Earwolf sister network Wolfpop is here!

[Shannon 2953]

Shannon, our queen, Mother of Wolves.

 

I very much would like this on a tshirt

[robinsbruce 4985]

 

I very much would like this on a tshirt

 

How about that under a sweet drawing a la the army of darkness poster? But with you holding a keyboard or something clever.

 

Can anyone do this? I will pay to have this made.

[Bernard_Shakey 3484]

or a pillow embroidering?

[saddlebags 581]

Let's Be Frank: There are (at best) 100 regular participants in the Earwolf forums, whereas Comedy Bang Bang and How Did This Get Made? get at least 150,000+ listeners per week every week. If there are compelling logistical and/or financial reasons behind the split, I would not expect Midroll to cater their business strategy to a miniscule number of superfans (myself included.)

 

As far as I can infer, there are three reasons for the split. (Disclaimer: I am not a Midroll employee.)

 

1. Scott is too busy recording his own podcast(s), making 40 new episodes of the Comedy Bang Bang TV show, working on other TV development deals, and trying to have kids to oversee a slate of 13 new shows. Launching Wolfpop as a separate network means that literally all of the responsibilities that would fall on Scott's plate are instead handled by Paul. No part of the pre-existing Earwolf empire needed to change in order for Wolfpop to exist.

 

2. Earwolf's current infrastructure was built many years ago on a shoestring budget, and is fragile and difficult to maintain as a result. Have you ever noticed shows missing from iTunes or broken on Earwolf.com shortly after they drop? This is because July and Agata are posting them by hand, five days a week, after midnight PST, and they are only wolves human. This degree of manual labor is unsustainable in the long run, especially as the number of shows increases year over year. Wolfpop launched on a new content management platform that appears to be 100% divorced from Earwolf's existing infrastructure, and (I assume) has automated tools to make both production and consumption way more reliable.

 

3. Franchising. Once all the kinks are ironed out, Wolfpop can act as a template for future Midroll sister networks. I can imagine Wolftech, Wolftunes, and Wolfheart networks—each with their own curator like Scott or Paul—coming online using the same infrastructure. I would also expect Earwolf to eventually migrate to the new system, at which point these forums might be migrated or retired altogether.

 

But again, these are only inferences based on my 17-year career managing these types of projects, and not any information from Midroll themselves.

 

 

Yes, what you're talking about is called federation. But, again, my problem is that this is not what they're doing.

 

The network should be called Earwolf with federated sites beneath it. You could come to earwolf and see everything or go to the affiliate site to see only that content. And comments and etc should follow the show whether you view it on the network site or the federated sites.

 

As it stands now, the two are "sisters." Who's the authoritative site? Neither. Is there a place I could go to see all affiliated content? Nope.

[Kickpuncher 5011]

I just don't see the problem, or at least a problem that you or I should care about. Look at it as a fan and don't worry about their business strategy. If you don't like the set-up, then ignore Wolfpop and nothing in your life changes; based on yesterday's episode, it appears that HDTGM and UTU2TM will continue to be posted here. If you like some of their shows, then it's more good shows to listen to, and the fact that they're affiliated with Earwolf doesn't really make a difference.

[denimgremlin 1178]

Let's Be Frank: There are (at best) 100 regular participants in the Earwolf forums, whereas Comedy Bang Bang and How Did This Get Made? get at least 150,000+ listeners per week every week.

 

wow, I never thought about that comparison before but it's kind of mind boggling, especially considering how much influence these boards have on some of these shows.

[Ribs 89]

 

wow, I never thought about that comparison before but it's kind of mind boggling, especially considering how much influence these boards have on some of these shows.

 

1/1000th of the population when the population is that large is a pretty good sample, I'd say.

[saddlebags 581]

 

1/1000th of the population when the population is that large is a pretty good sample, I'd say.

 

For random samples that's true. But people who sign up and post are self selecting, so that doesn't matter. It's called a convenience sample and cannot be extrapolated to the larger population.

