TWiRT is on Vacation - Back in September!
Saturday, June 23, 2012 at 6:00AM My dear friends and colleagues,
On June 15th I got "the call". It was Lisa Kentzell, CEO of TWiT Network, calling to let me know that several shows on TWiT.tv are being cancelled. TWiRT was one of those shows.
I've always considered it a real gift that Leo encouraged me to begin the TWiRT podcast in the first place. While in Petaluma about 3 years ago, installing Leo's first Axia console, I asked Leo out to lunch and described my belief that a podcast for radio/audio engineers would have a great, albeit niche, audience. Leo encouraged me to start doing the show and, if it sounded good, he'd put it on TWiT.tv. Twenty episodes in, I got the green light from TWiT; they'd produce the video version of TWiRT. About a year later, Leo and TWiT made our podcast - along with several others - part of the TWiT family, including hosting and distribution. And that's where we've been for over a year now, enjoying all the clout and distribution benefits of being part of the TWiT family every week.
For all the above, I'm very grateful to Leo, Lisa Kentzell, and others on the TWiT.tv staff.
Leo, thanks everso for the opportunity to share making some good content with you and your team. I'm always grateful for that, and the TWiRT co-hosts, Tom Ray, Chris Tobin, and Chris Tarr, have enjoyed this chapter as well.
;)
So, what's next? The way ahead isn't perfectly clear. Here's what we know and what we're thinging about:
- TWiRT will take a hiatus for a couple months over the summer. I've been asked to travel to Asia twice this summer, and I need to install some Axia consoles at my stations in American Samoa (KKHJ-FM and WVUV-FM). Whatever we do for restarting a radio tech show, we'll start doing it in September, 2012.
- When we restart in September, the format may be different. We might do a 30 minute show. Or we might keep doing the 60 minute show, but not every week. Here's where we could use your feedback.
- TWiT.tv assures me that all the past episodes will be available at TWiT.tv for the foreseeable future.
- This web site, www.thisweekinradiotech.com, will once again be the definitive place for new episodes and information about TWiRT. We'll make some improvements to the site - things I'd been putting off as TWiT.tv had been hosting the episodes.
When we restart TWiRT in September, what changes (if any) would you like to see?
- Length of the show?
- More guest appearances? Fewer? Same?
- Show frequency? Weekly? Bi-monthly?
- Is video important to you? If so, is YouTube OK for storage and distribution of shows?
- Should we associate with another podcast network, or simply stand alone?
- Other comments, ideas?
Please post your comments below.
Thanks for your support and friendship!
Kirk
Reader Comments (43)
I really love TWiRT and I would hate to see it come to an end. As for the weekly show or not, that is something you should decide yourself. What I would like to see is more on the 'computer'-side of things. Like the playout-systems and what not. Also, overhere in The Netherlands, we don't 'do' our own towers, that's a completely different world. Maybe you can do one or two shows on how things are done in other parts of the world.
As for the show: keep up the good work. I myself am a computer-engineer working in broadcasting and I love the show. It gives me the change to learn 'the other side' of radio!
Jaap Fresco
The Netherlands
I was saddened to hear that TWIT had to let go of TWIRT... but that's how things go, I guess.
I'm a Web Developer and Computer Guy for a group of 5 stations (so I'm not actually an engineer but I do help out our Chief Engineer when he's in a jam!). I absolutely love the show and would hate to see it go away. I think 30 minutes wouldn't be enough to get deep enough into the topic... it should definitely stay as a 60 minute show.
Keep up the great work... I can't wait for the show to return in September!
Keep it mostly the same. I will say that there are some of us who are working in TV listening. I moved from radio to TV in 1998. So if you wanted to include some discussion of television that might be nice as long as you don't run off all the radio guys.
Keep it weekly an hour is good, I'm going to miss the show during the time off
I came late to the TWiRT party and couldn't always watch live but have been an avid listener since discovering it. Radio isn't my field and I didn't understood all of what was being discussed but the content was always so compelling. Knowledgeable hosts who clearly love what they do made each episode a joy to listen to.
If the show is not able to make it back in some form or another, thank you for all the hard work put into making it what it was.
P.S.
Video is the way to go, if for no other reason than it gives us a chance to gaze upon the magnificence that is Kirk Harnack’s hair. :)
I have really enjoyed (and learned from) your show every week. I hope you are able to keep up the good work. I think audio-only is fine. Hey, you ARE radio guys! I am now following you on Twitter and I look forward to finding you in the fall.
I really like TWIRT and will be waiting in Sept for the new shows.
I worked in broadcasting for about 8 years
If you can stay the same format Video so we can see what you are explaining, one hour or so, that way you can get down and explain everything. and make it easy to get. I use Itunes and listen during my morning walks.
When I found your show on the TWIT network I thought why a group of Broadcast Engineers are on a geek network?
GOOD LUCK with the show and have fun this summer
see ya in the fall
Tom
KC0VII
I look forward to the return of This Week in Radio Tech but I will be glad that you are not part of the TWiT group. I used to like This Week in Tech and listened until I realized that they are Californian perverts and pervert sympathizers. They are people that I used to trust but I do not trust them anymore.
The second issue with This Week in Radio Tech is that there is too much goofing around, for example: someone mentioned brass balls and then there was an immature assumption that it was a sexual term. "Testicles" would be a sexual term. "Sperm" would be a sexual term. "Brass Balls" would be two or more spheres made of an alloy of copper and zinc. Be adult while recording the program but do record the program again...and again in the future. Make this a family friendly podcast, please.
