A couple weeks ago, Natali Del Conte announced that she was leaving the Textra podcast (and PodShow in general) to join the New York branch of CNET. This seemed like a blow to Adam Curry’s PodShow company (where my DC Derby iTunes stream is hosted), since it appeared like Curry had particular interest in making Del Conte the next big thing in podcasting.
A move like this is not uncommon in the podcast world. The most notable instance involved Amanda Congdon’s exit from the popular Rocketboom podcast to ABC News’ online endeavor (which she also recently left). Patrick Norton recently departed DL.TV for Tekzilla on Revision 3. Lonelygirl15 is another example of a podcast living and dying by its star/host (a Lonelygirl spinoff was released with another actress, but with much less success).
What this means for podcasting is that small, independent shows will have a much harder time sustaining success, because when they do succeed, bigger companies will poach their talent. Bigger companies don’t want to take risks hiring unknown podcasters & talent. They’re happy to sit back and acquire the shows/hosts that naturally rise to the top.
It’s not about the show, but rather the talent. Shows will come and go, but the talented podcasters will remain — just moving from company to company.
Case in point… CNET is the current powerhouse in video podcasting. Not only do they already have a stable of good shows, but with the addition of Del Conte and the just-announced acquisition of Revision 3 (which includes Patrick Norton from Tekzilla, Kevin Rose & Alex Albrecht from Diggnation, and other shows like The Totally Rad Show), CNET has just become home to the highest caliber podcasters in America.
CORRECTION: I just became aware that CNET TV is simply distributing Revision 3 content, and that CNET did not aquire the company Revision 3. It doesn’t change the point I was making, but I just want to make that clear. I assumed CNET bought Rev3 based on Tom Merritt’s twitter posts and the fact that Rev3 shows were showing up on the CNET TV website. Also, I’m not a journalist. I just blog about stuff I’m interested in. 
If the mention of all these names seems familiar to you, it’s because Norton, Rose and Albrecht all worked at TechTV. They join Tom Merritt at CNET, who was also a TechTV alumnus. I guess you could consider CNET a more mature reincarnation of TechTV. All of these people have been around the block in the last decade and are now prepared to dominate the podcasting space right when podcasting is becoming mainstream.
CNET is the perfect place to be right now.
While all of this might be good news for CNET, there are some potential losers with this news. While it pains me to say this, I think Veronica Belmont may have drawn a short straw by leaving CNET.
Belmont recently left the company to host a daily video podcast for Mahalo — an up-and-coming “human search” engine site. I had high hopes for Veronica, because I thought she was the most charismatic podcast host out there and had the greatest potential to succeed with her own podcast. Unfortunately, her joining Mahalo doesn’t seem to have been a good match. I thought it was too ambitious of her to do a daily podcast on totally random topics. First of all, a daily video podcast is hard work. In order to turn something around daily, you need a nice studio and a big staff who can create high-quality work quickly. Instead, Mahalo Daily looks low-fi and rushed. She should have started with a weekly podcast and made sure it was high-quality & polished. Another sign that her podcast might not last long is how it doesn’t have any connection with the Mahalo site, which it’s supposed to be promoting. I have personally never gone to Mahalo.com after watching the Mahalo Daily podcast. There needs to be some sort of compelling call-to-action at the end of her podcast to get viewers to visit Mahalo.com.
Veronica Belmont is a superstar. She really needs to focus her talent someplace where it makes sense and go to a company that can provide her with a bigger budget and a bigger production staff. Someplace like… CNET?
The other losers in this story are every other tech podcast out there that isn’t under the CNET umbrella. The Ziff Davis productions (like DL.TV and Cranky Geeks) are in trouble. I don’t see DL.TV lasting long without Patrick Norton. Cranky Geeks will still be great with John C. Dvorak as host, but he’s been hanging out with PodShow’s Adam Curry a lot these days. If he leaves Cranky Geeks, that show is over.
If I’ve confused you with all these names and companies that are intermingling, don’t worry. The podcast world over there in San Francisco is very incestuous. All the talent knows each other and has worked with each other over and over again. The same names and faces show up on each other’s podcasts each week.
Much like the movie industry, if you want to break into tech podcasting, it’s probably easier to do so in California. But instead of L.A., the city of choice is San Francisco. That’s where most of the Web 2.0 companies and industry conferences are. It makes it hard for podcasters outside that area (e.g., Cali Lewis in Dallas, TX) to stay as connected to their peers.
So, what does all this mean for me? Well, I’m an aspiring podcaster — both personally and professionally. Since I live in the Washington, DC area, it’s going to be really hard for me to show up on any of those guys’ radar. I do a sports podcast, not a tech one. The people I look up to in the industry wouldn’t have any reason to check out my podcast. I think that’s why I wanted to do the DC Tech podcast — simply to get noticed.
I think my best chance to get industry attention is through some sort of national (or global) recognition, like the Webby Awards. This week was the deadline for submissions for next June’s annual Webby Awards. I spent the $200 to submit my DC Derby podcast in the Online Video > Sports category. With any luck, I’ll be at the awards ceremony in six months, networking with the folks I mentioned above.
In the meantime, I also have the professional goal of establishing AOL as a provider of premiere online video content. If any Internet company has the potential to create a host of shows on myriad topics, it’s AOL. We have so many different channels at AOL, if we simply made one podcast per channel, we would dominate a huge portion of the podcast space. We’d be the CNET of the east coast — but not limited to tech news.