[DoctorGeniusPHD 135]

Holy shit you corporate FAT CATS at EARWOLF need to stop making me have TWO DIFFERENT forum accounts!@!!!!

[hypnotizingchickens 1025]

I'm starting to think saddlebags is a shill from a competing podcast network... because you seem to be the only person who gives a fuck about how this has all shaken out. they could put every single Earwolf/Wolfpop podcast on a separate website and I still don't think I or anyone else combined would devote as much time and effort into talking shit as you have. just because a website exists doesn't mean you are being forced to visit it. the new forum sucks, huh? DON'T USE IT. I haven't and, believe it or not, I'm still alive.

 

of course you have the freedom to speak your mind and I love playing devil's advocate as much as anyone, etc... but it's becoming pretty repetitive and starting to clutter this thread (and others) with gratuitous amounts of hate.

[Bernard_Shakey 3484]

 

For random samples that's true. But people who sign up and post are self selecting, so that doesn't matter. It's called a convenience sample and cannot be extrapolated to the larger population.

You know who I'd like to take a convenience sample of is that Jennifer Lawrence. She could extrapolate my large copulation. - Sorry, just tryin' to break the tension here.

[agata 2789]

Wolfpop launched on a new content management platform that appears to be 100% divorced from Earwolf's existing infrastructure, and (I assume) has automated tools to make both production and consumption way more reliable.

 

just jumping in to point out that this process is not automated, although that would surely make july's life easier.

[hypnotizingchickens 1025]

I'm hardly a person who checks stats (especially when it comes to podcasts), but I stumbled on the most recent top ranking podcast list on podbay and...

 

22 - I Was There Too

32 - Happy Sad Confused

34 - The Canon

35 - Off Camera

36 - Sylvester Stallone Podcast

43 - Maltin on Movies

48 - HDTGM

49 - Reading Aloud

64 - Denzel Washing Is the Greatest, etc.

 

 

I'm happy to see that Wolfpop is killing it... as Chuck D would say, DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE!!!

[Guest DainMiller]

Hey guys!

 

Adam just made a comment on the Wolfpop forums about U2 and HDTGM. You can read it here: http://generalwolfpop.wolfpop.com/blog/339595/hdtgm-and-utu2tm-will-be-moving-back-to-earwolf-so

 

In short, we are moving them back here in about a week. We wanted to bring them over to create a bridge in the networks, as we want you guys to feel at home. It did create some confusion though, for which we apologize.

 

All in all, we made Wolfpop so that we could express our creative arm in different and unique ways. But we will continue doing amazing things on Earwolf for as long as human history continues on for (I can only assume) and we will also be doing the same now with Wolfpop.

 

Also, just wanted to touch on a few other bits I read in this thread. We did make the migration to Stagebloc as a CMS due to the future benefits it will bring us. It currently is still a bit of a manual process to upload shows, but we are together working on some awesome things to make that more efficient and much less error prone.

 

Thanks for hanging in there guys! But you'll see your two Earwolf shows migrated back to their home by Tuesday of next week. And please feel free to leave questions and comments for us here! I completely forgot about this thread for a few days but now I've bookmarked it! So I will be sure to not miss anything

[BrettMorris 1859]

So how bout that Sly Stallone theme song, eh?

[robinsbruce 4985]

So how bout that Sly Stallone theme song, eh?

 

Nailed it. Really though.

[saddlebags 581]

I'm starting to think saddlebags is a shill from a competing podcast network... because you seem to be the only person who gives a fuck about how this has all shaken out. they could put every single Earwolf/Wolfpop podcast on a separate website and I still don't think I or anyone else combined would devote as much time and effort into talking shit as you have. just because a website exists doesn't mean you are being forced to visit it. the new forum sucks, huh? DON'T USE IT. I haven't and, believe it or not, I'm still alive.

 

of course you have the freedom to speak your mind and I love playing devil's advocate as much as anyone, etc... but it's becoming pretty repetitive and starting to clutter this thread (and others) with gratuitous amounts of hate.

