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Giant Bombcast - Let's Talk About Memberships!

from the chat:
lABIy.jpg
 
Shadowmancer said:
I don't get the whole thing with them not being able to sell ads on the podcast(s). Other internet media groups (TWiT, Rev3, etc.) manage to get advertisers, so why can't they. I mean they didn't even attempt it. I guess I'll just be tuning in to the specials (E3, PAX). I can wait a week for those.
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From Dave in the chat:

Here's the honest reality about Giant Bomb. We have a very hard time selling ads, mostly because we hear this... "Why would i cater to the hardcore? They are gonna buy it anyway".
 
Pleb said:
Paying Member said:
Jeff actually [spooiler]loved[/spoiler] Duke Nukem Forever! OMG OFF THE RAFT AND PEE INTO THE SEA LOL!
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dude fix your your fucking tag and stop ruining the GB week-meme
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.
 
Thanks but no thanks. If they think I'm going to pay $50/year for a podcast, they're out of their mind. Somehow my life will go on without weekly dramatic readings of Nintendo copy.
 
EMBee99 said:
For all the talk about supporting developers with your purchases, via new games, I don't see how this would be any different.

If you like something enough that you would like more of it, why cry foul when asked for some money? Swear to god, new media is making folks act like a gang of Veruca Salts (want it now, need it now, don't care how) without realizing the effort in production and the value of that kind of work (which never should be free (/joker.gif)).

That said, Whiskey and the GB crew should've handled this better from a PR/Marketing side. The podcast is still the best way for them to reel in new users who can identify with the personalities on the site and, in turn, pay for more of that familiarity and fun. Also, get a new ad sales team or give a little toward letting more corporate sponsorship on the site. It's fine to have values and morality when it comes to your company's content, but find an ad team that can make programs work with the site and its community instead of just saying, "we don't want any of it."

I dunno. They've got my $50, regardless of future content, because of what they've done for the past two years.
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Giant Bomb could have offered a more appealing subscription plan. It is as simple as that.
 
DaBuddaDa said:
What they should do:

Release an ad-free Bombcast for subscribers on Tuesdays. Release the same Bombcast but with a few ads in it for free on Fridays.
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They've already said ads in podcasts didn't really work, too hard to get advertisers.
 
Shadowmancer said:
I don't get the whole thing with them not being able to sell ads on the podcast(s). Other internet media groups (TWiT, Rev3, etc.) manage to get advertisers, so why can't they. I mean they didn't even attempt it. I guess I'll just be tuning in to the specials (E3, PAX). I can wait a week for those.
Click to expand...

Weekend Confirmed has an ad at the start (some iPhone app)

I think I'm remembering right that they also did a thing with Razer.

I obviously don't know how successful these things are but it seems like a better way to do it (as a user)
 
Equus is proving to be an excellent troll in that chat I see. :lol

Neuromancer said:
They've already said ads in podcasts didn't really work, too hard to get advertisers.
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Fleshlight, Doritos, or Jenny Craig was too hard to get?
 
EMBee99 said:
For all the talk about supporting developers with your purchases, via new games, I don't see how this would be any different.
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Hey I love Nintendo, and I want to support them all the way. But if they release an incomplete game at full price and make me pay extra for the whole thing I would never support this act. Same thing with GB. I like the site and all the content. I want to support them. But I am completly against the idea of splitting the bombcast.
 
mattiewheels said:
A lot of these peasants know how to use bittorrent, though.
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Yep. And that's the world that Whiskey Media will be entering into. I for one will give them money so that you thieves can continue leeching.
 
Come to GAF and see this thread at 12 pages wondered if I missed it from a while before or something. Yikes.

This won't (isn't) go over well.
 
I cannot believe how upset some of you are getting. Whiskey Media is a business and exists to make money. They do not operate to make you smile for free. $5/month is what? A half hour of work? Pack a lunch instead of buying a lunch for one day a month or wait a god damn week to listen to a podcast.

You guys are freaking about one hour of content you won't be able to listen to for seven days. Honestly?
 
