MSNBC: Countdown with Keith Olbermann Podcast Review

After reviewing MSNBC: Countdown with Keith Olbermann , some formats such as television are placing popular news programming via audio or video Podcasts. Is this an effective strategy to attract younger audiences to the Podcast? Is it new “news” or just regurgitation to a different platform?


Keith Olbermann Pictures


All one has to do is visit a Podcast ranking site such as Podcastalley, and discover that young viewers and listeners are not interested in the typical routine that has been part of the current media platforms for years. The Podcast I reviewed did not make the top 50 of widely listened Podcasts.

The content in this Podcast was the typical humdrum viewers of the program would expect when watching the program on television. I found myself drifting in thought due to the 42 minute length of the program. The presentation of the program by Keith Olbermann and guests sounded like a typical newscast a viewer would expect to see.

In the case of this Podcast version of the program, the Podcast most likely missed attracting younger viewers. The Podcast would have been more effective if content had been modified for younger audiences.

For example, some of the news content talked about the proposed health care reform from an older American’s point of view. To attract the younger audience, the content should have been focused on how proposed health care reform could help or harm younger Americans in the future. These issues are relevant for younger audiences.

The program did have guest speakers, but these guests did not embody the desired audiences the Podcast was intended to reach. From an audience member’s standpoint of view, it is easier to relate with someone who is closer to your own age and has an understanding of concern of shared issues.

The Podcast’s had one minor technical issue. The voices did sound muffled throughout the program at times. This could have been addressed through more time spent at the editing bay.

In final thought, traditional media outlets must realize it is not about just employing new Internet technologies to reach a younger audience. It is about identifying with these audiences.

In my opinion, networks such MSNBC need to disregard traditional conventions and realize what has worked before does not apply in a society where information, technology and audiences intersect creating a true information highway.

Media outlets can either be maps to guide audiences in this electronic information revolution or be bystander while others redefine uses of information.