FIR goes weekly, introduces format changes

Change is inevitable, even for FIR.

Effective with our latest episode, FIR will be a weekly podcast, produced on Mondays. The Thursday instalment is now a thing of the past.

Additionally, we have made several changes to the FIR format, most resulting from the 2009 listener survey, the results of which were released about a year ago.

The switch to a weekly schedule is the result of increased time pressures both co-hosts are experiencing, particularly Neville since he took a full-time job late last year. The need to be in his company’s London offices and on evening conference calls made it increasingly difficult to be available on Thursdays for recording at the usual time, 5pm UK and 9am Pacific. We considered several alternatives but opted to return to the original but short-lived weekly format in order to concentrate our efforts on producing a podcast of the highest possible quality.

We know some listeners will be dismayed. Others have told us over the years that two shows is just too much to keep up with. We hope the weekly format will ultimately attract more listeners while continuing to satisfy the information needs of our loyal audience.

We are also committed to continuing to produce interviews and other content for our several feeds.

As for format changes, these include…

• A new intro to symbolize the change to the show
• Listener comments moved closer to the beginning
• Correspondents integrated into the “News That Fits” segment (both weekly correspondents, Dan York and Michael Netzley, will be featured on the weekly podcast, along with any of the occasional correspondents who contribute to FIR)
• Shorter news items with more conversation between Shel and Neville
• A quick review of goings-on in the past week that won’t be covered in the news; this will occur just before listener comments

One note: We plan to experiment over the next few weeks with the intro. We’re not yet satisfied with the music, so we’ll try several different themes, then ask for your input. Stay tuned for an FIR poll to appear sometime in late May asking which intro you like best. We’ll include MP3s so you can review the options.

Of course, we’d love to hear what you think of these changes. And thanks for your continued participation in FIR.

(Cross-posted from For Immediate Release, Shel’s and my podcast blog.)