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Scott Aukerman

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Posts posted by Scott Aukerman

  1. Posted

    Dear Hot Chocolateman

     

    I value the network and agree it's worth five dollars a month. I'm just not sure how this will translate into new listeners? Can you speak on that?

    I sort of have, but i will point to WTF - taking early shows down had no effect on growing the show, and you could make a case that it helped to grow it.

    • Like 2

  2. Posted

     

    Can I say if feels morally wrong to me without sounding like a holier than thou jackass? Thats an honest question I understand you need to make money.

     

    For me I think the free service should have stayed as it was with the paid content built on top of it. I think that would have been more fair.

    I think maybe we're getting into the idea that artists (and all jobs) should be subsidized by the government, and everything should be free and distributed equally... which is not a problem is you believe it! But words like wrong and fair are a little weird to me when you're talking about capitalism and artists who want to make a living.

     

    BUT maybe you mean like you feel like it's a betrayal of trust between an artist and consumer? I think people can feel that way... I understand... one way of looking at it is "You gave me a free sandwich every day for six years, now you're only giving me half a free sandwich? Fuck you!" But if you're a parent, feeding your child, they deserve to eat as much as they need to become big boys! So it's a complicated issue, but one that I am interested in hearing your point of view on.

    • Like 11

  4. Posted

     

     

    Depending on what school of thought you subscript too mortality has no place in business, never liked that idea personally. Hope about just wrong? Putting the old episodes behind the paywall was the wrong thing to do. Adding value to the paid service by subtracting value from the existing free service is from a listener point of view wrong.

     

    It sounds like you're just saying, in your opinion, it's a bad business decision - not that it's wrong? That's kind of the pessimistic view of things. But I understand you are upset!

  5. Posted

    Any talk of getting old seasons of NNF (the pre-earwolf era stuff)?

     

    I look forward to actually being able to sign up, not sure why I am currently unable to do so, it just keeps bumping me back to the frontpage.

     

    I would like that - you should write to them and let them know you would!

    • Like 1

  7. Posted

    So is the six months thing a rotating thing, (as in, each week the episode from exactly 26 weeks before will be deleted) or will it be that the "archive" consists of all episodes of all shows pre-dating February 2015 to be changed at some other point?

     

    I think, like, every week a new ep will be taken down? That's just a guess.

  8. Posted

    Putting all archived ads behind a paywall seems much more alienating for a new listened then the alternative of "too much content." Most Earwolf shows benefit from starting from the beginning, so know you the inside jokes, and can see the personalities of the hosts and guests develop, the Howl app takes the ability to do this away, and is going to make recommending certain podcasts to family and friends much harder.

     

    Sticking to the alienation point, it seems like going to cut off a large portion of your listener-ship by not having an Android app available at launch. Just looked up smartphone market shares, and Apple is only 18% of the market compared to Androids 78%. If there is an Android app in development, wouldn't it have been best to wait to launch Howl Premium when that was released? If the Android app is not close to being released, what do you want Android users to do to get access to your backlog, which you mentioned earlier is going to start being removed today.

     

    I really like Earwolf, and hope everything work out for you, but this launch really seems rushed and not well executed.

     

    I respectfully disagree!

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    I have voiced my concerns on the CBB episode forum but I will say this here. Putting everything older than six months behind the paywall is wrong. It is an openly hostile move against people on the free tier. If you watch the CBB TV show and want to hear Fourvels podcast appearances? That will be $4.99. Lauren Lapkus points you to the origin of one of her characters on twitter? $4.99. Want to listen to a best of so you can see if this podcast is something you are even interested in? $4.99 thank you very much. It is exclusionary and wrong and never should have been implemented.

     

    Also Netflix, Amazon Prime, music streaming service of you choice, any twitch channel your are subscribed to, the list of online entertainment services that want your low monthly payment keeps growing and growing. I have seen this called the death by 1000 cuts and I frankly agree. This is getting harder and harder to swallow. If (as I suspect, might not actually be true) E.W. Scripps only bought Earwolfs parent company so it could implement this paid podcasting service I frankly resent it.

     

    We are not all made of money, iphones are expensive and as my grandmother said "a fiver is a lot of money if you haven't got it."

     

    Like, morally wrong?

