The Program, my fiction podcast launched on HN, 5 years and 1M downloads later | Hacker News Reader

The Program, my fiction podcast launched on HN, 5 years and 1M downloads later

programaudioseries.com

30 pointsI-M-S10 comments

I launched my sci-fi anthology podcast The Program audio series right here on Hacker News.

The Program is now approaching its #1M download. I've been describing the journey how I got here in a series of annual reports, the latest of which I just released earlier today.

I write these reports the way I'd like to read them, which is to say transparently and (sometimes too) honestly. As such, I think there's some value in them for anyone else undertaking a similar creative endeavour. Hope you find it useful (and comment which of the 35 episodes is your favourite if you happen to listen to the show! ^_^)

I'm a listener since day #1 / the first Show HN five years ago. This is my favourite fiction podcast, by far. What started as "Black Mirror if it were a podcast" has grown to even more. I can't recommend this enough, the episodes are entertaining and almost every time thoughtful / thought provoking.

What hendi is too modest to mention is that his generous praise is only matched by his generous financial support for the show. I can only humbly thank you for both.

I don't know if you need to hear this, but i got up from a warm seat to type it so:

Adam Curry[0], who refers to himself as the podcast father, says that "download" numbers for podcasts are irrelevant. They do a 3 hour live show twice weekly, and around 2000 people listen live. Downloads don't count catching a repeat on a 24/7 stream, people group listening, downloading from other services (that may be faster or cheaper in their region), etc. If i can find a clip of him talking about it, and why advertisements make no sense for podcasts, i'll try and link it here for posterity. He usually talks about it every couple of years in detail.

They also labelled their model "Value for Value" - if you get value from their content, they would appreciate value back, in time, talent, or treasure. I think their hosting costs are essentially $0, their back-office stuff is $0, their album art, captions, and chapter headings cost them $0. People do it for them, and if anyone gets sick or dies or can't, people clamor to take over for the vacuum created.

anyhow, i hope this project brings you satisfaction and remuneration, if desired, congrats on sticking to something for 5 years!

[0] Not to be confused with Adam Carolla, who also claims to be first on the scene with podcasting. And interestingly, neither of them seems to recognize the name of the other, even though one was a VJ on MTV and the other was on a national radio program for a decade out of a studio in Westwood, CA.

Fret not, I fully acknowledge how downloads are mostly a meaningless metric in my reports :)

how's the rusty quill stuff going? do they provide good support?

he says in article that it is largest source of listeners, but I am not sure how they track it.

The audience survey I ran indicated that almost 50% of the listeners discovered The Program through RQ Network (most of them probably through the two feed drops on The Magnus Archives, their flagship show).

I wouldn't trust survey, chance that casual spotify listener bother to fill it is very low.

p.s.: big and loyal fan of your show!

70% of people who filled out the survey don't financially support the show, if that fits the definition of a causal listener.

Causal or professional, thank you for being a listener :)

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