The nice people at the Canadian Podcast Buffet interviewed me this week and you can listen to the interview on their podcast.
The CPB is a podcast about Canadian podcasting. The interview focuses on my transition from audio podcsting to video podcasting or "vlogging," as the kids call it.
Friday, November 24, 2006
CREDIT: Geoff Howe / CP
Stars of the CTV series Corner Gas, from left, Gabrielle Miller, Brent Butt and Nancy Robertson.
CTV says the hit comedy series Corner Gas has secured a U.S. distribution deal with American cable network Superstation WGN.
The two-year, 88-episode deal with the Chicago-based network will make the series available in nearly 70 million U.S. homes beginning in 2007.
CTV also announced Corner Gas is now licensed internationally to broadcasters serving 26 countries, including Australia, Iraq, Finland and Morocco.
Brent Butt, the star, creator and producer of Corner Gas, says in a statement he is "very excited about both the international and the U.S. deals."
He says "we get so much American programming up here in Canada, it's nice to be able to give a little something back."
RELATED VIDEO: James's bit part on Corner Gas
This week's edition focuses on French fries in the fast food world. What's good, what's not and what's in the various coatings they put on their taters these days.
The Sandwich of the Week is the A & W Whistle Dog.
Plus join us for all the latest fast food news headlines and analyses.
Labels: fast food news podcast
CBS is crediting YouTube for helping increasing the audiences of its late-night TV shows starring David Letterman and Craig Ferguson. In the month since the network's been posting clips to YouTube, Letterman has added 200,000 viewers (5%) while Ferguson is up 100,000 (7%). The TV network has uploaded 300 clips which have had 29 million views.
"Although the success of these shows on YouTube is not the sole cause of the rise in television ratings, both companies believe that YouTube has brought a significant new audience of viewers to each broadcast," CBS said.
A news release included a quote from the new president at CBS Interactive, Quincy Smith, which was easily comprehended by an MBA. "Professional content seeds YouTube and allows an open dialogue between established media players and a new set of viewers. We believe this inflection point is the precursor to many exciting developments as we continue to build bridges rather than construct walls."
Snipped from: 17 million have downloaded podcasts - MarketWatch
(CBC.ca) Only one per cent of internet users are downloading a podcast on a typical day, despite heavy buzz surrounding the multimedia file distribution phenomenon, according to a new survey.
Some 12 per cent of internet users say they have downloaded a podcast so they can listen to it or view it at a later time, up from seven per cent between February and April, the study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found.
The telephone survey of 2,928 adults was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates between Aug. 1 and Aug. 31 for Pew, a non-profit research group that examines the social impact of the internet.
The survey also found that men are more likely than women to download podcasts, with 15 per cent of online men responding they had downloaded one, compared with just eight per cent of online women. The margin of error on the sample is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Those who have used the internet for six or more years are twice as likely as those who have been online three years or less to have downloaded a podcast, the survey also found.
More: Podcasting download volume lagging behind buzz: survey
It's been a busy day here at the ReginaRadio.com World Headquarters. I just finished a phone interview with a U. of Regina journalism student about my podcasts and the cultural phenomenon of portable media. Those 20 year-old journalism students are some hyper, let me tell you.
Last night I had the honour and pleasure of speaking to the Guru of Canadian Podcasting, Mark Blevis, host of The Canadian Podcast Buffet and Electric Sky. He interviewed me for an upcoming segment on the CPB regarding my use of video simulcasting on YouTube to expand my listening audience.
It was great to speak to Mark after hearing him talk about podcasting for most of the last year and interacting with his show. However, I think I tuned out from time to time because hearing his voice made me think I was listening to his popular podcast rather than talking to someone live on Skype.
As well as cohosting his podcast on podcasting, Mark has a widely-popular interview podcast. He's interviewed dozens of interesting people, too numerous to mention, some famous, some infamous. Using his experience as an interviewer, he threw a couple of curve balls at me which I found hard to answer.
At one point he read me a supposed quote about me thinking I was more important than the medium and basically that I was a publicity slut. It was like there was a little James on my shoulder telling me these things because it may be how I in fact (guiltily) feel about what I'm doing. Perhaps I've just gone mad and he didn't read me that quote after all. If so, my answer must have sounded particularly strange.
I come from a different world than most podcasters. I'm a comic actor/writer/producer who has had it with being in TV network development hell for 12 years and wants to do his own thing. My goals are different from those of most podcasters. I'm not happy just having an audience because I've had an audience of 10,000 or more on local television and close to one million during my short one season stint on Just for Laughs. For me to feel like I'm making it in podcasting, I have to have a large enough audience to monetize my efforts or use it as a stepping stone to something more lucrative.
Having said that, I enjoy the personal aspect of podcasting. I enjoy meeting new people, sharing and unloading a few personal aspects of my life to others, even if I do embellish for comic effect. Interacting with other people in the podcasting community has been great and there's nothing like the personal connection listeners have to me because it's a podcast from my bedroom and not a commercial enterprise where I'm one piece of a large puzzle with no audience interaction. I also like the physical anonymity of audio podcasting. I used to get freaked out when I'd walk down the street and people I didn't know would recognize me (it still happens several times a week, but nothing like it used to be.)
