Please - less adverts!

[duffmeister]

I really enjoy the show but it's getting to the point where I cant listen due to the number of adverts...I cant believe how many breaks there are!

I understand that the advertising revenue keeps the show on the road but is there a possibilty that you could post edited versions of the shows on here without those galling commercial breaks?

I'm based in the UK and you just don't get this number of breaks on commercial radio, nor do you get this dubious 'quality' of advertising...some of the scaremongering ads just wouldn't be allowed over here....and theres not much call for holsters where I live!

The adverts are REALLY disruptive and spoil the flow of the show - can anything be done??

 

[Gene Steinberg]

I really enjoy the show but it's getting to the point where I cant listen due to the number of adverts...I cant believe how many breaks there are!

I understand that the advertising revenue keeps the show on the road but is there a possibilty that you could post edited versions of the shows on here without those galling commercial breaks?

I'm based in the UK and you just don't get this number of breaks on commercial radio, nor do you get this dubious 'quality' of advertising...some of the scaremongering ads just wouldn't be allowed over here....and theres not much call for holsters where I live!

The adverts are REALLY disruptive and spoil the flow of the show - can anything be done??

I've answered this several times already, but here goes:

1. The number of ads we run are identical to nearly ALL OTHER network radio shows in the U.S. We follow the same ad schedule on GCN as they do on Clear Channel, the largest U.S. radio network.

2. We are not paid for network ads, nor do we have any say in their selection. That's also common in this business. We run them as part of our contract. There is no way for us to post a version without those ads.

3. If you don't like the ads, my best suggestion is to Fast Forward.

Thanks for listening and I'm sorry we're trying your patience.

 

[duffmeister]

Ok Gene - apologies for making you repeat yourself!

The adverts do try my pateince but I really respect what you are doing with the show and will always tune in.

...I guess Ill just have to put up an shut up!!

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Ok Gene - apologies for making you repeat yourself!

The adverts do try my pateince but I really respect what you are doing with the show and will always tune in.

...I guess Ill just have to put up an shut up!!

You have nothing to apologize for. Ads are the price of free when it comes to broadcasting. We just live with it. At the same time, when we put up our own segment of ads for the show, we hope you will buy the product or service offered. That helps them renew — and that's our source of income to pay for server costs and lunch.

 

[ALPHA ROMEO UNIFORM]

Shit its the Twilight Zone of the adverts debate

 

[duffmeister]

Shit its the Twilight Zone of the adverts debate

I feel like I'm in the twighlight zone when I'm listening to them whilst digging my bunker waiting for Fedex to deliver my holster, seeds and water purifier after I traded Grandmas gold.

 

[J.T.]

Like I said on another thread, good to see Anomalist Books advertising on the show. In fact, talk to your favorite publisher or magazine or whatever and suggest they buy airtime on the Paracast so the ads will be more to your liking. Soon as I heard that ad, I wrote Patrick Huyghe of The Anomalist, mentioning I had heard their ad on the show and think it's a great match. You can SUPPORT the show by doing that, instead of just listening in and enjoying the hard work Gene and Chris are putting into this, without getting paid.

 

[Beltemps]

Hm... I don't get it... it's a podcast! the ads are just a minor nuisance since you can fastforward... one of the blessings of the digital age....

 

[TClaeys]

Well yeah, .. but it's a podcast that has completely changed from it's roots. I know change is inevitable but for someone who listened from the beginning it's pretty difficult to stomach. I know nothing can be done even though it has been suggested to just pay for the show instead of suffering the ads. Still this won't work either. Sadly I have just stopped listening and haven't heard a show for several months now. The FF button doesn't cut it anymore, it's just too much. Nothing against Gene but the show is about gaining ears now to apparently make some money. I'd personally rather just give money and listen to the show again.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Well yeah, .. but it's a podcast that has completely changed from it's roots. I know change is inevitable but for someone who listened from the beginning it's pretty difficult to stomach. I know nothing can be done even though it has been suggested to just pay for the show instead of suffering the ads. Still this won't work either. Sadly I have just stopped listening and haven't heard a show for several months now. The FF button doesn't cut it anymore, it's just too much. Nothing against Gene but the show is about gaining ears now to apparently make some money. I'd personally rather just give money and listen to the show again.

Having stopped listening, you really don't know what we are doing and I don't think you're making a fair judgment.

To be frank, our goals with this show haven't changed from Day One, just the cohost lineup. Having network distribution doesn't change the content, only the addition of extra breaks (one extra per hour), and the much wider distribution.

Despite the false claims you've heard, the show is always about doing a good show, not how much money we can make from it. At the same time, I don't think anyone looking at this matter from a logical standpoint expects us to work free. I'm sure you get paid for your work, right?

Tell ya what: Start listening again, and then tell me about that complete change. It doesn't exist.

 

[TClaeys]

I've listened to a handful of shows when the format changed. I tried to gut it out. The content wasn't bad but anytime a conversation was actually gaining any traction you would have to stop everything. Then after break it never seemed to get back to where it was and it seemed the moment was lost. The last show I listened to was in September. Has anything changed since Chris started because I listened to about 6-8 shows or so after he started?? In that time I could never get through an entire episode due to the added length of the show even with sporatically using the FF.

