Timing Is Everything, Except When It Isn't

One thing podcasts aren't great at is covering breaking news. Take the Super Bowl, for example: Sure, you could have cranked out an "emergency podcast" the moment the game was over. Or whatever Trump's up to: You could do immediate reaction to whatever he's just tweeted. In those cases, you CAN do instant analysis, just like "real" radio.

But it's pointless, because the issue isn't about when you post a show, it's when people consume it.

Your post-Super Bowl show wasn't likely going to be heard until, at the earliest, Monday. Same for any Trump analysis: People won't hear it until later, and by then, the narrative may very well have moved on. Judging by how fast the news cycle has become, your right-on-time material might be horribly dated within a few hours. And for most podcasts, episodes will mostly be listened to within the first week, but there's still a lagging audience that will hear it months or even years from now. In that context, a podcast covering something that's in the headlines at this second won't serve as "evergreen" material. Too many episodes that will be dated within hours and your archive will be pretty pointless.

What to do? I would recognize the time frame limitation of on-demand programming and the way people use it and concentrate on what listener expectation would be. If they want up-to-the-second commentary, they're going to go to social media or broadcast. From you? They want your unique perspective, your take on things, and while timeliness is important, it's not the same as "breaking news" (even the CNN version, which tends to label things several hours old as "breaking").

So take advantage of those limited expectations. Round up what's happened since the last episode and offer your analysis and perspective without the need for doing instant reaction, because that's being handled elsewhere. Don't rush, because it's neither necessary nor expected. It's a different animal from broadcast, where being on top of what's happening now is paramount. Take a breath before you hit the Record button.

Got a question about podcasting? Go ahead, send it to psimon@allaccess.com or tweet it at @pmsimon. That's what I'm here for.