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I’m a long-time fan of Jason Calacanis‘ “This Week In Startups” as well as Mark Suster‘s “This Week In Venture Capital”. Both are part of Jason’s venture “This Week In”, which offers a variety of programming via their Web site, YouTube, and Podcast. Simple idea: low-cost niche-based content, perfect for the commute, gym, etc. If you want the full-on “THIS IS THE FUTURE” primer, check out this review of Jason’s show and host mojo from Forbes’ blog.
Once upon a time I pitched producer Will Thompson a “This Week In Music”. My original vision was a little over-ambitious. If you know me you know I’m not a regular watcher of TV let alone ESPN (both understatements) but stuck in front of ESPN one night at the gym I just stared at the format of the talk show on the screen. High production value, dudes in suits, that guy over there used to BE a pro player, and most importantly they had OPINIONS. You didn’t hear Kurt Loder on MTV News telling you what he thought about the music. But then music is much more subjective than sports — there isn’t nearly as clear a winner/loser. Anyway, I pitched Will on a Sportscenter for the music business and he correctly told me my idea was both too expensive and not funny to anyone but me. And Jason had a different direction for This Week In Music, so they went ahead with a version of the show that had nothing to do with me or my idea.
For whatever reason, that show ceased a few months back. I honestly don’t know the circumstances, so I don’t have a comment on it. I didn’t watch it but a couple times and it didn’t seem up my alley so I didn’t invest much in it. Its end coincided roughly with me making an appearance on Jason’s show. I reached out to Will and said, “hey about that This Week In Music show…” Jason decided to give me a shot at it, temporarily at least. Then, in a stunning upset I beat out Gary Vaynerchuk and Tony Hsieh (had to look up spelling on both last names) as “host of the year” in This Week In Startups’ TWiSTEE awards. Why? Because I campaigned, that’s why. One tweet from either of those dudes would have crushed me but I cared and they didn’t so TAKE THAT FAMOUS ENTREPRENEUR DUDES. #WINNING Honestly, it was unexpected but I also went to the studio for the live broadcast (the studio is 10 blocks from Topspin’s office) and joined the broadcast to say thank you. Also to my surprise Jason announced my new show at that moment. It was real!
But I’ve been busy and getting started was taking longer than planned. Finally I bit the bullet and asked Mike D if he’d be my first guest. He must like me because he said yes not even really knowing what I was talking about. Unfortunately we couldn’t square his availability with studio availability so we recorded the first one in my office with special guest Mark Kates. Andrew Mains helped me run down the music news and Amrit from Stereogum did an EXCELLENT bit on why you should by the SBTRKT record. Unfortunately the audio was a bit off and I didn’t do a very good job of getting a concise interview from Mike and Mark. It was a good practice but ultimately not as good as if we’d done it in the studio. That one will be in the “archives”. For the fans! A b-side. Mike and Mark, I hope you understand. Amrit and Andrew, please join me again. Thanks sincerely and the low-fi-ness was my fault.
We start with the in-studio shows live today, July 15th, at 5pm PT. I’ll have Topspin co-founder Shamal Ranasinghe, fresh off a flight from his current home in London, with me in the studio for the news then jump straight into an interview with Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard. We’ll finish up with a review of some new music and have you out the door in about 45 minutes.
So how do you watch? To watch live, tune in to http://justin.tv/thisweekin tomorrow, Friday, July 15th, at 5pm PT. Soon after, you’ll find the archive on ThisWeekIn.com, and I’ll try to remember to post it here on FISTFULAYEN. Also, you can (probably, very soon, I hope) subscribe via Podcast in good ol’ iTunes. Take your pick: Video | Audio.
Feedback and any help spreading the word is always appreciated. Thanks!
ian