Call for Longer Podcasts

[AbsoluteZero]

I just found the podcast about 5 episodes ago, and I realize it's a lot of work to put together a podcast, but if the Golf Channel can put together 30 min of nonsense each and every day for Golf Central, they you guys should be able to put together more than 9:42 seconds in a week

BTW, in case that comes off as criticism, it's not. I really like the podcast and could go for some more of it. The equipment shows with Titleist were fantastic and I hope that other manufacturers get/take the opportunity to do it as well.

Next I bet you'll say - well if you want more, what should we talk about?

Well, I could use more discussion on:

Equipment
History
Stats - Who's doing what
Tiger Tiger Tiger
the nationwide (not a lot, but you could make predictions on who's coming up)
rookies to the tour this year
next weeks tournament and predictions
the forum

forgive me if you usually cover all of this type of info, but I've only listened to about 5 shows and I was disappointed that after waiting a week I got less than 10 min of discussion. Most golfers can talk about a single hole they hit a birdie on for that long

So let's have some longer podcasts. I mean it's only about 15 degrees right now where I live, so if I can't play golf I may as well listen to someone else talk about it!

[iacas]

I just found the podcast about 5 episodes ago, and I realize it's a lot of work to put together a podcast, but if the Golf Channel can put together 30 min of nonsense each and every day for Golf Central, they you guys should be able to put together more than 9:42 seconds in a week

In the interest of playing devil's advocate, let me share an opposing side:

You'd make a better case if you were accurate. I know you just found it, but even looking back in the feed in iTunes you can see we used to do longer shows. Going back to Episode 81 (it's just where I happened to stop), we've had times of 24:17, 17:21, 24:13, 19:28, 18:07, 24:45, 17:13, 19:49, 23:38, 21:23, 35:32 , 19:59, 21:34, 17:40, and 21:02. I removed a few but they were all 13:00+. Unlike Golf Channel, we don't have 8 minutes of commercials, 2 minutes of teasers, and four minutes of repeated information (like leaderboards). We also don't have a bunch of video to fill the time. We're not a "news" show, but an op-ed type podcast. We talk about the things that interest us and about which we have an opinion.

The equipment shows with Titleist were fantastic and I hope that other manufacturers get/take the opportunity to do it as well.

We liked those too, and we're seeking to do more of them with other companies.

Quick thoughts on your topics... Equipment - We have reviews and Bag Drop for that. What more can we discuss? History - Though I consider myself to be quite a fan of golf history, I realize I'm in a small minority. Stats - We have a column for that... albeit one that's not had a writer for several months. Tiger Tiger Tiger - Don't you get sick of that? I do. He's not playing. The Nationwide - Quite honestly, who really follows the Nationwide Tour? I don't. Rookies to the Tour - When they do something, we'll talk about 'em. Next Week's tournament and predictions - Timing is tough. By the time most people listen to the podcast on Thursday or Friday, the event's started. The Forum - We include a Forum Topic of the Week when one strikes our fancy, but in general, we use the forum for the forum. Do we really want a podcast that devotes a lot of time discussing a discussion? In general, we try not to talk about things that are better suited to existing columns or uninteresting to the majority.

So let's have some longer podcasts. I mean it's only about 15 degrees right now where I live, so if I can't play golf I may as well listen to someone else talk about it!

It's colder than that where we live, so what makes you think WE want to talk about it?

The simple truth is we used to have longer podcasts. Some were really long. We may expand them again in the future when there's more to talk about, but I can't say for sure. And while we have tens of thousands of downloads per week, we rarely get any feedback at all. In general, people seem to download the podcast, listen to it a day later, and then forget to comment or send feedback. We're operating in a vacuum, somewhat. What feedback we did get indicated that some people thought the show was too long. Please also note that every minute of the final podcast requires about 10-15 minutes of work. 20 minutes in a podcast is a 4-5 hour job. 9 minutes is two hours. So I'll tell you what: we'll leave this thread open. We'll see if anyone else has anything to say about what we should include in the podcast, how long they should be, etc. Then we'll see where things shake out.

[AbsoluteZero]

In the interest of playing devil's advocate, let me share an opposing side:

You caught me. I took the second shortest podcast you guys have done (as far as I can tell) and made it my example. Not exactly a fair example, but it fit my needs

Equipment - We have reviews and Bag Drop for that. What more can we discuss?

Mostly, I guess I want more interviews with people in the industry as well as your own personal comments. I think your blog feed probably covers most of this, but you could comment on that stuff too. Would this be redundant - maybe a little.

Tiger Tiger Tiger - Don't you get sick of that? I do. He's not playing.

Yes, but it seems like everone's time filler

I was being a bit facetious with that topic.

And while we have tens of thousands of downloads per week, we rarely get

I can understand that. I just put together a video at work that took me a week to do and ended up only being about 30 min long (and to be honest it could have used some more work).

So I'll tell you what: we'll leave this thread open. We'll see if anyone else has anything to say about what we should include in the podcast, how long they should be, etc.

Fair enough!

[lumpuckeroo]

I like the podcast and would like them to be longer, but understand the effort it takes. I know everyone would have there preferences on topics, I like player interviews, equipment speak, manufactor interviews, things like that. Not real big on insturction as it is so individual don't find it very appealing.

[BigAl5150]

As the other guy on the podcast, the shorter ones are better as I don't feel we have to have "filler" material or just drone on about something. We can hit a few topics and yet have room to expand if we get rolling on a good rant. Besides, I get sick of hearing my own voice after about a minute.

[Eeryck]

Iacas,

Regarding re-iterating the other content on the website and the like it may be an easy way to expand the show. The reason I mention this is that many people have different prefrences on how they get their information. So you may get some who use the forum and download the podcasts but don't see the rest of the site. So you could draw there attention there by re-using in the podcast, and it might be little additional prep for everyone in lieu of completely developing new content.

It could also increase volume to some of the other pages on the website, if that matters, by exposing the content via a different media.

In the end I prefer the written stuff, but I am just a user of the site and not actively attempting to grow the site or make any money via advertising, though I don't know what your intents of the site are either.

For what it is worth,
-E

[nevets88]

I like the length of the podcasts as they are now. If any of you listen to the TWIT podcasts, there are many asides and ratholes that I'm just not interested in. If you like a podcast as a casual conversation, than you'll like it, but it's not good for hard news/material.

[AbsoluteZero]

I like the length of the podcasts as they are now. If any of you listen to the TWIT podcasts, there are many asides and ratholes that I'm just not interested in. If you like a podcast as a casual conversation, than you'll like it, but it's not good for hard news/material.

I love the TWIT podcasts

I find that half of the most interesting information comes from ratholes.

[nevets88]

I agree, some of the ratholes are interesting, but some aren't. I like TWIT - I just wish I had more time to listen to it. If you're used to something that stays on point or doesn't linger like Buzz Out Loud, then TWIT can be a little longish.

[AbsoluteZero]

I agree, some of the ratholes are interesting, but some aren't. I like TWIT - I just wish I had more time to listen to it. If you're used to something that stays on point or doesn't linger like Buzz Out Loud, then TWIT can be a little longish.

funny, I don't care for BOL.

I actually have quite a bit of time for podcasts. I listen to at least 1.5 hours every morning while I work out, then whenever I'm in my car, and sometimes throughout the day during work. So, I guess that's why I like long podcasts. I have time to listen to them