In this week’s podcasting news we learn some new data about podcast listening, Stitcher opens award nominations, Tom Scharpling almost got paid for The Best Show, and the A/V Club drops its top podcasts of 2013.
Tom Scharpling Turned Down a Salary at WFMU?
Current writer Andrew Lapin catches up with Tom Scharpling to discuss the end of his The Best Show in WFMU, which airs its final broadcast next Tuesday. Some newly revealed information includes the fact that the station offered Scharpling a salary. His show raises more than any other on WFMU, typically $200,000 per drive. But Scharpling turned it down because the station is “already down to the bone in terms of being solvent,” he told Current.
Evidently he didn’t want to be that guy, even though money was a big part of his decision to end the show. Anyone who has worked in community radio or another non-profit, volunteer-driven media outlet can understand the hesitantly about being paid for ostensibly the same work that the rest of your peers are doing for free. It’s a conundrum that I think community-supported media of all kinds needs to find ways to address that is consistent with its values. But in the absence of that Scharpling’s decision is quire reasonable.
Comedian Dave Hill takes over The Best Show’s timeslot in January.
Nominate Your Favorite ’casts for a Stitcher Award
Nominations are officially open for the 2nd edition of the Stitcher Awards. Podcasts make up a significant portion of the platform’s line up of shows and dominated last year’s awards. Stitcher is accepting nominations through December 22 and finalists will be determined based upon listener votes and Stitcher List rankings. Those finalists, 6 for each category, will be announced on December 31.
More Listeners Download Podcasts on the Go
Apple products still dominate podcast downloading and listening, and that activity is becoming more mobile. That’s according to some numbers put together by Michael Wolf at Next/Market Insights. He asked for stats from two major podcast hosting companies, Libsyn and Bluberry/Rawvoice, and both companies’ data show this trend, though Android devices are slowly gaining on Apple’s iTunes and native Podcast app.
A/V Club Shuffles the Deck for their 2013 Top Podcasts
The A/V Club named Comedy Bang Bang as its #1 podcast for 2013, unseating Marc Maron’s reign at the top of the list for the previous two years. The list was unranked in 2010, its first year. The are quite a few changes from last year’s best of. New additions include the Flop House and The Bugle tied at #5, #8 Harmontown, hosted by Community creator Dan Harmon, and #7 Welcome to Night Vale, which is arguably the year’s most talked about new podcast.
