Classic: Revisit: Reheat: Best of: A Fond Memory: | the mystery of recycling podcast content & if people *actually* listen ♻️
A look into our listen-through when it comes to podcast episode re-airings
Welcome to PWTA👋
This week’s article is straight out of the texts (see image below)… it’s something we’ve been thinking about and discussing for a while. Finally, we’re getting it out on the page.
BUT FIRST, some notes:
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On with it!
🙋🏼♀️ Lauren, here. I’ve been wondering:
When you see recycled content on a podcast feed, like when a show reposts an episode from before, what do you do? Do you skip, do you read more? Do you always listen?
I think recycling content is a great idea. Since podcasters can’t organize their content the way YouTubers can (playlists, community tab, other features), great/standout episodes can get lost in the feed. And when podcasters need a break, their best stuff is a great thing to highlight.
But as a listener, when I’m flying through my feed in the morning and I see a (probably-great) recycled episode phrased or titled the wrong way (or in a way that’s not particularly enticing), I am likely to keep speeding by. I’m not saying that’s good, I’m saying it’s something people do — including me.
I want to both train myself to stop doing this and ALSO train podcasters to think a little bit harder on the way they frame their episode re-airs. I don’t have an answer for the second part, but Arielle and I made a list of the TYPES of recycled episode naming we’re seeing.
Re-Airing Podcast Episode Naming Conventions
“A Fond Memory: ________” (I Said No Gifts)
Note!: Calling a rerun a “fond memory” is so on brand for Bridger. I can hear him saying it.
“________ (Greatest Hits)” (UnF*ck Your Brain)
Note!: Kara records a special intro and gives context to why this re-run is relevant, which is why it is high up on the list
“________ - Classic” (Spooked / Snap Judgement)
Example: Rome & Juliet - Classic
“Best Of: ________” (Fresh Air)
“Rewind: ________” (Endless Thread)
Example: Rewind: Love in Transition
“Selects: ________ (Stuff You Should Know)
Example: Selects: How Charles Darwin
“Play It Again: ________” (Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso)
“________ (Reheat)” (The Sporkful)
Example: Lunchtime With The Simpsons (Reheat)
“Refried Beans | ________” (The Daily Beans)
“Throwback Episode: ________” (The Sarah Silverman Podcast)
“Real Friends Classic: [episode number] - ________” (Fake Doctors, Real Friends)
“________ (Rerun)” (The Lazy Genius)
Example: How to Get Stuff Done When You Don’t Feel Like It (Rerun)
Note!: I think that most people have a bad association with the word rerun in general. I associate it with the cable-TV watching days, when “oh it’s just a rerun” was what you’d say when you saw recycled content.
“Encore: ________” (Antique Roadshow Detours)
Example: Encore: That Time the FBI Called
More Podcast Episode Titling Thoughts
👋Arielle here now with some more thoughts (p.s. when Lauren shared this article idea with me, I was like “wow, you really are my partner in podcast enthusiasm.”)
You’ll notice some podcasts will re-air an episode and introduce them with a canned note at the top of the show. Something like “we’re off this week, here’s an episode to tide you over.”
But why did you choose that episode? Maybe it’s one that really gets into the inside jokes you have with your audience and would be a great spot for new listeners to start.
This American Life recycles episodes but doesn’t let listeners know in a visual way. See photo below for an example. You have to look at the episode number in order to see if its a net new episode.
To be fair, even when they re-air, they let us know why it’s relevant AND they often include updates and other addenda information.
There’s also the question of the artwork creators use when they recycle an episode — is it new artwork? Is it artwork they always use for these types of episodes? Is it the same as always?
All of these may have an impact on whether or not someone tunes in to that re-air episode
The Content Machine and Its Effects
👋Lauren’s back
I have to say… scrolling my podcast feed for this exercise made me realize HOW MUCH content at any given moment is not new, or even an episode of the podcast I’m trying to listen to. It’s a lot of recycled stuff, feed swaps and drops, Patreon previews...
This says a lot about the content machine creators think they have to be on. They feel like they need to put something in the feed even if they don’t have something great to put there. I have never agreed with this, and my feed would be a lot easier to wade through if other people were with me. But that is for another day.
What we learned from this exercise (and want to pass on to creators)
Brand yourself. “Classic” & “Rerun” are boring.
“A Fond Memory:________” from Bridger of I Said No Gifts is exciting because it’s different.
But don’t make it weird just because you think it’s cute!
(I’m sorry, I think “Refried Beans” and “Reheat”) are weird. Also hasn’t Dan Pashman and the team heard the phrase “reheating your nachos?” Maybe they need to do an episode on that!)
We need to know WHY you chose to re-air this episode. I tend to like “Classic” because that makes me feel like it has made some sort of list. But tell me more.
Is there a list of classic episodes somewhere / a playlist we can check out? What about “Listener Favorite” or “Editor Favorite” or “Host Favorite?” Build a bridge from this recycled content to your listener.
Make it make sense. If something is timely, explain why.
Add context. Recycling content doesn’t take much time. Take a few minutes to write a new description and make a little audio intro explaining why the listeners are hearing what they are about to hear.
Speaking of: If you really do take a few minutes to record a new intro and let us know why you chose this episode for this particular re-air situation, you might not even have to name the episode using “re-air,” “classic,” “rerun,” or others.
You might just be able to name the episode for what’s actually inside it — and even try a different title from the first time you published it.
What Do You Think as a Listener? A Creator?
Feel free to answer these questions in the comments of this post, in a reply to us by email, or just in your own head (or with your team / collaborators)…
For podcast creators:
How do you name and/or frame recycled content?
Are you recycling content consistently? (Once a month? Every 6 months? Every other week?)
How do your listeners respond to those episodes?
Do you hear from them at all?
If you’re a big podcast listener yourself, do you tend to skip episodes that are titled using some of these conventions?
For podcast listeners:
Do you listen to recycled content? Do you scroll on by?
Most likely, it depends on the situation. Tell us about that!
What’s a good example you’ve seen of the way creators have named recycled episodes? A bad one?
And another question for readers…
Who are you?
Mostly a creator? Mostly a listener / consumer? We want to know because we want to know how to address you. It’ll also help us figure out what topics to write about / dive into.
That’s it! Thank you for reading.
-Lauren & Arielle💜💛
This was timely for me. As a podcast host with a show for 4.5 years and very few reruns, I'm ready to use an old episode perhaps every 5 weeks for a break. I have so much good content that came out when my audience wasn't as large. I'm sure those guests would appreciate the re-launch of those episodes, too. I do struggle with the title part and how to call it out. Any time I've used an old episode, I absolutely record a new intro.
Are you saying it's okay to consider that a new episode? I'm torn. As a listener, I'd find that a bit disingenuous. I think the middle ground for me is giving the episode a new number for a nod to the new intro, but still visually calling it out with something like (Encore) at the end. That's what I've done so far, but now that I want to use some old ones more often, I don't know if I want (Encore) all over my feed. Ahh! Hard to decide. I hear you on trying to find a more original word without being overly cheesy about it. Tough to do.
I loved reading this and have so many thoughts!! I find our recycled content gets the same listenership as new episodes. If we're airing the whole episode, we usually put an enticing title but don't indicate it's a rerun in the title. We do that and explain why we are airing it in the intro (usually its related to the week prior's ep or the following week's). When we're doing a end of year wrap or something, we'll repurpose and indicate in the title something like "best of XYZ".
But as a listener (and one who JUST listened to Dead Eyes for the first time) I love a back catalog and a recycling!