Friday, September 23, 2005

Your Advice Requested

The question is: Should we aim for more of a 30 minute show than what we are doing currently (45-55 minutes)?

When we started in February, we had set as a goal - a 30 minute show. 30 seemed like a reasonable number in the sense that it seems in line with the typical commute and maps nicely over a typical run or time at the gym. This would make it easier to listen to the podcast in one 'sitting'. We have not been very diligent about this and now find that the show regularly clocks in at 45 to 55 minutes. I worry about this not only infringing more on your time but also perhaps it 'intimidates' new listeners who may find it easy to sample a shorter show.

So we put it you - our intelligent gracious listeners. Is 30 minutes better for you? Worse for you? Or does it matter much to you either way? Your responses to this post would be most helpful!

posted by Jeff       permalink  

8 Comments:

  • At September 24, 2005, Blogger joe said…

    Well, speaking as a 'desk bound' listener, I actually prefer a longer show as you seem to have plenty of material to keep me amused.

    I found that when I work out I can't listen to the show as a couple of times I found myself just sitting there between sets just listening - I had to go back to mindless dance music so I didn't stop.

    Outstanding show by the way. Thanks.

     

  • At September 24, 2005, Blogger Pat said…

    Thanks for the kind comment Joe. I told Jeff we can shorten the show by cutting all his talk out. He didn't like that idea. And, all the songs, they aren't so good. Those can go. Just Kidding. I love Jeffie talk!

     

  • At September 27, 2005, Blogger Ferg said…

    I think the length you guys have now is good. At one point, 30 minutes was closer to my target, too, but I found that it was impossible to do everything I wanted in that time...

    Now, there's 2 schools of thought on this...

    One is that, since I like your show, I enjoy the extra 15 minutes. Your show never seems overlong, too me.

    The other is that you should "always leave them wanting more"...

    Basically, I'd say it's about the right lenght. Our show has ballooned. It's almost always over 50 minutes and occasionally over an hour (which I think is too long, but I'm too lazy to dot he micro-edits required to cut off another 10 minutes)...I've long considered recording roughly an hour of stuff, and then cutting it in half, and doing 2 shows per week, but only recording once per week (i.e. same topic for two shows).

    Anyway, these are all just other possibilities, but I feel that for a weekly show that I enjoy (such as yours) 30 minutes is shorter than I would prefer. Besides...my commute is roughly 50 minutes, so a 50 minutes show means half in the morning and half going home, which is perfect.

     

  • At September 27, 2005, Blogger bpende said…

    Hey ya'll. I think Ferg actually has a good point...

    for once.

    I listen to quite a few shows. I think my most recent feed list shows 62. Most of those shows seem to target 15 to 30 minutes, and I've got about 10% that are 30 to 80 minutes long. If you shoot for 30 minutes and yet allow yourself to go a little long if you've got some content you just have to get out, I don't think the show would suffer at all.

    I've recently played around with tightening up Whole Lot of Nonsense to 15 minutes and giving myself an outside limit of 30. By doing that cutting, I think I save myself a lot of post-production time, because I've had to do a lot more pre-production to start hitting that target.

    Thanks for showing that you care enough to keep the show being the best it can be.

     

  • At September 27, 2005, Blogger The Jastrom said…

    I'm myself like for shows to be at least 60 minutes. My show so far has been at least 75 minutes and most recently our show was 85 minutes long. We didn't plan it that way it just keeps ending up that way. I honestly hope we have this much to talk about a year from now too. I like long shows hehe.

     

  • At September 30, 2005, Blogger Pat said…

    Thanks folks for all the feedback on the show length. I think there was an underlying motive to the question. A shorter show has a shorter production timeframe too. If your interest was to spend less time producing, you would want to shorten the show. And, if everyone agrees with you that they prefer a shorter show, then you have a big win-win for everyone.

    Anyway, for all we know, there won't be any more shows.

     

  • At October 02, 2005, Blogger Sue said…

    The ideal podcase lengeh so far as I am concerned is about 40 minutes - the time it takes me to drive to work in the mornings (which is when I usually play your podcasts on my iPod, via the car stereo). Personally, I think that the optimum length for podcasts is 30-45 minutes, certainly never more than an hour.

     

  • At October 07, 2005, Blogger federov said…

    I have no issue with the length. I can always stop and listen later if I wish. I think you should keep to your flow, I woudln't want you to mess with successful formula...

     

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