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Replacing TV Shows with Podcasts

ipedro

ipedro

macrumors 603
Original poster
Nov 30, 2004
6,396
9,035
Toronto, ON
While many of us are looking to iTunes for TV Shows that we've heard about or begun watching Over The Air (OTA) or Cable, people like myself who've been disconnected from cable for a year or more, live in a different realm. I don't watch cable or OTA so I'm not aware of TV shows being offered there.

For me, this Fall's new TV season consists of Podcasts. My TV lineup is not what is available OTA or on Cable. My TV lineup can be found in the Podcast section of iTunes.

Over the next little while, I'm going to begin compiling a lineup of TV shows that would satisfy a TV viewers' needs. Podcasts that meet the criteria will have good production value such as good quality video, professional editing, on screen graphics and entertaining content.

If you have some great podcasts that you'd like to add, please contribute to this thread.

Let's start with some categories:

News
Anderson Cooper 360º
Today
ABC World News
Current News

Politics
Democracy Now

Sports
Golf Tips w/ Joe Beck

Talk Show
Larry King
Diggnation

Comedy
The Digg Reel

Cooking
Stump The Chef

Travel
City By City

Gaming
Play Value

Gadgets & Tech
Tekzilla
Geekbrief.tv

General
Mahalo Daily

Fiction
Tiki Bar

Cartoons
God & Devil
Joe Cartoon


*I'll edit this first post to add notable Podcasts discussed in this thread.
 
Excellent idea for a thread :)

I'd add the Democracy Now! podcast, if you like news that's not fit for headlines. (Or should be headlines, depending on your POV)
 
You don't watch TV at all?

I don't see Podcasts as a good substitute for an actual TV show..
 
Podcast could probably fill a certain segment of the TV market; the news, non-fiction type content. There's not really any good scripted content being podcasted at the moment, that I can find at least.

I for one enjoy zoning out a little and watching a good sitcom (30 Rock and The Office) or an exciting adventure like Lost and Heros. There's a lot that Podcasting can offer, but I think traditional TV programming still has a role. I do think that the deliverly method for those programms are changing/going to change, though. I get a large portion of my TV content via DVD sets (rented from Netflix). That's going to be the biggest swing, I think. Direct payment from and delivery to the viewer.
 
Kilamite said:
You don't watch TV at all?

I don't see Podcasts as a good substitute for an actual TV show..
Click to expand...

I'll occasionally switch to OTA to be "fed" TV, but most of the time, I like choosing what I want to watch. I can't stand the barrage of reality tv and celebrity snooping that has infiltrated TV programming in North America (I'm in Canada).

Nonetheless, I am a big Heroes fan and lately Flashpoint has really got me hooked. I either buy those shows on iTunes if they're available or download them on Bit Torrent (both are now available on iTunes).

There are some fiction entertainment podcasts out there. Tiki Bar comes to mind.

In the cartoon department, you'll find many...many...maaaany excellent podcasts that would easily replace your standard cartoon on TV today. God & Devil and Joe Cartoon are great examples of entertaining, full production, original cartoon content available free as a podcast.
 
mrgreen4242 said:
Podcast could probably fill a certain segment of the TV market; the news, non-fiction type content.
Click to expand...

Podcasts indeed lean towards niche shows. They mostly target a very specific audience. There are podcasts out there for every hobby and many specific interests. Podcasts can definitely replace cooking shows, travel guides, wildlife documentaries and tech tv shows.

This last one is the most predominant. You'll find countless tech shows. This is because putting up a podcast generally requires some technical knowledge so those who know how to set one up will usually talk make a podcast about their field of choice, most often tech.

Nonetheless, there are plenty of great podcasts out there. Check out ON Networks for some excellent programming, professionally produced in HD.
 
Original Content

Check this out. Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live) is launching a tv show exclusively as a podcast, produced by ON Networks.

Amy Poehler and Friends to Launch New Digital TV Show Aimed at “Smart Girls” and their Parents

Show Features Girls Who Are “Changing The World By Being Themselves”

AUSTIN, Texas – Sept. 18, 2008 – Digital media company On Networks® (ON) announces an original series aimed at young girls called Smart Girls at the Party. The show is created by and stars actor/writer Amy Poehler, and friends Meredith Walker, former senior producer for Nickelodeon’s Nick News, head of talent for Saturday Night Live, and Amy Miles, recording artist and performer, host of PBS children’s show LOMAX: Hound of Music. Smart Girls celebrates young girls who are changing the world by being themselves. The show aims to help girls find confidence in their own aspirations and talents. In each episode, Amy Poehler interviews a girl with a unique talent, community interest or point of view. The conversation ranges from the serious to the hilarious. Girls offer witty truths and show that you don’t have to be famous to be interesting or to make a difference in the world.

On Networks plans to launch the first season of Smart Girls in October. All episodes will be available to watch or download exclusively through ON’s AllScreen™ syndication partners, including iTunes, Adobe Media Player, and a set of targeted Website, digital TV and mobile partners.

ON Networks, Inc., Original programming for Original people™

ON Networks® is a digital media innovator leading the change in how digital TV programs are created, distributed, consumed and sponsored. ON aligns innovative brands with fresh, original content and syndicates it to targeted and engaged viewers across its AllScreen™ Network. Based in Austin, Texas, ON is a privately-held company backed by Accel Partners, Austin Ventures, AT&T and S3 Ventures.

Today, ON is one of the largest independent distributors of original, episodic HD programming. Four of ON Networks programs were ranked among iTunes “Best of” in 2007, and five were named Webby 2008 nominees or honorees.
Click to expand...

The podcast market is maturing. No doubt, this will become an important form of digital distribution in the near future.

We're beginning to see celebrities, made famous on traditional TV migrate to digital programming. I believe there are more celebrity hosted podcasts. Tom Green has a talk show.

It doesn't require much mental gymnastics to figure out that we're going to be seeing more professionally produced, TV grade content appearing via syndicated RSS feeds.
 
first of all, great idea for a post...

I used podcasts, mostly for my news. For actual TV shows, if I want really good quality, i'll buy them on itunes (it takes a lot of season passes to add up to any cable subscription for 1 year), or Boxee...which has been a savior for catching up on tv shows.

Here's some others I watch often:

News:
NBC Nightly News (complete telecast, no commercials)
Morning Joe (Morning roundtable, first 20 minutes or so...)
Meet the Press (Entire telecast, no commericals)

If your so inclined, you can also get Countdown w/olberman and Rachel Maddow (complete shows)

For science, nerdy stuff (my fav):
Discovery Channel podcast
Dirty Jobs podcast
Discovery Space Podcast

Now the best ofcourse, are the HD podcasts:
CNET news podcast...keep up to date on technology...mostly around the san fran area
Washington post podcast
HD weekly wildlife postcasts <---these are EXCELLENT in HD...probably the highest quality podcast out there
HD hidden Universe...tracks the Spitzer spacecraft
Hubblecast...tracks hubble news
And ofcrouse, both Tekzilla and System on Revision3
 
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