It's also cool to have world-wide distribution with podcasting. I haven't quite figured out my appeal in this culture, let alone foreign ones, but maybe I will one day if I keep it up.
A year ago, Mark was listening to all 120 Canadian podcasts. That is insane, of course, but what dedication he had preparing for the launch of the Canadian Podcast Buffet. Mr. Blevis also co-organizes the annual podcast convention in Kingston, Ontario called Podcasters Across Borders.
Mark and Bob, the people behind PAB and CPB always seem hurt when I say I can't attend their big event in Kingston each year. It's like they're having a party on the other side of town and I tell tell them I've decided to stay in that night and watch television while eating Cheese Doodles in my pajamas. I guess all other Canadian podcasters are independently wealthy or something. They're all my age, late thirties or more, and they should be wealthy, but I'm not. I'm a starving artiste. Actually, I'm anything but poor but I'm far from being able to afford the grand it would take to fly my ass out there and party with my podcasting friends for two days each June. it's certainly not because I don't want to, I'm just fiscally-challenged this life, that's all.
Labels: podcasting
Saskatchewan's politics have entered the YouTube era, with parties posting rival clips on the popular video-sharing website, including of cabinet ministers with protesters.
French fries are back on the menu in the US House of Representatives, three years after the name was ditched in favour of "freedom fries".
House Republicans renamed fries and French toast in 2003 to protest at France's opposition to the war on Iraq.
The patriotic name change hit the headlines at the time but the change back is getting much less coverage.
A House official would only say that fries are no longer being offered under the "freedom" nomenclature.
The Washington Times newspaper contacted aides of the two congressmen behind the move to "freedom fries" to see if they could shed light on the change back.
"We don't have a comment for your story," a spokeswoman for Republican representative Bob Ney told the newspaper.
Story: BBC NEWS | World | Americas | French fries back on House menu
Canadian indie band Uncle Seth are set to "simulcast" a live concert in Second Life. The band's real life performance on November 25th at C'est What in Toronto will have a real-time mirror in the popular community-build virtual world.
Competition among fast-food chains for the breakfast dollar is getting as hot as a griddle.
Jack in the Box and others are bolstering their breakfast menus to pick off market share from breakfast king McDonald's, which makes nearly one-third of its sales to customers in the dawn hours.
- Jack in the Box has added buttermilk biscuit sandwiches and Minute Maid orange juice to its menu.
- Wendy's, which had a previous failure with breakfast items, is test-marketing breakfast in three markets.
- Starbucks is offering warm breakfast sandwiches at selected locations in six markets.
- And fast-food breakfast leader McDonald's is considering serving breakfast all day long at its 13,700 stores.
Story: Greater Paramus News and Lifestyle Magazine - Fast-food chains expanding morning menus
(Reuters) - The long-rumoured arrival of a hybrid mobile phone and iPod music player from Apple Computer Inc. has morphed from a question of "If" to "When" among fans and analysts.
Story: Mac fans buzzing about expected Apple "iPhone" | Technology | Internet | Reuters.co.uk
I am pleased to announce that the ReginaRadio.com Blog is now a part of the SaskBlogs Aggregator.
The Regina Radio Blog is your source for news and updates on our audio and video comedy podcasts, as well as personal thoughts from me, James Whittingham, from time to time.
Our current podcasts: JamesPod comedy show (audio), JamesPod vlog and the Fast Food News audio podcast (alternate Thursdays).
Dave and Isabelle from the recently-defunct Broca's Area Podcast will indeed be traveling to Kingston, Ontario this spring to attend Podcasters Across Borders.
"We will be going to PAB actually, I will be (assuming Mark and Bob like my idea) presenting a talk," said Dave, a podcasting professor at Algoma University in Sault St. Marie, Ontario.
I look forward to once again restarting my quest to expose Nova Scotia podcaster Bruce Murray (The Zedcast), currently known as the "nicest person in podcasting." We'll see about that!
Now, if you have any connections to service personal working at Kingston hotels, please contact me. I also have open positions for surveillance, hooker/photographers, and garbage investigators.
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD JamesPod 44
Labels: audio podcast, jamespod
It's been a tough week and I think that is reflected in this week's video podcast. Due to technical problems there will be no JamesPod audio podcast this week. But stay tuned for Fast Food News Podcast coming later this week to ReginaRadio.com.
My video podcasts have their own feed and page on the iTunes music store. See below for details.
video
This week's edition of the Fast Food News Podcast will focus on French fries. Jay takes a deep look into the coatings various fast food restaurants put on their taters.
Scheduled for Thursday at ReginaRadio.com. Do you have anything to say about Fries? Sends us a Skype voice mail message, see the links on the right column or drop us a line at fastfoodnews@reginaradio.com
In what was a fitting cap to a terrible week, bogged down in technical difficulties, James will release a representative video podcast Sunday afternoon. This week's video will be different than the audio podcast due to technical problems. Stay tuned!
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