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Scott Aukerman

QUESTIONS FOR SCOTT RE: HOWL

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What I find odd is that this move apparently has nothing to do with the takeover by E.W. Scripps. Then why are we only able to listen to Earwolf through Howl (owned by E.W. Scripps) in the future?

 

We're NOT only able to listen to Earwolf through Howl. New episodes will come out as normal on all of your podcast apps.

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What I find odd is that this move apparently has nothing to do with the takeover by E.W. Scripps. Then why are we only able to listen to Earwolf through Howl (owned by E.W. Scripps) in the future?

The first time I ever talked to Jeff Ullrich on the phone (June 2012), we spoke at length about the idea that would eventually become Howl. (And also, incidentally, the idea that would become Midroll.)

 

The Howl trademark was filed on February 21, 2015 and the Howl app debuted in the App Store on May 12, 2015. Both are registered to Subscription On Demand Audio, LLC.

 

Back when Howl initially launched, it made zero business sense for Midroll to enter into a crowded podcast app market without a differentiator in the form of exclusive content and/or in-app purchases. The writing was on the wall months ago, especially after Bob Ducca spilled the beans in his final (since-redacted) episode of Affirmation Nation.

 

The E.W. Scripps acquisition had nothing to do with Howl.

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The E.W. Scripps acquisition had nothing to do with Howl.

How much did Howl have to do with the E.W. Scripps acquisition? If E.W. Scripps did not acquire Earwolf, was the planned release date for Howl premium still today, or would it have been refined more and released at a later date?

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How much did Howl have to do with the E.W. Scripps acquisition? If E.W. Scripps did not acquire Earwolf, was the planned release date for Howl premium still today, or would it have been refined more and released at a later date?

As indicated in my signature, I'm not an Earwolf employee, so I have very little visibility into the inner workings of the company. I didn't know Howl Premium was launching until the App Store update dropped yesterday morning.

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The first time I met Ronnie Hog he whispered into my ear that he had just met Jeff Ulrich. I was so overwhelmed by his words that I didn't even notice him taking my wallet out of my back pocket. Looking back, it was worth it.

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As indicated in my signature, I'm not an Earwolf employee, so I have very little visibility into the inner workings of the company. I didn't know Howl Premium was launching until the App Store update dropped yesterday morning.

Alright I figured you might have know at least a little bit since you've been discussing it with Jeff since 2012, hopefully Scott can shead some light.

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The first time I met Jeff Ulrich he looked me in the eyes and told me about his plans for a subscription based podcast service.

 

Interesting. The first time I talked to Jeff Ulrich he said, "who are you?" and "why are you standing at my door?" The rest is fuzzy and he might or might not have said, "I don't understand how you guy my address!?" "I have called the cops", "I will cut you", and so on and so forth. Long story short, after some nice chats we established a minimum distance I needed to be away from him and that that was WELL before the Scripps deal.

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Interesting. The first time I talked to Jeff Ulrich he said, "who are you?" and "why are you standing at my door?" The rest is fuzzy and he might or might not have said, "I don't understand how you guy my address!?" "I have called the cops", "I will cut you", and so on and so forth. Long story short, after some nice chats we established a minimum distance I needed to be away from him and that that was WELL before the Scripps deal.

 

I wish I could Like this comment a thousand times.

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the first time i met jmo he told me ron hog had just met skeet ulrich and i said "whoa, can i borrow $5?" but he lost his wallet

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Alright I figured you might have know at least a little bit since you've been discussing it with Jeff since 2012, hopefully Scott can shead some light.

The fact that hosts (Bob Ducca, Howard & Kulap, the Sklars) have been hinting at/outright naming the service for months suggests that they were planning on launching it even sooner than they did, but held off because they wanted to 1) flesh out their catalog with premium content that would available at launch, 2) finalize deals with third parties like Marc Maron and AST Records, and 3) fix bugs.

