When the time comes, will you be ready? No this is not a biblical injunction, nothing could be further from reality. The question being asked in this post is: Do I end a show with a bang or a whimper?
We have covered the dreaded Podfading here in the last post. What I’m talking about is when you make a conscious choice to end a show. Unless you are The Simpsons, everything comes to an end. Even The Goon Show didn’t last forever.
So are you going to tell your listeners? Are you just going to tell them it’s all coming to an end or are you going to let them know why? Are you starting a new show?
All these things matter. As ever, it’s your show, you can do what you want! What would be the best way to this? Well…..
This is what I would do:
- I would let my listeners know about a month out from the planned ending.
- I would explain why the show was coming to an end.
- I would point out that everything does end, eventually.
- If I was moving onto another show I would offer an intro episode to give a taste of the changes coming.
- I would thank my listeners for all their support and for giving me their ears for however long the show had run.
- I would avoid the temptation to go beyond the declared last episode.
- I would support the feed for as long as possible, financially.
- Why would I do all this. Common courtesy basically. It would be the height of rudeness to just bundy off and leave people hanging. I know of shows that have done this after running for years and it left a bad taste. I know other shows that basically followed the above formula and while I was upset at the loss of the show, I could, at least, understand why?
Your show, your choice.
Takeaways
- Know why you are closing down the show.
- Do it with dignity and class.
- Treat your listeners with respect.
- End it on the date you announced.