp or something. Classic!

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Some of the GCN ads are wacky. I think the speed boost you're talking about, though, is a Web host that offers solid state drives as a low-cost option. On a Mac or a PC, they can provide a tremendous improvement for most every system/app function. We might even move this server to solid state drives to deliver speedier performance.

 

[owlman]

BTW I didn't mean to sound ungrateful, or to whine. I , like most folks here have learnt to fast-forward thru the ads a long time ago! My only gripe, is that the flow of the show seems to be broken up into too many ad breaks. Is there a way to have longer host-guest segments by squishing the ads into say 15/ 20 minute pieces? That way, we can still fast forward thru them, but the flow of the show is much better, and guests ( and hosts ) can waffle on for longer

 

[Gene Steinberg]

We have to follow a very rigid schedule, as do most local and network radio shows in the U.S. They use computerized systems for switching from the show content to the ads and back, so there's no way to hold the break. We submit segments timed to within a tenth of a second. I'm serious.

Besides, if it was 20 minutes rather than 10, you'd have to endure twice as many announcements between segments, or have more to skip through. I don't think that's necessarily a better way.

 

[nameless]

Besides, if it was 20 minutes rather than 10, you'd have to endure twice as many announcements between segments, or have more to skip through. I don't think that's necessarily a better way.

I think twice as many adds with larger talk segments is better so people can get into the flow of a conversation more. I think with iPods and phones its easy to skip through a bigger add section- makes no difference.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

I understand your point. In some countries, they ran commercial blocks before and after shows, so they continue without interruption. But the network system under which we operate isn't set up that way. For better or worse, this is how it is until or unless a better scheme is found. I do get your point, though. Completely.

 

[Derek Wood]

Either way the ads are necessary. Great show.

 

[owlman]

Agreed, the show is still by far the best out there , and remains the Gold standard, but longer segments would put it right over the edge and far and away the best Paranormal show on earth.

 

[PCarr]

Every show I listen to has ads, because as stated above the quality is far superior to most shows that are free with no ads. The shows I am loyal to I pay for. I would gladly pay for an ad free version of The Paracast. I often listen while riding my bike and cannot fast forward.

I listen pretty loyally to Penn's Sunday School. They have ads, but Penn reads them live himself, and they are ALL stuff he has checked out himself and approves of ( Audible.com, for example). This makes them not only bearable, but part of the entertainment. Leo Laporte's shows take a similar approach, although I no longer listen to TWiT.

I understand that that's not possible with GCN, but it is certainly a superior model from the listener's perspective.