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Scott,

 

Thanks for taking the time to talk to the fans. A lot of us are pretty emotional about all of this, and it means a lot to have our comedy hero listening to our concerns, even if they can't all be solved. I for one have a lot of emotions today. My voice is starting to change, and my body is going through a whole bunch of changes. The boys at school that I used to think were yucky and gross, I look at them and I feel...something different. I can't put my finger on what it is, but I sort of want to just touch their butts all day and never stop. Like Tony Scatino, he used to always call me a little piggy, but now he just kind of stares at my chest in class with this weird look on his face. Such a creep! But I kind of like it...Then, something happened in my underwear today that was so gross, I won't even post about it here. My mom says it's normal, and it happens to all young girls, but to me it's so scary and new and I just don't feel like I'm ready for all of it. God, I have to get my picture taken for the yearbook next week, and I've got this HUGE pimple right in between my eyebrows. I'm gonna look like an Indian girl! And that's not racist, they really do have those little dots.

 

Anyway, I've got some emotions about this Howl thing as well, but it's been pretty well covered, so I won't waste your time.

 

Luv ya,

j.p.

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Why do all the episodes that I am downloading (just because....) now end with "FREE"? This makes me think/hope old eps might remain up for a while?

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The fact that hosts (Bob Ducca, Howard & Kulap, the Sklars) have been hinting at/outright naming the service for months suggests that they were planning on launching it even sooner than they did, but held off because they wanted to 1) flesh out their catalog with premium content that would available at launch, 2) finalize deals with third parties like Marc Maron and AST Records, and 3) fix bugs.

 

But didn't hold off until an android platform was available. I know I'm beating a dead horse, but once the back catalog is taken down, I wouldn't be able to listen to my favorites even if I was a paid subscriber (since I can't sit at my desktop to listen to podcasts).

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The sixth time I talk to Jeff (October 2024) I will ask him to remember the first time I called him (June 2012) to remind him of the promise he made to me (Veterans' Day 2002) to start up the idea I came up with (1998?) for Howl. Really looking forward to that.

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Why do all the episodes that I am downloading (just because....) now end with "FREE"? This makes me think/hope old eps might remain up for a while?

According to Engineer Brett on Reddit, they've been producing two versions of every show (with and without ads) for over a year. The other ad-free version probably has a different suffix.

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Will we still be able to download the new episodes (or the episodes from the past 6 months) from Earwolf.com, or will the website itself only allow streaming?

 

Also, will it be just the CBB Best of episodes that will remain up, or will other shows' Best ofs still be available?

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According to Engineer Brett on Reddit, they've been producing two versions of every show (with and without ads) for over a year. The other ad-free version probably has a different suffix.

 

:(

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Great fuckin ep of Hollywood Handbook last week.

 

sorry i got lost

 

oh no this is the right place

Edited by souprman
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The first time I spoke to Jeff Ullrich was November of 1963. It was right around Thanskgiving. I had a lot of work to do at the book depository that day in preparation for the impending school break. I was up on the 6th floor, depositing some books when I encountered a man, sitting by a window. When he saw me he gave a warm smile and said, "working hard, or hardly working?" I just smiled, politely, and continued depositing my books. I could feel his gaze on me. A cold chill that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, even in the stifling heat of an un-air conditioned government building on a Dallas afternoon. "Some day, there will be a company that sells audiobooks online. Im going to start a separate company that helps podcasts sell ad space for companies like the one that sells the audiobooks.." I just nodded and smiled again, moving on to the 7th floor because this guy was kind of freaking me out now. Frankly, I don't even now how it's possible that I remember what he said to me, as there was no context for it at the time.

 

As I exited the elevator to the 7th floor, I heard the shot ring out.

 

And that was the first time i spoke to Jeff Ullrich.

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Great fuckin ep of Hollywood Handbook last week.

 

I'm always too nervous to post in that forum because it's so incestuously esoteric and I'm on the outside, so I am worried this is some bit I don't get, but I thought it was a great fuckin' episode too.

 

sorry i got lost

 

god damn it

Edited by panda
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what happened the 2nd time you dorks spoke to Giraffe Allritch?

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Will we still be able to download the new episodes (or the episodes from the past 6 months) from Earwolf.com, or will the website itself only allow streaming?

 

Also, will it be just the CBB Best of episodes that will remain up, or will other shows' Best ofs still be available?

 

Everything on Earwolf and Wolfpop will continue to come out for free each week and will still be available in all the same places. The most recent 6 months of eps as well. It's just all the new Howl shows and the older episodes that will be on the app/howl.fm only.

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