The third issue is you mostly talk about broadcast radio. How about other radio? Short Wave listeners could enjoy your talking about HF broadcasting and its issues. Maybe you could feature various types of antennas? Quad antennas and variations would be amusing for several minutes or tens of minutes. A quad mounted in the focal plane of a corner reflector would be interesting to test. What about various exploitations of Part 15 for low power communications? What about replacing WiFi with WiMax in wireless routers? What about telling us about the tech behind the TriSquare eXRS transceivers? Tell us about Ultra Wide Band (UWB) radio. Tell us about Amateur radio. Tell us about DRM and iBiquty Digital radio. If you do not have video that is OK with me just enter images into the record by saying "this is image one" or "this is image two" so we can go to the webpage and see or download the image and look at it when it is being referred to. If you offer video then you should offer a reduced video quality version so those who do not require 480 pixel tall video would be able to get 360 pixel tall video or even 240 pixel tall video. I look forward to your return...All of youse guys, and I mean it. ;-)
I love the show the way it was and hope it can return exactly the same. I especially love the war story episodes as I am broadcast engineer and love hearing about others crazy and unusual experiences. I would second what Tim said about having more discussions about TV or at least video as everything seems to be going the ways of audio AND video.
Sad... Maybe a bit of publicity would have helped. There are a lot of broadcast engineers and enthusiasts. I found the show by accident; how many potential viewers didn't know the show existed!?
I wouild like to see the New Show a continuation of the Old Show; hopefully in a video format.
Have a great summer -- see you in the fall!
I really enjoy the show and will miss it over the summer. I hope you are able to do a weekly show again, even if it is only in MP3 format.
Thank you for teaching and entertaining me. I am grateful for the time and effort you put into it.
I have enjoyed TWIRT from the beginning. I have listened to or watched just about every episode. I hope it will continue in some form. I especially like the war stories episodes. An hour or hour and a half show would be great. It would be nice to have video, but if you didn't, I would still listen. Hope to see the gang in September.
To save bandwidth you should use AAC at various bit rates and sample rates. I always convert your MP3 64 kbps/44,100 Hertz download to AAC at 48 kbps/24,000Hertz or more recently AAC HE at 40 kbps/32,000 Hertz. How much does the bandwidth cost you? Give us the option of various formats and save some money. I look forward to your return.
I really enjoy your podcast. I almost always only download just the audio. Whatever you do please make it so i can download it for offline consumption. I have already had to quit listening to another podcast because they switched to a streaming only model and i can't stream. The format is fine just like it is. I will not say anything negative about Leo and TWIT but this move with some of the others done at the same time makes me concerned that they may be trying to focus to much on a how-to network versus the one I like where it is more for information and entertainment for a wider computer and science technology oriented audience. I just hope this new focus works for them and I hope all goes well with all of your future endeavors. Thanks.
I just recently started listening in the past few weeks. I enjoy the technical discussion, learning something new and it's a bit of nostalgia reminding me of a radio host I used to listen to when I was younger.
I'm in no way your target audience, so I'd be hesitant to give you my thoughts as they would probably conflict with the people you want to speak to the most.
So I will just say I hope you do continue, and I will be sure to subscribe wherever you land. I'm really sorry it didn't work out at TWiT, many other good shows were lost too. It's very unfortunate.
It's a pity TWiRT had to get the boot, but such is life. I personally really rather enjoyed the show, despite not being a broadcast engineer or anything like that.
As for the future, youtube would do just nicely, with one minor issue, for me at least: I never get around to watching stuff that I need to keep a browser up for (especially when I need to run flash). The automagic downloads via the iTunes feed is so practical for those lazy people, like me, who can't be bothered to actively seek stuff out.
When it comes to the matter of format, personally I think it's pretty much fine just the way it is...or was. If I were to change anything, I'd say more on-location video (where applicable). Mostly because I'm a huge nerd and enjoys peeking a look at facilities I have no business looking at. However one thing I dare say I absolutely wouldn't want you to change, is the advert-policy. Adverts is a must to keep things going, unfortunately. And host announcements is, in my opinion at least, the least annoying form of advert you can have on a show (in fact, I think I've either had a great laugh, or the urge to check something out on the website, every single time Mr. Harnack read an ad for the show sponsors. And as previously stated, I'm not even in the industry).
Either way, I hope the show stays on for many many years to come. Because it's not only dang interesting to watch, it's also highly amusing.
I enjoyed the show every week.
Hope it stays the same; one hour video with Chris, Chris, and Tom.
It's rare when a guest helps the show. He's got to be a true pioneer.
I'm an engineer. It great to see how the pros do it (past and present).
Keep going! The longer and more frequent the better! YouTube is fine, but you should offer a downloadable audio version at least.
With your audence, there are probably dozens of people that would love to help produce the show, I am one of them.
I am not an engineer, or ham, but listening to this show has sparked an intense desire in me to get into the field. And I am studying for my ham license now.
Thanks Kirk, and hope to see you soon!
I looked forward to TWiRT every week. I think that the existing weekly-video AND audio worked well, however many have moved to providing some video-only shows as often there are things that can not be done via audio-only. YouTUBE is a fine medium, however some (myself included) like to watch the show on a media player so a .avi/.mpeg/etc is always a bonus.
Personally, the best part was always the demos/tours or real gear and implementations. If you guys wanted to do a mix of ad-hoc submissions that would be fine too. If it's just a discussion then an audio-only show is fine, however if it is a demo then do a video-only? Up to you. This way also allows for more frequent submissions as the 4 hosts can submit content on their own time if doing something solo...
If there is anything I can do to help make this easier for "y'all" let me know.
Hi Guys.
I know TWIT had to cancel some shows but I am sorry TWIRT was one of them.
Maybe they will reconsider but I doubt it..
Anyway, I'd say keep the format almost the same - you had a good tight team and I enjoyed the co-hosts views.
Keep it weekly, video and audio editions and around an hour.
I will be watching with interest here in Scotland, UK as always!