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