Here's the honest reality about Giant Bomb. We have a very hard time selling ads, mostly because we hear this... "Why would i cater to the hardcore? They are gonna buy it anyway".
Click to expand...

Here's a protip: don't go after game companies for your ad revenue. Go after companies that would love some of that hardcore gamer income they're so happy to spend (ie: EVERY OTHER COMPANY ON THE PLANET).
 
What about comic movies on Giant Bomb and game ads on ComicVine? :P

Anyway after taking this all in, I agree that this was bad timing due to the Big Live Live Show Live happening tomorrow. :lol
 
Julius: If Matt Kessler and Brad Nicholson were fired, I would instantly subscribe

MattBodega: Dawww.
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:lol

ismaboof said:
I cannot believe how upset some of you are getting. Whiskey Media is a business and exists to make money. They do not operate to make you smile for free. $5/month is what? A half hour of work? Pack a lunch instead of buying a lunch for one day a month or wait a god damn week to listen to a podcast.

You guys are freaking about one hour of content you won't be able to listen to for seven days. Honestly?
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Must just be some weird quirk of human nature; people don't like when things are taken away from them. Crazy huh? I know!
 
fizzelopeguss said:
What did he say! link me up bro.
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Basically, he thinks GB is a shit site.

There's more to it, but that's the short of it from what I've read of his opinion.

I cannot believe how upset some of you are getting. Whiskey Media is a business and exists to make money. They do not operate to make you smile for free. $5/month is what? A half hour of work? Pack a lunch instead of buying a lunch for one day a month or wait a god damn week to listen to a podcast.

You guys are freaking about one hour of content you won't be able to listen to for seven days. Honestly?
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1. Whiskey Media has to justify $50 a year to their audience, and so far (at least for me) they aren't doing it.

2. What's worse, they decided to gimp what was once free, in a completely stupid way that only serves to piss off people who were otherwise willing to buy in. What business sense is it to try and monetize half of a fucking podcast?
 
D4Danger said:
Weekend Confirmed has an ad at the start (some iPhone app)

I think I'm remembering right that they also did a thing with Razer.

so it can be done.
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They're owned by Gamefly so it's a different situation entirely.

There's another highly rated podcast I listen to with a large base called the Drunk Tank. They have tried to get ads for their podcast, but they just couldn't do it. From the sound of things, unless you're pulling down gigantic numbers, you can sell ads on these things.

Gomu Gomu said:
Hey I love Nintendo, and I want to support them all the way. But if they release an incomplete game at full price and make me pay extra for the whole thing I would never support this act. Same thing with GB. I like the site and all the content. I want to support them. But I am completly against the idea of splitting the bombcast.
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Huh? This is more like Nintendo releasing an incomplete game FOR FREE, and then having you pay something for the rest IF YOU NEED IT RIGHT NOW. Same thing? I could say Iwata and Hitler are the same person. Doesn't make it so.
 
Calcaneus said:
From Dave in the chat:

Here's the honest reality about Giant Bomb. We have a very hard time selling ads, mostly because we hear this... "Why would i cater to the hardcore? They are gonna buy it anyway".
Click to expand...

Very interesting. I'd really like to know more about this.

In the absence of more concrete info, it's good to know that many publishers/ad firms think of hardcore gamers as junkies looking for their next fix. I wonder how high up the corporate ladder that train of thought actually goes.
 
RiccochetJ said:
I'm completely appalled at the lack of understanding of simple economics in this thread.
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I'm willing to bet that the price of this subscription is fairly elastic. There are quite a few substitutes out there that people are willing to move to. I freaking love giant bomb but I know I can survive without it.
 
$$$$ for video game poodcasts????

:lol :lol :lol

Start-up money seems to be drying out for Whiskey if they've resorted to this now. Internet Commerce is a fickle beast.
 
D4Danger said:
Weekend Confirmed has an ad at the start (some iPhone app)

I think I'm remembering right that they also did a thing with Razer.

