FIR goes weekly, introduces format changes

Change is inevitable, even for FIR.

Effective today, FIR will be a weekly podcast, produced on Mondays. The Thursday installment 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, 5 p.m. UK and 9 a.m. 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.

Posted by shel on 04/12 at 02:20 PM
  1. Thanks Shel and Neville, for your kind words. It is indeed the end of a four fixture in my life. But I’m thrilled that Inside PR will continue with familiar voices. I’ll keep listening to FIR and IPR. Onwards…

    Ter

    Posted by Terry Fallis  on  04/13  at  10:14 AM
  2. cheers with the changes, I don’t know how you kept it up over the years. Bless you both.

    Posted by Albert Maruggi  on  04/13  at  08:10 PM
  3. I’m looking forward to hearing the changes and am sure that most listeners appreciate the reasons for them (many driven by them), and continue to be wowed at the great job that you do with FIR in addition to your otherwise busy lives.  One plea: don’t touch the ‘News that Fits’ - when else do I get a chance to dance around these days!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  04/15  at  01:06 AM
  4. Shel and Neville, I’m one of your long time listeners who is disappointed with the change to a weekly show.  But that is selfish of me.  I realize that it takes far longer for you guys to produce this quality show then it does for me to listen to it.  And I expect that you will - somehow - find a way to cram as much quality information/conversation into the weekly format.  And I’ll be right there each week, waiting to download each show and listen/learn on my commute to work.

    You guys have delivered great material over the years and I’ll be there listening until you sign off on your last show.  Thanks for everything.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  04/15  at  10:58 AM
  5. Don’t care. If you just do one show then it’ll be twice as good! I *always* urge people to subscribe to FIR because it’s very, very, very good.

    Oh, btw, for new music you should ask for submissions. I’d be happy to rustle up a cool intro for you!

    Posted by Brendan  on  04/26  at  08:00 AM

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