    • Like 9

  10. Posted

    Gripes/wishes:

    • Android, as mentioned above.
    • All of my podcasts already sit comfortably in one app that I really like, although I'll certainly give Howl's app a shot (I already signed up for a Howl subscription). If we can either get password-protected RSS feeds for use in our non-Howl app, or the ability to import non-Howl RSS feeds into Howl, that would be ideal.
    • Providing the Best Of's of CBB for example as a way to invite new listeners is great, but perhaps also a rotating selection of other old episodes might be good? The Best Of's have a different feel to them that doesn't quite reflect what the show is, I think?
    • Other people have mentioned it, but I actively listen to and look forward to ads on HH and CBB, so maybe provide both ad supported and ad-free editions in the Howl app or something? I get that I could use the free versions to hear the ads on recent eps, but for like older HH and CBB that wouldn't work with this new system.
    • Resurrection of Video Podcast Network-type videos every once-in-a-whaaal.
    • (This might already be in the app, no idea), some sort of way to integrate with the fan wikis, or cross reference guests and characters in the app would be really really cool.

     

    I've talked about a rotating group of eps remaining free -especially if a sequel to something is released. We may try something like that!

    • Like 7

  11. Posted

    Mr. Scott, would it be possible to put up audio commentaries of the CBB TV show on Howl? You know, since the DVDs are postponed. Not necessarily the ones you already recorded. I'd like to hear commentaries for the seasons not released on DVD yet and for future shows. That'd be a cool thing to hear the day after the shows air. :) If you're too busy, you can just make Neil Campbell do it.

     

    That's a cool idea

    • Like 6

  13. Posted

    Well, this is interesting. I think it will have very minimal effect on how I consume Earwolf content (new episodes downloaded from the site, very little use of archives), but the SCLUSIES, and if it comes to pass, a better mobile interface than the site itself, might be worth it. If I did subscribe, I wouldn't do it until there is an Android app available, and also I'd feel kind of stupid for having bought a bunch of live episodes that are now included in this (I know this isn't really a legitimate complaint, but it's still frustrating).

     

    I do echo the comment above that an Android app should have been available at launch, and what I'd like to know (though I suspect Scott won't know the answer) is whether Midroll surveys or other tangible info sources show that the majority of Earwolf users use IOS devices, or if it's just due to the fact that everyone in the entertainment industry has an iPhone and seems to think that everyone else in the world has an iPhone.

     

    This is very unscientific, but i've found in the years we've been doing this, the android app is always the hardest thing to figure out. I have no info about HOWL's challenges in this area, but that's something I've noticed. No idea why.

  15. Posted

    Is there a timeframe on the Android app? I think that should have happened before this launch. We are really being left out in the dark on this one.

     

    Even if I were to pay for premium at this time, which I will eventually do, I have no means of listening premium content or archived podcasts at work, which is when 90% of my podcast listening takes place.

     

    I think it was a mistake to launch this Premium service before that app was released.

     

    Soon, from what I'm told. They don't want to give an exact date, so if a delay happens, no one will be upset. But sooner than you think, probably.

  16. Posted

    I have a question related to content - and I apologize if it's already been asked and answered.

     

    Earlier you noted that this move would help make it more financially feasible to create content. I get that. But I'm wondering who gets to approve what gets made under the Howl banner.... and how much of a role does the new ownership play in the development of shows? Is there to be a cancellation threshold? Or... a risk of being "noted" to death as it were?

     

    The new ownership has nothing to do with approval of any content... we do what we want, 100 percent.

    • Like 3

  17. Posted

    To clarify, the actual concept of a paid pro version that provides an appreciably superior experience (which Howl seems to strive for, and ought to get there one day) is something I fully support, especially if it helps to support the content creators and encourage smaller-listenership shows (I say that as someone who has donated way too much money to Hollywood Handbook).

     

    The things that confuse/upset me about this are:

    1) Breaking the old Earwolf experience (taking down old shows). Users who want to keep doing what they've been doing for free for years can no longer do that, and the explanation for why this is better for users makes no sense (more on that later). However, since I've already said that I would gladly pay for a subscription pro version, that shouldn't personally affect me, however...

     

    2) The new experience, though it could be better, is broken too (no Android support). While there are some additional new features/improvements to the advertised Howl experience (ad-free, more premium content), overall the current experience also features some major regressions. A complete lack of Android support and a lack of an ability to download (downloading in-app would be acceptable although not quite as ideal, but, again, completely broken on Android) show a misunderstanding of the user base or a lack of caring.