I have no problem with being paid for hard work put in. It only seems logical. I guess the question I would ask Gene is did you weigh the option of having subscribers versus becoming syndicated and adding all the ads?? I wonder what the difference would have been because it seems that a lot of people would have much rather paid themselves.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Since you haven't heard the show in six months, I can't accept your comments as representative of what we do now.

As I've said before, subscriptions are a non-starter. Wed lose iTunes and 99% of our audience and earn a pittance. It's hard enough now.

 

[Ian]

As Gene says, the ads are the price for free. Just skip through them on the podcast - it's not that difficult.

But I think one of the main points in this repeated debate comes from us European listeners; the unbelievable pseudo-scientific 'snake-oil' ads!

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (and no doubt the equivalent in other European nations) would have them prosecuted under the basic "is it decent, honest, truthful" test. Some of these ads plainly are none of those things, yet in the US it seems perfectly acceptable to hoodwink the vulnerable and poorly educated. (Sorry if that sound pompous, but from a European perspective appears to be true.)

Perhaps it's not appropriate for anyone from the show to comment on the ads, and I apologise for prolonging the debate.

I just listen to them sometimes in fascinated disbelief!

Regards,

Ian

 

[lazyslackmaster]

I stopped listening because there were just too many commercials. I know that you say it is what everyone else is doing, but it just seems that over half the show is a commercial of some sort. Sorry Gene, just cant stand all the ads!!

 

[TClaeys]

Since you haven't heard the show in six months, I can't accept your comments as representative of what we do now.

As I've said before, subscriptions are a non-starter. Wed lose iTunes and 99% of our audience and earn a pittance. It's hard enough now.

So you have changed the format from when Chris first started?? I thought it was the same format, something about the way you have ads placed or something. This has changed recently??

And I can't believe you would lose 99% of your listeners,.. really?? I'm sorry, I don't know what a "non-starter" means.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

We haven't changed the format since Day One. Only personnel have changed. Having a networked show doesn't mean a format change. Adding some more commercial breaks doesn 't mean a format change. Let's end that silliness, OK?

---------- Post added at 03:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:18 PM ----------

About the claim we're 50% ads: Nonsense. It's less about 37 minutes over a two hour and 37 minute recording. The rest of the three hours goes to the hourly news break and other announcements, and isn't part of our recorded version.

The "real" percentage is just shy of 24%, and that's totally normal for network radio shows in the U.S. Are you folks complaining to the hosts of all those hundreds of shows in this country too?

---------- Post added at 03:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:20 PM ----------

It means there is no viable economic model for a paid show to succeed over what we could do with a free networked radio show and ads. Even if we were carried on satellite radio in the U.S. — and that's possible — it would be on a commercial channel, meaning the same number of ads.

Peace,
Gene

 

[itsthenoise]

I know where the OP is coming from, the ads themselves really are a culture shock for uk [ and probably all european listeners ], mainly as a lot of them are based on such outrageous/scare/spurious claims; we don't tend hear that sort of thing over here on commercial radio.

I find the ads a pain but I don't expect anyone to do anything for nothing, especially the amount of work that Gene and Chris put in, there's got to be payback time eventually... hopefully very soon.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

I know where the OP is coming from, the ads themselves really are a culture shock for uk [ and probably all european listeners ], mainly as a lot of them are based on such outrageous/scare/spurious claims; we don't tend hear that sort of thing over here on commercial radio.

I find the ads a pain but I don't expect anyone to do anything for nothing, especially the amount of work that Gene and Chris put in, there's got to be payback time eventually... hopefully very soon.

And remember we don't make anything from network ads. We get three minutes per hour for ourselves, which are always the first spots in a break. These are the products we want you to buy, so they'll renew. That's all the money we can get from this enterprise, plus any donations we receive. Plus what little I get from the tech show, which I do all by myself.

 

[mike]

I know where the OP is coming from, the ads themselves really are a culture shock for uk [ and probably all european listeners ], mainly as a lot of them are based on such outrageous/scare/spurious claims; we don't tend hear that sort of thing over here on commercial radio.

I find the ads a pain but I don't expect anyone to do anything for nothing, especially the amount of work that Gene and Chris put in, there's got to be payback time eventually... hopefully very soon.

I quite like the culture shock inherant in the adds, the are unlike anything i hear locally thats for sure, but i reckon that gives the show a certain exotic flavour in comparison to what im used to.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

I quite like the culture shock inherant in the adds, the are unlike anything i hear locally thats for sure, but i reckon that gives the show a certain exotic flavour in comparison to what im used to.

Unless a product or service is an outright fraud, I will tolerate messages that are "out there." As I said, you can Fast Forward or just take what you hear with a grain of salt.

And, by the way, as a regular satellite radio listener, I do hear some of the very same ads on networks that don't fit into the "alternative" category. Just FYI.