So, Amanda Congdon returns to independent video podcasting after her stint on ABCnews.com ended/failed/combusted.
Earlier this year, Amber MacArthur, who was recruited by City-TV, said goodbye to the network after her one year contract ended.
Is there no room for independent podcasters in mainstream television? To say yes based on just 2 examples wouldn’t be fair. However, it appears that the culture of the independent tends not to mesh well in the mainstream world.
For example, in an article in the New York Times today, it appears that ABC producers stopped responding to Amanda’s creative ideas after she was hired by the network in 2006. She was quoted as saying that it was a “slow and messy process.”
In a blog post following her departure from City-TV, the network that hired her in 2006, Amber said:
Rogers (the parent company of City-TV) decided they no longer want to do the show (Webnation), but the offer to stay and do news stories was still on the table. I walked. OK, I ran, and maybe I jumped a little in excitement. I’m just saying. Freedom is a good thing, right? There are more boring details to the departure, but just imagine a bad TV newsroom drama set in Toronto.
I profiled both women in my book, Podcasting for Profit and while their adventure from podcasting to mainstream television has ended, I still believe that using a video podcast to attract the attention of those in mainstream television is a good strategy.
Just be aware that what you’re used to as an independent may be stifled by a culture that’s used to waiting and seeing.
I feel her pain. For years, I’ve been an independent thinker in this media business, working most of my career at “non-traditional” outlets. Now, being at FOX, is a completely different animal. It’s very corporate and confining. Not creative and free-thinking. To some degree it’s draining. That aspect of my experience there is no fun, but I’m learning to work within the system. We’ll see what happens.