July 25, 2006
5K
Yesterday was the first day that "Matt's Today in History" had more than 5,000 downloads in a 24-hour period. We've been flirting with that number for a while (averaging something like 4,800), but the podcast has slowwwwwlyyyy garnered more and more listeners until 5,000 a day became a possibility. This number will dip, of course, during weekends and holidays, but I'm hoping that soon 5K will be the "bottom" number on the graph.
5,000 downloads a day is nothing in the big scheme of things. Consider that a top 10 podcast like Dawn and Drew has hundreds of thousands of downloads in the same period of time. But we certainly have more listeners than we did at this time last year, although the number is growing more slowly than before. Thanks to those of you who have told friends, family and co-workers about the podcast.
I see now that MTIH needs a jumpstart, something that will bring it to that next level of subscribers. The 'cast was featured on Adam Curry's Podfinder podcast (which is produced by Apple), but our numbers didn't really peak from the exposure. I received an e-mail this week from a listener who told me that MTIH has at least one fan in the iTunes division of Apple, so maybe I'll see front page exposure there (or maybe not).
Part of the reason I mention all this it to let you know that the Podcast Awards nominees have been posted. I did not make the list (unlike the Podcast Peer Awards, which are in their first year). I noticed that many of the nominees are 'casts that have small audiences but whose producers spend a lot of time hanging out in various podcasting forums. Additionally, many of the nominees spent a great deal of time begging listeners to go vote for them. I do neither, other than asking twice a month for a vote at Podcast Alley. If noteriety gets more votes than talent or presentation, then how meaningful is the award itself?
Posted by Matthew at July 25, 2006 07:44 AMTrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.opaquelucidity.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/829
First off, size of podcast has nothing to do with how Good it is (Good in this instance being less subjective and more quality-related). I think Dawn and Drew suck. I couldn't give a crap if a ton of people like them, they make me ill. Same with NLO, and a ton of the other "quality" podcasts that have huge audiences. I'm also subscribed to a lot of podcasts with smaller audiences that, from my perspective, are better. They either provide me with content I value, inspire thought or feeling of some sort, are very well-produced, or in some rare instances do all three.
I didn't even participate in the nominating process for the Podcast Awards because the design confused me. I went and nominated my favorite shows one time, and then figured it was more trouble than it was worth.
In any case, you either believe that show quality is not always directly related to audience size or you don't. And if you believe it when your 'cast is small, then you better believe it as it grows. Everyone that listens to MTiH knows what a great show it is, and frankly (as a listener) I'd listen if you had 10 listeners or 100,000. Now as for sponsors, that's a whole different matter...
Posted by: Christy![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.opaquelucidity.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 25, 2006 08:36 AM
Self promotion brother! Self promotion!
Shameless self promotion!
Have no shame and promote!
Posted by: Sly at July 25, 2006 08:58 AM
I agree with Christy. I used to listen to Dawn and Drew for a bit in the begining, but for me they began to have the Howard Stern effect on me - nothing new, just the same ramblings show after show. It got old pretty quick.
5K is great - I'd bet that is more listeners than many radio stations get at a given point in time.
I've been listening to you regularly since early summer 2005 and plan to listen for as long as you do this!
Thanks to all of you.
Posted by: Matt_D at July 25, 2006 12:56 PM
No reason to hate on Stern. Same ramblings? He is on Sirius now with all new things going on. Just say you don't want to spend $13 a month to listen to him.
Posted by: Jomerica at July 25, 2006 06:04 PM
Congrats on the 5k milestone, you have more than earned it. You produce a great podcast with quality of content that is second to none. However, I doubt that your numbers will ever be as high as Dawn & Drew or Stern simply because there are fewer people who are interested in history than there are people who are interested in sophomoric antics. There is nothing wrong with what those people do, different strokes for different folks, but I'm not interested in it. And as far as spending $13 a month to listen to Stern, I didn't listen to him when I could get it for free on 102.1 The Edge here in Dallas.
It's funny to hear people talk about the size of a podcast's audience because for those of us in the audience it feels way more personal and one on one. There is no way for us to know if there are 10,000 subscribers or if we are the only one. More importantly, it doesn't matter how many listeners there are. I don't pick podcasts because it's what everyone else is listening to, I pick them because they appeal to me. I was talking to Christy the other day and she asked what 'casts I listen to and after I told her she said "oh, you listen to alot of mainstream podcasts". Maybe so but I don't listen to them because they are mainstream, I listen to them because they are really good. I've tried some of the more popular casts and didn't like them. I've also tried alot of the smaller podcasts and didn't like them either, lol.
Wow, this is like the longest post I've ever seen. So long in fact that I've completely lost track of my point, lol. I guess I will end it here. Again, congratulations Matt.
Posted by: FCastle25 at July 25, 2006 10:57 PM
JMD...I knew you could do it! I am so very proud of you and all you have achieved through this podcast. Love you!
Posted by: Kelli at July 26, 2006 04:11 PM
Jomerica, you posted on here just to reply to me and defend Stern? I stopped listening to him long before he went to sirius and I highly doubt he has all new things going on...they are just unedited. Being unedited I think I would grow tired of him even faster, but that's just me.
Posted by: Tim at July 26, 2006 06:40 PM