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Start Spreading the News: The Paracast Lands in the Big Apple July 3rd

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Gene Steinberg

Gene Steinberg

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I have heard from Branigan Weber, GCN's affiliate person, that he's performed a miracle for us.

Effective July 3, 2011, at 7 PM Eastern, The Paracast lands on WVNJ 1160 AM, which covers New York City and Northern New Jersey.

I have been working towards doing New York radio for years, and this is just the beginning. We are doing what we can to have the show carried on other major stations around the country, but it also means we need your help more than ever to convince your local station to carry The Paracast, and our tech show, The Tech Night Owl LIVE.

So tell your friends, and contact your local talk stations (liberal, conservative, it doesn't matter) and tell them why they should carry The Paracast too! :)
 
Congratulations Gene, Its wonderful to hear a goal you've long worked towards has been achieved.
I'm sure everyone here shares your sense of excitment in this

Well Done
 
Congratulations and good luck.

To be perfectly honest I will never understand why anyone would listen to your show--or anything--on traditional terrestrial radio, as opposed to a podcast. As a kid I listened to NY radio avidly, from Long John to Jean Shepard. Today, as I am now well-entrenched in middle age, I can honestly tell you I can't even remember the last time I listened to radio.

Which brings me to a question. I'm an avid Adam Carolla listener. He's demonstrated that a business model focused exclusively on broadcasting via podcasting is not only possible but can generate significant income. Of course, not being constrained by the many limitations, from content to control, of terrestrial radio is a huge bonus. (Frankly I find the commercials on GCN pretty bizarre; is The Paracast demographic really interested to buy drugs to defeat radiation poisoning?) I believe Adam's program, which has now developed into a network of programs, is THE most downloaded podcast in the world. He comments on the success of his revenue-sharing arrangement with Amazon, as well as his on-air sponsors, most of whom, I believe, are also on a revenue-sharing arrangement. I'm curious. Why isn't this "Carolla model" more viable, desirable and easier to manage than struggling through the old terrestrial radio model or even the old podcast model. With revenue-sharing, it seems, the more your listenership grows the more the potential market prime for buying from sponsors and supporting the show at no direct cost to a listener. Of course, Adam does a daily show--and has other programs on his network--which captures larger audiences. Couldn't you do likewise by cobbling together a network of similar programs, like Tim Binall's and some of the others who are also struggling with the economics of running a new media in an old model?

Gene, as one who has been at this for some years now, and given your comment last week that The Paracast still isn't making money, I'm curious as to your thoughts and plans, if you don't mind sharing those.
 
Revenue sharing how? With other shows? I hardly think that's going to help us or get us into more homes. It sounds to me as if it would dilute the brand, as it were.

By being on a network, we are able to offer a free show to everyone. Other business plans just don't show the same listener and income potential. As to Adam Carolla, you only know what he tells you about his business, and that may not necessarily reflect the real truth about the matter.

Besides, the ads on GCN don't enrich us in any way, as I've said before. Ads on radio networks always speak of products that protect you against some sort of peril, be it a home alarm system, health insurance, life insurance, auto repair warranties, etc. Those who don't like the ads can freely fast forward.

I welcome ideas, but haven't heard anything we can sink our teeth into. Our biggest problem has been the lack of talented sales and marketing people to work with us to build the shows, the sites, and the ecosystem around it.
 
Revenue-sharing works like this, as I understand it. You put links to sponsors on your website. If I'm going to place an order through Amazon, for example, I use your website click-through. That then takes me to the Amazon site where I place my order in the normal manner, at the same pricing. A percentage of that gets paid to the Carolla Show. Costs me nothing and I get to support a show I appreciate, costs Adam nothing, Amazon gets a slightly reduced net margin at little cost; a win-win-win. I now place all my Amazon orders through the Carolla site. As to branding, the brand right now is The Paracast--a show, once a week. What I suggest, using the Carolla model, is to create a virtual network...e.g., the Paranormal Network, which would include various shows on similar topics, all available for download as podcasts. Carolla's ACE Network includes a parenting show, a car show, other comedy shows, etc.; all exclusively podcasts. I can't imagine a once a week show ever developing large enough an audience to be attractive to advertisers, unless you're a Super Bowl-type "must hear". I'd suggest that the Leo LaPorte TWIT network is a similar model, albeit more reliant upon terrestrial radio.

Look, you know the game better than I do. But, I am a businessman, an retired Fortune 500 elected corporate officer and now a small business developer. Nevertheless, I wouldn't presume to tell you how to run your business. However, Carolla's been the subject of articles and discussion about creating a viable, financially successful business model based entirely on self-managed podcasting. I'm merely suggesting it may be worthwhile to investigate it a bit, particularly if you're building an audience through terrestrial radio that's easily transferable to the net.
 
Not to denigrate your experience, but I have been working online since the late 1980s, and I know a little bit about the lay of the land. So, for example, affiliate ads (which you call revenue sharing) are rip-offs. You are always at the mercy of the vendor who will usually undercount your traffic stats and commissions. I've been there, done that. Affiliate ads would break us. We have to go directly after advertisers, not get a tiny piece of someone else's profit pie.

As to a new network: There are enough networks out there already, paranormal and otherwise.

But if you have some other ideas about how to make things work better in light of these realities, send me a private message and we'll talk.
 
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