We already have tremendous brand recognition. We just need the support of upper management and the go-ahead to hire talent.
This entry was posted on Friday, December 14th, 2007 at 2:00 am and is filed under Podcasting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
[…] Michael Tolosa (my […]
[…] CNET Didn’t Buy Rev3 A blogger made an offhand mention of CNET having bought Revision3 that’s gaining some steam this morning. However, the story is […]
It is difficult to do a daily show, yes, but Rocketboom and me ( http://www.scobleshow.com ) have one. I don’t agree that you need a studio, either. Diggnation is two guys on a couch drinking beer and it’s one of the most watched shows (and is clearly the most watched show on Revision 3 so far). No expensive studio needed.
My show is daily and isn’t done in the same place at all.
You definitely don’t need a studio to do one daily show.. but if you want to do a slate of shows (daily, weekly, whatever), having a studio is a great way to do that in a cost effective way.
And no, Cnet’s not buying us
Jim Louderback - Revision3 CEO
Hi, Robert.
There are definitely exceptions, as you’ve mentioned. But you guys have also been around for a while and became established personalities early on. I think, as podcasting becomes more of a mainstream medium and the space gets flooded with more and more amateur content, the bar for acceptable podcast production is rising. For a new podcast to succeed, I think it will have to have compelling content and good production value.
That brings up the question: What makes a podcast successful? Is it the number of viewers? Or is it the amount of revenue it generates? Does a company-sponsored podcast just need to generate buzz and branding for the product? Or does it have to have a clear ROI?
I think, as online user-generated content becomes a legitimate alternative to television/mass media content, online shows will not only have to capture a more general audience (not just teckies), but will have to be well-produced and offer great content.
Then again, the Internet’s all about the long-tail. And as long as there is a niche group out there (like roller derby fans), a podcast can “succeed” by offering great niche content — regardless of the production value.
I think where Mahalo Daily stumbles is in trying to reach a general audience with niche production value. And also not successfully connecting the podcast with the brand. These things, of course, can be remedied.
(By the way, I love your book, Robert. It inspired me to try and do something similar at AOL. Thanks for your comment!)
Naturally, I have to respectfully disagree with your statements about Mahalo Daily. I think we have an extremely high level of production value, especially considering that we’re a daily.
Having a studio is a nice thing, but being out in the world and shooting is far more visually engaging. The show may also seem “random” to you, but that’s what the internet is… random. The tie that binds our show together is helping people sort through all the crazy stuff out there, and help them learn and discover new things.
Maybe not having a formula makes people uncomfortable. Personally, I think it’s exciting. Our audience seems to agree with me, considering the feedback we get.
And finally, CNET is a wonderful place to work (and they’re doing the world a huge service by exposing more great shows to their audience) but I’m enjoying my creative freedom very much.
Sorry for all the noise my blog post caused, Jim. I had no idea anyone was reading, other than my friends.
But you have to admit that it was a reasonable conclusion given what evidence I came across. I didn’t hear any announcements either way from CNET or Rev3 regarding the distribution deal. And to my knowledge, there hasn’t been a similar online video distribution deal before.
I dig your shows. Keep up the good work!
…and tell Alex Albrecht to revisit his stomping grounds in Vienna, VA. That’s where I live!
Hey, Veronica.
I’m sorry if my comments caused you any personal hurt. My analysis wasn’t meant to be personal in any way — although as the subject of my comments, I can see how it would be hard not to take it personally.
I think you and your show are great, personally. But, objectively, I think there are some changes you could make to ensure the ongoing success of the show (like considering the general audience’s expectations, and connecting the show more tangibly with Mahalo.com).
Just some constructive criticism from someone who’s rooting for you.
[…] blogger made an offhand mention of CNET having bought Revision3 that’s gaining some steam this morning. However, the story is […]
Wow. Sorry for the confusion. That 140 character limit does leave room for misunderstanding sometimes. But we’re stillvery excited to have Rev3 content on CNET TV, as well as Next New Media, GETV, and more!
Well….certainly has been a fun day over here
Bet you didn’t expect this when you woke up!
Totally.
Unfortunately for me, I don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.
[…] a recent blog post that created quite a stir among the San Francisco Bay Area podcasters, Michael Tolosa commented […]
We should celebrate independent ideas and voices wherever they come from. We hope for cream rising to the top but, as we see in TV and terrestrial radio, the gigundus corporations/consolidators really end up stifling creativity in favor of big money, not big ideas or mending an imperfect world. Podcasting should be better than that. We don’t need a podcasting equivalent of Clear Channel. That seems to be what too many wide-eyed entrepreneurs in new media are lookin’.
Michael:
Interesting article. Despite the Rev 3 buyout mistake.
I was very skeptical of Veronica Belmont leaving CNet and creating Mahalo Daily. However, I know now I was wrong. I think you might be mistaken too.
From my perspective, I think it was an excellent career move. What she’s doing at Mahalo seems like a great step because it gets her in front of the camera more and shows her versatility and getting out of the shadows and routine of what she was doing at CNet. Jason C. will have to work hard to keep her. No question she will be sought after because of Mahalo Daily. In her short time there, she’s advanced more and done more than she would have staying at CNet.
Also, I think production value is very good. Actually one of the better video podcasts, and I’m sure it will continue to improve.
Regards,
Greg