The TV Booth Podcast

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Nice to see the branding for the podcast survived all of one episode...

Obviously there's the general joke here about the TV Live network of sites rebranding every fortnight or so, but surely designing a brand and sticking to it is vital when marketing a podcast?

I know you're probably not expecting to end up recording episodes in the Royal Albert Hall or anything, but I can't think of any podcast I listen to where they've started out with one brand and then switched to something completely different (and certainly not after a single episode!). Not sure I see the sense in a new logo which doesn't actually give the full name of the podcast either... 'TVB' doesn't mean anything!

I do wish the podcast success but don't think the constant cutting and changing will help!

Understood. I'll change it back.

It's a good project and just want to say, thanks for putting in the time to contact the various people and interview them as it makes for an interesting listen.

Positives:

1. Great podcast introduction
I really like the voiceover/introduction of the podcast, sounds really professional and works well.

2. Brilliant first guest
Of all of the people, Erron Gordon is definitely towards the top of my list of people I would be interested in hearing from - really well done for managing to get hold of him.

3. Good set of questions
You asked for some good questions and it was interesting to learn more about him and his background along with the history and workings of Good Morning Britain.


Potential improvements:

1. Style of interview
We've all got our own personal style, but I found your interviewing style a bit 'shouty', particularly given the softer tone of Erron's responses to the questions. The transition between you and Erron was a little bit jarring at times and made listening to the podcast less enjoyable. I'm not sure whether perhaps you microphone was louder than Erron's, but I wonder if you tried to take a slightly calmer, more relaxed approach it would flow a bit better.

2. Microphone quality
The microphone quality was fine, though could have been quite a bit better. I felt that Erron's was okay but your microphone sounded like it cut out when you were speaking (particularly when you were first asking a question) and I think this is another thing that improve the overall quality.

3. Sticking with a brand
Whenever I do something, I'm guilty of trying to come up with a better brand and design, but I agree with what Critique said about the brand. I think you need to pick a brand and stick with it (even if you could design something better) for a reasonable amount of time as otherwise, it defeats all purpose of a brand - being recognisable. As I've said before, it's the same situation with TV Live and Ident Central, in my opinion, changing the logo so often just isn't a way to build a brand, in my opinion. To be fair, you've acknowledged Critique's comments so this point is less relevant.


Overall, while this may sound a bit negative, I think it's a great project and appreciate the time you put in to do this. The criticism is just my thoughts and is hopefully constructive for future episodes.

Many thanks for the constructive comments Newsroom24, I really appreciate them, and they'll help to make the podcast even better.

I'll comment on your comments if I may, starting with the positives:

1. You can thank Bail for the voiceovers. He very kindly volunteered to do them, and they came out really well. Perfect style for the podcast

2. Erron was a superb guest. He was the first person to enquire about being on the podcast, and naturally I thought he would be the best person for the first podcast.

3. I send the questions to the guest a few days beforehand so that they have a feel for what I'm going to ask them. Sadly, a few questions were rejected by Erron, and some of the podcast had to be edited because he wasn't happy with the answers he gave, but I'm happy with the way the interview progressed. He also recommended a few guests for future shows, which I intend to act upon in the future.

With regards to the negatives:

1. I was aware that I was a bit shouty in my chat with Erron. I will admit that I was very nervous throughout the chat, and when I get nervous I'm rather loud. The upcoming chat with Mark Lipscomb is less shouty, as I was feeling a bit more relaxed for it. Yesterday's chat with Mark was edited down a little bit as I have a tendency to stutter when asking him questions. I need to learn not to do that!! It's a good 30 minute chat though, you won't be disappointed.

2. I'm looking into improving the microphone quality. The podcasts so far have basically been recorded through Skype on my mobile, and I must admit that the quality of my microphone isn't very good. There were a few problems at the start of yesterday's recording as I had trouble hearing Mark to begin with, but we managed to sort it out. There are a few very tiny sound glitches on the upcoming podcast, but they won't spoil your enjoyment.

3. I'm a website designer, so I'm always looking to change things. It's a horrible habit to have, and I know it gets on people's nerves. If I see something that doesn't look right, I change it, sometimes for the good, sometimes for the worse. I need to learn to control my impusive designing!!!

Here's another preview for you. Mark is talking about a moment he'd rather forget. There's about to be an ITN Newsflash reporting the death of Laurence Olivier, but it doesn't quite go to plan...

(Apologies for my awful laugh)

Looking forward to releasing the podcast tomorrow. I have to say that Mark was absolutely brilliant, and I really enjoyed speaking to him. The interview was recorded over two days, with lots of things discussed, including the current state of TV presentation, a blooper he'd rather forget, and some interesting memarobilia he's collected over the years.

A few small sound issues in this one, but it won't spoil your enjoyment too much.

It'll go live at 5pm.

Interview with Mark Lipscomb now live.

Have listened to the 1st 2 episodes of the Podcast whilst going home and rather enjoyed them! I think the 2nd episode overall was the better as it was more relaxed and a good variety of questions were asked. Possibly the 1st TV presentation podcast - it rocks!

Thanks Joe.

I was very pleased with Mark's chat. He was so friendly and down-to-earth. This podcast was recorded over 2 sessions a couple of weekends ago. There was so many problems with the phone signal that I had to record it through my desktop computer, hence some of the glitches in the sound.

I have a couple of guests that I'm considering for future podcasts, I'm hoping to contact them in the coming days to see if they would be interested in chatting with me.

Oh, and the podcast has passed the 1000 play mark, so thank you all for listening.

Pleased to say that there's going to be a part 2 of the chat with Mark Lipscomb in the next few weeks.

The next edition of the podcast will be out at the end of May / early June, and will feature James Mobbs, former BBC graphic designer.

If you have any questions you'd like me to ask (sensible ones), please get in touch via PM by May 17th.

Pleased to say that the interview with James Mobbs is being recorded on Monday, and should be released on Friday, all being well.