Podcasting by the Numbers

Playing with numbers causes me to geek out.  The ability to look at stats, compare them with other stats, and then visually see how the numbers become charts fascinates me.  On top of that I love Top Whatever lists.  Fortune magazine does them, David Letterman does it, and I like to do them too.

For all of you who are curious about the Top Downloaded Episodes of the podcast you don’t need to wait any longer.  Each month I compile this information for sponsors and I’m happy to share some of it with you.  Below you will find the Top 5 Episodes for some months from May until October.  THEN you will see the Top 5 Episodes of ALL TIME!  Did your favorite make the list?  It is calculated by the number of times an episode was downloaded, presumably this is an approximation of the number of listeners.

October 2011

July 2011
May & June 2011
  1. Episode 57 Neil Shuck and Force on Force 119 downloads
  2. Episode 56 Huzzah Con After Action Report 90 downloads
  3. Episode 58 Henry Hyde and Battlegames Magazine 89 downloads
  4. Episode 59 Wargaming Magazine Extravaganza 74 downloads
  5. Episode 55 Deceased Estates 101 24 downloads
Top 5 Episodes of ALL TIME
  1. Episode 51 Black Powder Explosion 208 downloads
  2. Episode 50 WWPD News From the Front and Steven MacLauchlan 166 downloads
  3. Episode 57 Neil Shuck and Force on Force 158 downloads
  4. Episode 58 Henry Hyde and Battlegames Magazine 143 downloads
  5. Episode 47 12-7-Games With Bill Dettmers 143 downloads (Tied for 4th place)
  6. Episode 61 Bailey Records Music to Game By 136 downloads
None of the episodes is older than April 2011 (Black Powder Explosion) with most of the very popular ones being from June 2011.  One thing is clear.  You love when I have guests on the show.  At least 2/3 of the Top 5 Episodes of ALL TIME (really top 6) feature a special guest.  I can’t wait for the response when the Battleground Games & Hobbies episode is released!

3 Comments on “Podcasting by the Numbers”

  2. Cort Naegelin

    For some reason, two people seem to work best. I think it is like sitting in on a conversation.

    Cort N

    1. Jonathan J. Reinhart Post author

      One show I used to listen to had two hosts. Listening to them was like sitting in their living room, around a coffee table, chatting with friends with a warm beverage in hand. That familiarity made the show a success.

      Having two speakers does seem to be the winning combination. Of course it is also tricky. It requires finding people who are passionate about the same issue and have the right chemistry. The easier, tricky, things are finding someone with the available time to record on a regular schedule.

      Guests are fantastic if they’re the right guest. Henry Hyde, Neil Shuck, Steven MacLauchlan, and Bill Dettmers are people who energize the conversation. They tend to be in high demand (three of them have their own shows and the last runs a highly successful gaming vendor) making scheduling difficult.