Gary Andrews

A couple of weeks ago Chris Lee from Run Marketing kindly invited me to speak at an event he was running at Speed Communications on podcasting. It was a fascinating evening and I learned a fair bit from Chris, Kelvin Newman and Andy White, the other speakers. I focused more on the editorial side of what makes a good podcast. You can see my slides below.

On the night Chris suggested podcasting is something of a forgotten or neglected medium and I’d go along with this. Video is easier to produce than it’s ever been but it still demands your eyeballs, which is a crucial difference.

Audio – and this may be my radio bias coming out here is still a wonderfully creative medium to play with, and convenient as well. You can listen to it on your daily commute, at work or while doing the washing up. It’s also a great companion.

It may not be as sexy or as arresting as video either, but there is a huge capacity for growth, especially with the rise of smartphones. The potential users with the right delivery platform is growing and the software is easier to use than ever before.

Podcasting has also given radio a new lease of life. Many traditional media outlets offer their shows as a podcast, or as an extra to their more linear offering. In some respects, as with Radio Four’s excellent History Of The World In 100 Objects, it becomes almost the primary method of consumption.

And the chances are that the majority of the listeners to these podcasts aren’t really aware that they’re engaging with social media – to them, it’s just another way of listening that just happens to be more convenient for them. As one of my non-media friends told me, he now listens to his favourite shows on his phone rather than tuning in his radio.

We’ve seen how on demand services have transformed – and will continue to transform – television. With audio, the potential is even greater, in my view, due to the flexibility of the medium. As my fellow speakers all said, podcasting is currently an underpopulated medium. I don’t see it staying this way for long.

written by Gary \\ tags: audio, podcasting, podcasts, radio

The first twofootedtackle podcast went live today, and a lot of the week has been spent preparing for it. Now that we’ve got the first one out of the way, it should get easier (I’m already working, mentally, two weeks in advance on them).

On this week’s pod, my partner in crime Chris Nee and I, along with my old friend, colleague and sports journalist John Stanton, discuss… *deep breath*

The Carlos Tevez saga, Champions League, MLS, the Premier League title race, England internationals, AFC Wimbledon, Tooting and Mitcham, the fall of Charlton Athletic, and our favourite football blog posts.

Phew.

That’s quite a bunch.

In all honesty, we could have probably gone on for another hour, but I think we’ve got it just about right. John was an excellent first guest and hopefully he’ll be back on the pod at some point. I cannot wait for next week’s recording.

And I’ve still found time to squeeze out a Soccerlens piece on Scarborough Athletic. They were formed from the ashes of Scarborough FC and they’ve just won their first promotion. Go Scarborough.

I also have stuff I want to write on here. This has been somewhat disrupted by only getting a bit over three hours sleep last night due to an accident with my contact lens and my eyeball that required a trip to A&E. Fun times.

written by Gary Andrews \\ tags: AFC Wimbledon, Carlos Tevez, Charlton Athletic, football, football podcast, Manchester United, MLS, podcasting, podcasts, Premier League, Scarborough Athletic, twofootedtackle

Not around my waist, although I have recently gone up a trouser size.

So, in addition to this week’s Soccerlens column, which is mainly on Burton Albion’s title wobbles and includes references to Wilde and an impotence joke, there’s exciting news on the assorted football stuff I do.

As from next Tuesday (hopefully), my good friend Chris Nee and I will be producing the Two Footed Tackle podcast. Which is essentially chat about football, but hopefully an entertaining chat about football.

It’s not like this was planned. We’d both chatted about various podcasts we liked, he happened to mention he may have access to a radio studio, I mentioned my broadcasting background, and at that point we thought “why the hell not”.

It’ll be fun to get behind a broadcast desk again and even more fun to chat football for 40-odd minutes.

It’s very much a communal effort and we’ll be reviewing the big stories on the blogs as well as the papers, plus we’re hoping to get some guests, bloggers and general football fans, in the studio to counterbalance our witterings. Should be fun.

At some point in time, I should also be contributing (hopefully) to the excellent Soccerlens podcast, which is a couple of episodes old and a very good listen indeed. It’s also different to the one I’ll be doing with Chris, so you don’t get football fatigue.

It also means that all three of you who missed my dulcet tones after left the newsreading business will be able to get, um, aural pleasure from it again.

Or something.

written by Gary Andrews \\ tags: audio, Burton Albion, football podcasts, podcasting, Soccerlens, Two Footed Tackle