     

    3) Misleading/incomplete/unclear/dishonest explanation for why (1) had/has to happen. Explaining it away as a better new-user experience doesn't make sense. Scott, you yourself said *in this very thread* that you wanted to keep certain entire catalogs on Earwolf free specifically so that "as many people to listen to it as possible", which clearly contradicts the stated concept of "if we only allow recent episodes, more people will listen". I should mention that it's possible that you guys have done some research on this topic and come to the surprising conclusion, and if so then lots of my assumptions here would be unfair. However, with current information, the explanation appears wholly unsatisfactory.

     

    I think to clarify what i was saying about UTU2TM - it comes out so infrequently, if we took down the archives after six months, there would only be like two episodes available. So it would be harder to get people into it. The other shows come out once or twice a week.

  18. Posted

    Hi Scott: I actually find this incredibly exciting. I'm a podcast producer (former journalist and comedian) who has been studying the business side of podcasts a lot lately. I see Howl as solving some of the problems I have had trouble overcoming (monetizing experimental content, mini-series, etc.). Is Howl in a position to begin talks with producers such as myself about partnerships/collaborations or is it only focusing on its current catalog of shows/content?

     

    I'm not exactly sure of the process, but I would love that. Hopefully someone here will direct you?

  19. Posted

     

    Hi Scott - super excited about Howl and have been checking it out since last night. Just wondering if the paid archive exemption is a hard rule applying to limited run/infrequent shows, or just those two? Wasn't sure how to read this in terms of whether ADPP backlog will become Howl Premium only. Like will that, or Mike Detective, become exclusive to subscribers?

     

    Thanks!

     

    We are supposedly doing Mike Detective Season two for Howl, whenever we get the time.

    • Like 7

  20. Posted

    With Howl here now, how will you guys decide whether a new show is a Howl show or an Earwolf/Wolfpop show? Can we expect some upcoming Earwolf shows, or is most of the new stuff coming up going to be for Howl?

     

    Each platform will have great new stuff coming!

  22. Posted

    Have you talked to Matt about getting seasons 1 and 2 and the other paid episodes of Superego on howl?

     

    Also, I'm on Android so can't use the app yet to see if it already exists on ios, but will there be a way to download/cache episodes (with drm is fine) so that they can be listened to offline? I don't always listen to podcasts at home so what I normally do is download them in pocketcasts before going out, as mobile data isn't cheap where I live. This is a must for me.

     

    Since Matt is very involved in HOWL, I would imagine he must be considering it.

     

    Not sure about the other question - but Shannon would know more!

     

    That is all I can answer right now - I'll try to check in throughout the day.

  23. Posted

    Do you know if they are going to remove the ads from the older than 6-month Hollywood Handbook episodes as well? I enjoy the ads on HH, and I think other fans do as well. If I'm a premium subscriber, will I also miss the ads in new Hollywood Handbook episodes?

     

    This is an interesting question - I was thinking about this. It could be cool to save them in some situations, and put them up as bonus content? Even though I try to make my ads kind of funny, I think the goal is to give people an ad-free experience.

    • Like 2

  24. Posted

    Episodes *are* downloadable within the app, though. Like most streaming apps.

     

    Oh, so you can download them before you get onto a subway or something, where you don't get a signal? That would be cool. Sorry-- I'm a little confused about the details of how something is downloaded, etc. Again, I'm more of a "broad strokes" guy.

    • Like 1

  25. Posted

     

    It's just that going from free and downloadable (and listenable on airplanes, trains, foreign countries, etc.) to paid and streaming-only is a very clear user experience (UX) regression. Usually product decisions consider "UX" to be one of the most significant concerns (right next to revenue) and specifically UX regression (let alone literal content regression for some users, e.g. Android users) is kind of a sin and loses significant user trust.

     

    Better transparency ("Scripps wants more revenue, and we think the best compromise between keeping a *decent* free user/new user experience, introducing a *better* paid-user experience, and improving monetization is this model where we take down old content" as opposed to "No, don't you get it, it's actually GOOD for you not to be able to get old content as easily or as freely as you could for the past five years!") might sound worse but honesty will at least regain some of the lost user trust/user confidence from taking content away.

     

    This has nothing to do with Scripps - we've been planning this for months (maybe a year?) before we were ever talking to them.

     

    you can still download all the new eps and listen on androids to your hearts content! Sorry, some of that is too technical for me, still, so I apologize if i'm not getting your point about UXes.

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