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MommyCast, which PodShow once dubbed a “premier podcast” on its network, has parted ways with the company after only a year.

In doing some research for a presentation on podcast monetization I decided to include content on MommyCast and their reported $100,000 to $200,000 Dixie sponsorship deal. When looking at their site, I noticed I couldn’t find a mention of PodShow anywhere. I quickly checked on the PodShow network and noticed that their MommyCast content was ancient. I sent off a quick email to the producers of MommyCast with my observations and asked if something had happened. The email back said:

With respect to any announcement regarding Podshow: we have concluded our relationship with them, and wish them only the best.

Interesting.

Update: To ensure there is no mischaracterization, I received a very cordial and friendly email in response from MommyCast. The quote above was their statement regarding my question about the relationship with PodShow.

After much promotion and delay PodShow finally launched a revamped directory today. All kinds of stuff going on that I assume is aimed at the new podcaster. Not really sure of the target demographic, but my guess is the My Space crowd. Anyway, I had a few minutes to look around and noticed something interesting. Not only do you have to dig and dig to find an outbound link to the actual content producer’s website as in this picture:

The aptly titled “Check out the show’s site” link doesn’t go to the Reel Reviews homepage but to a PodShow produced page for the show. OK, Apple does something similar, maybe PodShow should just put “Check out our page for this show.”

The next one takes the cake though. When you get to the page you can subscribe to the RSS feed by hitting an orange XML button. Easy right? Sure as a user it is no big deal. As a content producer you will find something disturbing. PodShow builds its own RSS feed for your podcast with all your content, using the information your RSS feed provides and removes much of your info in the process including all the copyright details.

As a comparison, here is what my RSS feed for my content actually looks like.

That is not an innocent mistake. Someone had to plan which RSS channel elements to pull and which to ignore. The cast and crew at PodShow have been around long enough and, frankly, dealt with the issues of RSS feeds enough times to know better. I expect you’ll hear more about this.

And yes, I know I didn’t include any hyperlinks.

Update: My friend Paul Colligan feels people may be too quick to judge. My words, not his. My answer is simple, posts like these are how things get fixed. (I am confident this will get fixed.) It is the way of the blogosphere baby. And to point of fact, it is not a line of code, all kinds of stuff is stripped out of the RSS feed as well as the webMaster being replaced by webmaster@podshow.com. Everything else about the feed would make you think it was mine, come to think of it, why wasn’t mine good enough?

Update 2: Looks like lots of people are talking about PodShow+ tonight. I had a few free moments and finally figured out how to find the equivalent page to the one I referenced above for a PodShow contracted podcast. (You do have to dig.) I was curious if, as some had suggested, the copyright tag issue was just a system wide “hiccup.” On PodShow podcasts (DnD, DSC etc.)the copyright tags are in place: © 2006 podshow.com. They have plenty of great folks over at PodShow that know better – what happened?

Final Update: (Hopefully) Order has been restored.  The feed icons now link directly to the content producer’s RSS feed. PodShow did the right thing. Thank you. The “Check out the show’s site” buttons are still misleading but we will patiently wait and see what they do with those.  They are smart guys and I have faith it will all work out in the end. As for the explanation that it was just a “bug”, I still don’t buy that.  I can’t imagine a bug that scrapes a feed, parses it and rebuilds the content injecting some of the host’s data and then serves it from their own URL when it should have just been a simple hyperlink, but then I am not a programmer.  Let’s let bygones be bygones.  I wish PodShow and their entire team the best of luck with the new site.

Back in the early days of podcasting (February 2005), my podcasting pals, Dawn And Drew, came out to San Francisco to meet with Adam Curry and Ron Bloom regarding what was to become Podshow. As many of you know, I ended up passing on the offer, but while we were all in San Francisco discussing the future, my friends Dawn and Drew bestowed upon me a unique honor. Apparently, I have one of the first star patches ever produced. I spoke with Drew yesterday who told me that few of these were ever made and that mine was one of the of the only ones that was hand made by Dawn. Pretty cool if you ask me. The patch is now the symbol for the “Minion Army.”

There has been a lot of talk in recent months, among podcasters, about the terms of the PodShow contract being offered. Mostly the talk has been rumor and innuendo. No more. You can now hear all the details. For those that are curious, Keith and The Girl did a show where they read all 12 pages of the contract. The next day Adam Curry ran a “bit” on the Daily Source Code referencing the Keith and The Girl segment. Of note: Adam made no mention that there were any inaccuracies, so we can assume it is the actual current contract. I’ll leave listeners to draw their own conclusions, but you can’t help but come away realizing that it is full of generalities. PodShow might be the perfect opportunity for a given podcaster, but contracts by nature should be explicit, not implicit.

In the vain of full disclosure, I was offered a “Founding Member” contract with BoKu Communications/PodShow in March of last year. This was the offer that was made to the original podcasters in the network, Dawn and Drew, Michael Butler etc. I have always respected the wish for confidentiality regarding this agreement, but I will note, as might be expected, it was considerably different than the current contract. I decided against it for my own reasons. (If you are curious, we discussed it on Rock and Roll Geek Show around minute 18:25.)

People seem to either be for or against PodShow. I have never understood this stance. This is akin to being for or against IBM or your local dry cleaner. It is just a business. PodShow is trying to make a go of it in the podcast arena. So far, they have the most momentum, which is important in an emerging medium. I have met Adam and Ron a number of times, and must say I happen to like them both. They are smart guys and will probably make a success of the venture. That being said, I would hope that if you sign a deal, things are explicitly spelled out. Nothing against PodShow, that is just business.