 

 

I care because I want Earwolf to dominate and I love all the shows. It's frustrating to see something you love make some mis-steps in terms of branding confusion etc. Because I think it's going to hurt things in the long run.

[DoctorGeniusPHD 135]

 

 

I care because I want Earwolf to dominate and I love all the shows. It's frustrating to see something you love make some mis-steps in terms of branding confusion etc. Because I think it's going to hurt things in the long run.

Maybe it's just me but for me a podcast being on this or that network vastly pales in comparison to the talent or subject matter of the show. If it's interesting and worth a listen, people will listen -- regardless of where they get it from.

[HotSaucerman 2051]

Do yourself a favor, fellow Earwolf fan, go over to Wolfpop and check out "Maltin on Movies"--that show is great. I wish I had discovered it late and there was like 50-60 episodes in the archive. I can't wait for the next one. I'm on the same page as Leonard Maltin on just about everything and there's a great vibe with him and Baron Vaughn. Its a great movie podcast. Its actually about movies. Its not like Doug Loves Movies where you just get occasional mentions of movies in between all the comedy riffing.

[Casaba 5942]

So how bout that Sly Stallone theme song, eh?

 

Brett, you did that song? You did an amazing job creating a song that sounds like it could be from a Stallone film. I love it!

[saddlebags 581]

Maybe it's just me but for me a podcast being on this or that network vastly pales in comparison to the talent or subject matter of the show. If it's interesting and worth a listen, people will listen -- regardless of where they get it from.

 

Not really. In iTunes, for example, all the Wolfpop shows say "Earwolf Media" underneath them. So if you're new to earwolf/pop, you're going to google earwolf. You come to this site, none of the shows you just saw in itunes are listed.

 

At that point a lazy person might give up. The unclear demarcation/branding is a barrier to entry in many ways. The whole point of this is to grow the audience.

[DoctorGeniusPHD 135]

 

Not really. In iTunes, for example, all the Wolfpop shows say "Earwolf Media" underneath them. So if you're new to earwolf/pop, you're going to google earwolf. You come to this site, none of the shows you just saw in itunes are listed.

 

At that point a lazy person might give up. The unclear demarcation/branding is a barrier to entry in many ways. The whole point of this is to grow the audience.

 

But why would someone be googling earwolf to find more about a podcast they downloaded? My first thought if I wanted to find out about HDTGM would be to google the show, not the network. That would take you to the relevant website. Moreover every Wolfpop episode I have listened to so far has made mention at least once about their relationship with Earwolf, has mentioned that they are on the network Wolfpop, and all of them have a tag at the end explaining what it is. I don't understand where someone would find confusion. I saw Wolfpop popping up (fun to say that) and immediately looked into it; I had all my answers within minutes.

[BrettMorris 1859]

 

Brett, you did that song? You did an amazing job creating a song that sounds like it could be from a Stallone film. I love it!

yep, all me. thanks! i should post the full version at some point.

[Lex 5]

Brett, I had NO IDEA you made that theme song. I am in awe of it. And you. And it.

[AdamSachs 115]

Hey everyone, thanks so much for the excitement around Wolfpop. Our whole Earwolf/Wolfpop team worked super hard on it and it's been great to see all of the positive response.

 

As for new forums specifically, we really appreciate your patience as we've been working out the kinks here and there. I know that I personally find it frustrating to have to get familiar with a new interface after I've gotten so used to an old one. But our intentions are good! We moved to this new system because we're hopeful that it's ultimately going to be more engaging (ie you can comment directly on an episode page and that will connect with the forum topic, like Brett already mentioned) and easier to use. Ultimately, this Earwolf forum will transition to that interface too, but we'll be sure to maintain user accounts, posting history, etc. That means that your Wolfpop and Earwolf accounts will be ultimately be synced so this annoying double account scenario is only temporary.

 

And finally, thanks for continuing to listen to the Wolf Den. As CEO of Midroll Media, little matters more to me than driving Hollywood Handbook into the ground.