JRN 411 Podcast Assignment: The Terrible Podcast

For the podcast assignment in my convergence journalism class, I followed The Terrible Podcast.

In its fourth season, the hourlong offering is run every two to three days. It provides an in-depth look at the happenings of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It garners its name from one of the most recognizable symbols of Steeler football, The Terrible Towel.

The podcast is hosted by David Todd, a radio personality at 970 ESPN in Pittsburgh and Dave Bryan, the creator of the Steelers Depot, an extensive blog covering the team.

I came across the program on social media, as both Todd and Bryan are two of my favorite follows on Twitter. Todd does a great job of covering the entire Pittsburgh sports scene, especially the Pirates for ESPN.

Bryan is probably my absolute favorite follow on Twitter, as he still shows the emotions of a fan like me, but he brings an immense amount of research and knowledge to the table.

As a hardcore Steelers supporter, I appreciated the dialogue of the podcasts as they focused on the team – and nothing else. The two men did not share their opinions on pop culture, music, or anything else. Instead, they packed each hour with analysis and discussion on the happenings of my favorite team.

Being an intern at 97.1 the Ticket, I learned firsthand that for a daily talk show, ratings will not support a sports only format. However, with a podcast, the audience is targeted with a unique offering that they specifically choose.

In this case, Steelers fans are given a very insightful look at the team. With it being the offseason, most of the episodes I listened to focused on recent free agent acquisitions and the potential moves the team could make in the upcoming draft.

I utilized the TuneIn Radio version of the podcast, allowing me to run around the track while consuming the program through my smartphone.