I obviously don't know how successful these things are but it seems like a better way to do it (as a user)
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The Game Center app at the beginning of Weekend Confirmed is only there because Shacknews is owned by Gamefly and it's basically a Shack/GF portal, as far as I'm aware :P
 
Technosteve said:
it's a year no a month, If you don't got the money fine, if your living with your parents fine, but jesus fucking christ nothing is free in this world. Giantbomb fails or succeeds it's not the end of the world. You people are like fucking stuck up, pampered teenagers. If howard stern could get millions of people to pay for satellite radio when his show was previously free i am sure they can get people to pay a subscription fee for there show.

Honestly you people can get outraged at anything, you seem like it's your right to listen to the podcast free.
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A right? No. My problem is that if they wanted to charge for it, they should have done so from the beginning. I don't agree with their prices and attitudes so I won't be paying. Their whole shtick about this payment scheme was that it would only be additional content. Bullshit from the start. That's not what you expect from people you thought to be fairly classy gentlemen.

Aaron said:
Sure, that's fair. Though if you're into videogames, even if you're scrounging for the best deals, you're still paying a heck of a lot more than $50 a year for that habit.


It's $50 a YEAR. Right now I pay $40 a month for internet and $60 for cellphone. I consider those luxury services, though I've been paying for them for a while now. When I went from free to pay, I was very willing to make that transition for the increase in quality and control.


I don't visit many sites, but fuck yes. Sign me up. Because I'd be happy to do something that keeps the sites I love and entertain me going. Why wouldn't I do that? Why would I stand idly by while something that brings me joy crashes and burns? Sounds like a pretty fucking stupid thing to do to me.
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You consider phone and Internet luxury services? Wow...

Why wouldn't you support a subscription service for your favorite site? Because it likely means they will lose a ton of their previous viewers and a ton of add revenue. Will the new subscriptions balance it out? Who knows. But if they were able to get by on ad revenue up until now, it's definitely not a good idea to try and do something that most of their users negatively perceive.

Anyway, by all means pay for it. I wish them luck, but I certainly won't be there at the price they are asking for and with the attitudes some of their employees possess. I'm just in this thread right now because I'm drunk and kinda bored.
 
Gomu Gomu said:
Hey I love Nintendo, and I want to support them all the way. But if they release an incomplete game at full price and make me pay extra for the whole thing I would never support this act. Same thing with GB. I like the site and all the content. I want to support them. But I am completly against the idea of splitting the bombcast.
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Its more like if they made you pay for a full game and you could get it for free a week later. But I see your point.
 
Dizzy-4U said:
# the bombcast is now being cut into two parts...same amount of time, but just categorized into two parts.
# the full two hours will only be available to subscribers, HOWEVER, that first hour will still be free to everyone.
# in that first week, that full two hours of the bombcast will only be available to members. However, that following week, we will make that free to everyone. yes, that 2nd hour will be put up.
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Well I'm out if this is true. I love the podcast but really don't like this.....
 
chubigans said:
Amir0x, I will never question your logic again.

Weird, how I was ready to pay the membership fee until all this bombcast stuff came about, and the chat comments. Now I don't even feel like finishing the bombcast I'm currently listening to.

Ugh.
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What did he say?
 
ismaboof said:
I cannot believe how upset some of you are getting. Whiskey Media is a business and exists to make money. They do not operate to make you smile for free. $5/month is what? A half hour of work? Pack a lunch instead of buying a lunch for one day a month or wait a god damn week to listen to a podcast.

You guys are freaking about one hour of content you won't be able to listen to for seven days. Honestly?
Click to expand...

Almost nobody is upset about them charging or the price.

We don't want to pay $50 a year for a shittier Bombcast that is split in half and rearranged because of how they've chosen to monetize it. We don't want the site to go under because of how much they are going to piss people off with this. We don't like the way they are treating the community by taking something that once was free and butchering it.

I kind of agree with the person who suggested that they release the regular Bombcast as is but a few days later for those who don't pay. That way the product remains the same for those who are paying but there is still an incentive to pay and get it "early."
 
Havok said:
The Game Center app at the beginning of Weekend Confirmed is only there because Shacknews is owned by Gamefly and it's basically a Shack/GF portal, as far as I'm aware :P
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oh, right. I don't have an iPhone so I've never actually looked into it.
 
