I can’t say “don’t worry” because every show has to carry its own weight. We can’t produce even a venerable and beloved show like TWiG for free for very long. (cf. the recent cancellation of Triangulation.)
But TWiG has a good sized audience and I’m sure it will be fine. Advertising tends to wax and wane with the season. If TWiG goes ad-free for more than a month, then it’s time to worry but that’s pretty unlikely.
And Jeff Jarvis isn’t going anywhere. I’m very very happy with the panel.
Thanks for the update Chief.
Glad to hear you have no plans of changing the line up either.
If there is something we as subscribers can do (besides begging friends and family to subscribe) please let us know.
Leo thank you for the clarification
Also a thing to maybe consider down the line is possibly subscription or patreon
I watch a lot of your shows but have little use for these sponsors (I have bought one, Aftershokz but unable to support since I was in Canada.) I also would not mind some of my information to be shared as long as you are transparent about what is shared.
If we could raise enough money I would consider crowdfunding. When I started TWiT we hoped to do it that way, but never made more than $9,000/month - not enough to do more than one show.
I also think it’s pretty hard to charge for something that used to be free. That doesn’t usually go well. But I’m not ruling out an experiment.
I like the Patreon idea, those that want to can donate, but it isn’t linked directly to a show, so everybody can still enjoy the show, whether they donate or not.
The world has moved on since Leo’s tip-jar. Maybe it could work this time around, now that more people are more used to paying for content.
The times are a changing. Just hope you and Lisa can find a way to navigate these changes to keep TWiT viable. Some creative thinking needed. DON’T JUST ROLL OVER AND SAY “Well, the market has spoken.”
Just a hypothetical here and if you don’t want to share this I understand. If TWiT were 100% viewer financed what would you have to charge per month assuming all current listeners/viewers subscribed? Are we talking Hulu price or Comcast cable price?
You’ve said repeatedly that “we” don’t want to be tracked. I don’t recall being asked if I wanted that or not. I really don’t care. What data do sponsors want? Can you add those questions to your survey? Can you do the survey more than once a year? How can we (the viewers) give them what they want without completely taking our clothes off (as it were.)
Lot of smart people in this community. What’s it going to take?
What you’re NOT going to do is violate your customer’s expectations and expect them to stick with you through thick and thin. If TWiT becomes a product that requires my active participation in selling my privacy, then TWiT becomes a producer I would no longer respect or deal with. For example I stopped (as in hard stop, and block) reading Engadget because I couldn’t go to their site without accepting 3rd party cookies and scripts.
I would suggest that TWiT keep their sponsors but add a premium tier to support shows that don’t have quite enough (or any) sponsors. TWiT would get to do more shows they like, we’d all get to see them, sponsors would still get exposure… Everybody wins. Oh well, something to think about anyway.
Luckily there are other choices despite the fact you just implied it’s binary. TWiT has worked for more than a decade in one of these other choices, no paying and not tracking. The issue is not us consumers, it is the advertisers, and their INSANE belief that tracking makes advertising any more effective… when as many people can clearly relate, you have to buy a product before its f**king ads start tracking you.
@PHolder cool your jets a bit. I’m not advocating anything. Trying to get a brainstorming session going here. Totally respect your opinion. I’m not advocating anything other than knowledge. You don’t want to be tracked. Fine. I don’t care. Are there enough others that feel like me? We don’t know. Maybe there could be multiple options for us to pick from in order to help support TWiT.
I wonder if some of it is trying to split advertising dollars across too many shows.
I pretty much only listen to WW and TWiT. I used to listen to TWiG, Security Now, and HamNation more but when my available time dropped, they were the ones I cut.
But the landscape has changed and TWiT probably needs to change with it. The customer (defined as who is actually paying for the product, which is the advertiser) may be wrong, but they are still the customer.