My friend and colleague, Neville Hobson, and I just wrapped up recording of episode #514 of our twice-weekly podcast, For Immediate Release. It’s an auspicious episode, the fifth anniversary of FIR’s launch on January 3, 2005. Neville blogged eloquently about the anniversary in a post on the actual anniversary yesterday.

As I waited for Adobe Audition to process the WAV file to eliminate background noise (always the longest part of post-production), I pondered the question and comment posed most often about FIR, which has to do with the amount of time it takes to produce two episodes each week (not to mention interviews and other FIR content) and how Neville and I are able to maintain the commitment to the show.

There are several answers:

Our listeners—A year or so ago, we were late getting an episode published. Not days late. Hours late. Yet we heard from several listeners wondering where it was. Not having the latest FIR was a disruption to their routines. (I think it was Mitch Joel who told us that he counted on FIR on Mondays and Thursdays to keep his mind occupied while he was on the treadmill.) Neville and I have always viewed FIR as a listener-driven show. Our listeners are the most important dimension of the podcast. I’m humbled that so many people have told me how important FIR has been to their professional and career development. That makes it difficult to adopt a cavalier attitude toward producing the show.

Mutual respect—The fact that the show is co-hosted makes it much harder to shrug off producing an episode. We have a set time for recording the show: 9 a.m. my time (Pacific) and 5 p.m. in the U.K. Each of us knows the other has planned to be ready, so if one of us opts not to do an episode, it leaves the other hanging out to dry. As a result, we have fallen into the habit of being ready. If one of us has to travel or has some other commitment, we make sure the other knows in plenty of time to plan a solo show or arrange for a guest co-host. There have even been a couple instances when neither of us were available, but the show went on with guest co-hosts Dan York and Sallie Goetsch. FIR also allows Neville and me to maintain regular contact despite being separated by a continent and an ocean. It’s a relationship that has been beneficial both personally and professionally.

Staying current—I can’t speak for Neville, but for me, FIR is the catalyst for staying on top of the news and trends that drive the communications profession. For each episode, I review well over 100 RSS feeds that keep me updated on blog posts and news stories that match a wide range of key words. Much has been written lately about the demise of the RSS news reader since people find out what’s going on through real-time resources, notably Twitter. For me, Twitter is simply inadequate since I won’t get the comprehensive overview I need in order to plan the stories I’ll cover on FIR. As a result, I’m generally on top of news and trends, which certainly aids my consulting practice. It would be much harder to be current if I weren’t checking my feeds at least twice a week.

Client work—Speaking of clients, several have asked for my help with podcasting based on my experience with FIR. I don’t for a minute believe business podcasting is dead, particularly as an internal communications medium, and I’m delighted to be able to offer expertise gained doing the show as a service. In fact, developing the expertise was the primary motivation for starting FIR back when I first conceived it in September or so of 2004.

Commitment to podcasting—When it comes to podcasting as a medium, I’m a true believer. No, it never exploded the way microblogging or social networks have, but the number of podcasts, the adoption of podcasting by mainstream media, and the number of listeners continues to grow incrementally, not to mention general public awareness of the medium. I love the idea of niche-oriented shows that appeal to smaller audiences than are required to support radio or television shows. I have become A Podcaster and I just can’t imagine not doing it.

I don’t see any of these factors changing anytime soon, so I’ll continue to put in the the time it takes to knock out two episodes (plus interviews) per week. In case you’re wondering, that’s about seven hours per show, or 14 hours per week. It breaks out something like this:

• 1.5 hours - Research
• 0.5 hours - Outline development (we maintain the outline on Google Wave, by the way)
• 2 hours - Pre-production (e.g., preparing stories, managing audio comments from listeners)
• 1.5 hours - Recording
• 1.5 hours - Post-production

It’s worth every minute.