britcaster.podshow.com
Published by on April 16th, 2006
There, that’ll start the tongues wagging! In the past few days since the word going out about Adam Curry wanting to meet UK podcasters and my well timed Skype interview with him (to be available soon), I have now had five conversations - yes five, of varying degrees of seriousness and intensity - asking when Britcaster.com will ’sell out’ in some way to a London, UK division of Podshow Inc. Astonishing.
This could be a result of Britcaster.com having absolutely no direct commercial intent whatsoever - a concept so alien to many that there is an assumption that there must be some hidden profit plan somewhere.
I must admit that in the back of my mind I considered that if the site generated some visibility, that it might lead to new connections and new opportunities - a subtle networking tool perhaps. And of course, that is exactly what it has done and led to the formation of a business (Audacious Communications), the working with others on a ground breaking project or two (PodcastconUK 2005), and other stuff in the pipeline both related and not related to podcasting. That’s very cool and gives me a little something back for my time investment in creating and maintaining the site.
Aside from the absurdity of the suggestion - based on there never having been any sign of commercial intent there - what commercial value can something like Britcaster.com provide Podshow?
None at all of course. Perhaps there are comparisons being made with Podshow’s acquisition of PodcastAlley some time ago, but not only was (and is) PodcastAlley infinitely more active a community, it also had an existing revenue stream and was clearly aligning itself for making profit.
The only potential value Britcaster.com has to Podshow is a PR stunt to boost the positive perception of being part of the UK podcasting space. But anyone with their ear to the ground about the attitudes here will realise that this would be unlikely to work; my guess is a big chunk of the UK community would find another independent space to congregate in.
So, no so called ’sellout’, no direct commercial intent, no need to keep them tongues wagging any more. £500k wouldn’t go amiss right now though…
Technorati Tags: podcasting, britcaster, podshow
4 Responses to “britcaster.podshow.com”
April 18th, 2006 at 9:40 am
Neil, it does amaze me that whenever we get a relatively new media which has been steadily built up, and developed by to an extent, a grassroots community, that instead of being proud and celebrating what they acheive and trying to grow that community, the overiding focus turns to protecting their position within that community. Yes, podcasting is coming to the masses (slowly) with the consequence that interest from advertisers will follow. This is no bad thing.
What is a hobby for some is a business for others. Nobody can blame Podshow Inc. for having a business model and perhaps doing a really good job of bringing more listeners (and podcasters) to the headphones and mics. The jury is out on what Podshow can deliver but I’m pretty excited by the stuff Adam has talked about on the DSC with regards to the PDN. I’d be a lot more worried if he was coming without a business model as so many web-focused business are, as they often leave a lot of people in the shit somewhere down the line when they’ve burned through all of their cash.
April 18th, 2006 at 12:38 pm
Glad to see there’s still some sense around!
However things eventually pan out - and we’ve a long way to go yet - if the growth of podcasting will get even close to the predictions, then there’s going to be plenty of room for everyone to make money, not make money or do whatever they want (likely moan about not making money).
April 19th, 2006 at 9:51 am
So you are not selling out but are stupid enough to stay independent? Ts. You could have made millions for no work, man! ;o)
April 19th, 2006 at 11:13 am
Be honest, isn’t there much more soul-cleansing purity in spending your life slaving away for no return whatsoever? That’s the life I choose, no, really… it is… :-p