Anatomy of a Podcast: White Roof Radio

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Bradford Day
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Nov. 8, 2006

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White Roof Radio

Another favorite podcast category is the automotive genre. People love their cars and they love to talk about their cars. But apparently even more people love to listen to others talk about how much they love cars. And I am one of those people: a car guy. No surprise to you then, dear readers, that my favorite podcast is car related. And speaking of a loyal base of the faithful, there are none more loyal than MINI Cooper enthusiasts, amongst which I count myself. Therefore, every Monday morning you can find me downloading and listening to the White Roof Radio (WRR) podcast presented by a trio of MINI enthusiasts over at WhiteRoofRadio.com. Thankfully, they are a good bunch of guys who really love what they're doing and are willing to share their knowledge. What started as a couple of friends talking about their little cars has blossomed into one of the top rated and most downloaded automotive podcasts on the web.

Building upon the fanatical interest of MINI owners, Don Burnside (aka DB) [Editor: Hey! That's my nickname, though for a different reason.] and Todd Pearson (aka Todd) began their initial podcasts simply chatting about their blogs and MINI-related news links. After a few, by their own admission, "absolutely horrible" podcasts the duo caught the attention of MINI blogger Gabe Bridger, founder of the widely read MINI news blog MotoringFile.com. Following the lead of podcasting pioneers like Laporte and experimenting with various audio hardware setups led them to a stable and download-friendly show format. In no time, White Roof Radio found a receptive audience and soon after the sponsors started calling. A typical show might now feature guest speakers and even roving reports from the field of special MINI events such as this past summer's MINI Takes the States (MTTS) cross country drive. White Roof Radio podcasts (known to regular listeners as woofcasts) have just recently reached number 100 as the show approaches the one and a half year mark, with no signs of slowing down. I was able to sit in on a session of White Roof Radio and ask the guys a few questions about how they got started and what advice they would give to newbie casters.

How does a show about MINI Coopers become a hit? When I asked why they thought a show about one model of car has such staying power Todd answered with a statement that MINI owners know all too well, "MINIs are more than just cars, it's a social thing." The propensity for MINI owners to talk about their cars borders on obsession. Few people love their vehicles as much as MINI owners. But more important than the popularity of the car is the variety and the levity with which news and information is presented on the show's weekly broadcasts. In fact, Don and Todd are quick to point out the similarities between their own show and another radio car show, Car Talk with Click and Clack on NPR. Don reinforces these ideas saying that it is crucial to be knowledgeable and passionate about your topic in order to keep the banter fresh. More important than attracting listeners is keeping them interested enough to come back week after week.

Behind the Scenes: Podcast Production

A typical White Roof Radio month pulls down around 500 gigabytes of bandwidth with the occasional exception of event coverage which may cause momentary spikes in listener numbers. Of course, a fledgling podcaster won't have bandwidth issues to contend with early on, but choosing the correct service provider will make the job considerably easier. WRR.com relies on Site5.com to provide their bandwidth while Don codes the show's webpage using WordPress because of its excellent RSS compatibility and ease of use. As DB said in the interview, "if you can click a mouse, you can pretty much set that up." But don't get into this biz expecting to rake in the cash. White Roof Radio makes just enough money to cover their expenses. Very few broadcasters make a living solely by podcasting.

I was curious as to what sort of hardware and software is required to record a show. White Roof Radio is now recorded using separate microphones and headsets with Todd acting as the audio slicing guru, remixing and editing the raw show into something resembling a podcast. As a Mac user, Todd prefers Audio HiJack to rip the chat into a file format that he later remixes and edits using Apple Soundtrack Pro. Initially Todd and Don used gaming-style headsets while Gabe yelled into his onboard laptop mic. They soon realized that this set-up was less than ideal and opted for more professional rigs. It took about 20 or 30 shows, but now the boys feel confident in their arrangement and can fire off podcasts with laser-like precision. Well, perhaps they wouldn't all agree the shows are laser-like or precise, but all three did agreed none of their podcast fun would be possible without Voice Over IP software from Skype.

From day one all their conversations have taken place over Skype. Skype allows them to all enter a chat room and discuss the day's MINI events, news or just talk random nonsense with radio-like quality output. The end result of their work is a light-hearted show about a topic they all love. And their passion for the diminutive hatchback is clearly evident in every show; so much so that many of their listeners don't even own MINIs. But more important than car talk is the fact that they have fun. And that keeps listeners coming back for more every week.

So now you've got a little behind-the-scenes knowledge if you want to start up your own podcast. And if you would like to listen to three guys who know a heck of a lot more about podcasting than I do, CLICK HERE to download my interview with DB, Todd and Gabe. The three of them cover the podcasting topic in much more detail than I have listed here. If you don't mind a fair dash of car talk with your podcast info, definitely check it out.

I'd like to thank the guys over at White Roof Radio for allowing me to tag along and hang out. It was truly a great time and a fun interview. Thanks guys and happy motoring!

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Page 1: Introduction, Podcasting History 101, Viva la Revolucion
Page 2: White Roof Radio, Behind the Scenes: Production

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4 User Comments

1 - Posted by handrail on November 9, 2006 - 8:12 am

diggity:

http://www.digg.com/tech_news/Anatomy_of_a_Podcast...

2 - Posted by EmoMakesMeCry on November 9, 2006 - 1:02 pm

podcasts are great. if any of y'all remember the screen savers on techTV (back before the G4 idiots took over), leo laporte and a bunch of the other people from the show have a podcast. twit.tv

3 - Posted by handrail on November 9, 2006 - 1:52 pm

heh, yeah...i kinda mentioned that in the article, Emo...

4 - Posted by EmoMakesMeCry on November 9, 2006 - 1:56 pm

ah, so you did. sorry, i just skimmed over the article and didn't catch that. lol

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