This entry is part of a series dealing with the business fall out of Amanda Congdon's recent departure from Rocket Boom. Please read my background post to get a feel for where I'm coming from on this issue.
Don't Have a Star
The big problem with Rocket Boom is that Amanda was the show. She was Rocket Boom and now that she's gone, how will the brand fare? These questions can be avoided by simply not allowing a single face to become the brand.
From a business perspective, a better choice for a new format for Rocket Boom would be something like rotating hosts, more than one host, or more 'noise' so the host isn't the main attraction.
Many (all?) MSM newscasts have more than one host. They do this for two reasons, the first being that two hosts are simply more interesting than one. That's not a big problem with a show like Rocket Boom because it's not a long show, but the other reason that MSM newscasts have more than one host may be important. It's to provide continuity when one host is sick or leaves the show permanently.
Rotating hosts can be challenging, but probably more effective than the two-host model. Rotating through a series of 5-10 hosts each week or two-week period will definitely dilute the star power of any single one of them. I don't know of anyone in MSM that's doing this off the top of my head, but there are some podcast models out there that tried this.
Creating more 'noise' on the show, while admittedly a bad choice of words, has to do with moving the host away from the centre stage. This probably wouldn't work for the Rocket Boom model, but if a show's content is only marginally dependent on the host, then there is less likelihood for problems if the host moves on. Think of America Idol - who cares if Ryan Seacrest is the host or not? He plays a bit part that has little to do with the reasons why people are watching the show. The real content (the singers and judges) is elsewhere.
Now the other perspective. What if you're the host? What can you do to protect yourself?
» How To Avoid The Boom: Part II from BizPodcasting
This entry is part of a series dealing with the business fall out of Amanda Congdon's recent departure from Rocket Boom. Please read my background post to get a feel for where I'm coming from on this issue. The Star... [Read More]
Tracked on: July 6, 2006 8:27 AM | Permalink to Trackback