The Crimson Kid said:
Very interesting. I'd really like to know more about this.

In the absence of more concrete info, it's good to know that many publishers/ad firms think of hardcore gamers as junkies looking for their next fix. I wonder how high up the corporate ladder that train of thought actually goes.
Click to expand...

Well I know Microsoft thinks we're all going to buy Kinect :lol
 
ismaboof said:
I cannot believe how upset some of you are getting. Whiskey Media is a business and exists to make money. They do not operate to make you smile for free. $5/month is what? A half hour of work? Pack a lunch instead of buying a lunch for one day a month or wait a god damn week to listen to a podcast.'

You guys are freaking about one hour of content you won't be able to listen to for seven days.
Click to expand...

I hate this kind of logic. The $5 extra a month does not exist in a vacuum. It means sacrifices, which may be relatively easy for some, and much harder (if not impossible) for others. And the biggest complaint people have is the lack of subscription options. Why do I have to subscribe to all of Whiskey Media. What if I only want the bombcast? What if I only want the HD videos?

Oh, and for all their cries of "oh no, we can't sell ads to the hardcore", well, what about non-related ads? Get Axe or Old-spice, or Audible, GoDaddy, GameFly, NetFlix. I feel like they tried to only get ads related to their content (which is honestly never the best idea, you want a decent mix).
 
Zefah said:
A right? No. My problem is that if they wanted to charge for it, they should have done so from the beginning. I don't agree with their prices and attitudes so I won't be paying. Their whole shtick about this payment scheme was that it would only be additional content. Bullshit from the start. That's not what you expect from people you thought to be fairly classy gentlemen.



You consider phone and Internet luxury services? Wow...

Why wouldn't you support a subscription service for your favorite site? Because it likely means they will lose a ton of their previous viewers and a ton of add revenue. Will the new subscriptions balance it out? Who knows. But if they were able to get by on ad revenue up until now, it's definitely not a good idea to try and do something that most of their users negatively perceive.

Anyway, by all means pay for it. I wish them luck, but I certainly won't be there at the price they are asking for and with the attitudes some of their employees possess. I'm just in this thread right now because I'm drunk and kinda bored.
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Giant Bomb wasn't living on ad revenue. They were living off of Shelby Bonnie's investment capital, and had basically no other source of revenue. As has been said, I don't think a subscription service is a bad idea. Hell, I don't think most of the service as it's laid out is the issue, its just the Bombcast being split that's the problem.
 
I understand that Whiskey Media wants money. Really, I understand. I mean I guess I'm a bit confused as to how they had the money to buy a new larger office in the city with a fully functioning bar, but hey! Let's just forget that for a second.

They said they were going to provide new content and not remove anything. Instead, they offer very little and seemingly realize it, as they have gone back on their word and taken something away. And out of all the things to remove, and out of the ways to remove it, it's damn confusing.

Do they seriously think free members are going to be able to listen to one show discussing news and new releases, then listen to a week long delayed continuation of an episode they already finished right after?

I want to give you money, guys! But I can really only do that if I see content that's worth it, or for the right incentive. Right now you're going in the opposite direction on both accounts
 
All I'd use is the podcast.. $5 a month for quicker access to another half of a podcast? As much as I love these guys, nah.
 
Sounds to me like Whiskey just got fucking greedy and are reaming everyone (ie the people that MADE GB what it is) in the process.
 
It's nice to say that you're taking a "non business" approach...except theres NO SUCH THING when you're running a website that costs money to operate! The fuck does that mean? Had they focused at least SOME effort on generating revenue from the beginning they wouldnt have had to even consider such a shitty idea as splitting up a podcast three years down the road. Instead, they rent a new office, buy a ton of new equipment for a shitty idea of an 8 hour long live show, etc, knowing full well your financial situation is so bad that you're about to announce a 50 dollar subscription to listen to a fucking podcast?

I understand building up a following but couldn't you realize that the longer you wait, the more drastic measures you need to make to finally start making money? I don't think you need to be a business major to figure that out.
 
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