I’ve been following the Wallstrip and Rocketboom video podcasts for a long while now. They’re both great dailies in their own right. Wallstrip takes a fun, layman-like look at world of stocks. Rocketboom is all about finding and delivering unique subject matter and packing it into 3- to 5-minute clips.
And each has gone through its own transition process as far as their chosen hosts. Rocketboom replaced Amanda Congdon with Joanne Colan in mid-2006. Wallstrip switched out Lindsay Campbell (who is slated to debut with a new show dubbed Mob Logic in short time) for Julie Alexandria just last week.
The question I pose here is this: How do you think Julie will take with the Wallstrip viewership as opposed to how Joanne managed the hosting gig for Rocketboom way back when? Better? Worse?
Okay, yes, the two productions are entirely unrelated. One is about finance and the other is…not. But put aside those differences for the moment. What do you feel about any and all shifts made in the podcasting world? Does a change of face annoy? Is it refreshing?
Personally, I can say that I enjoy Joanne’s presence on Rocketboom much more than her predecessor. She exudes intelligence, and with the format of Rocketboom being so free of any firm parameters, she seemed almost at the start to have a way with handling the material that Amanda simply didn’t appear able to do very well.
And I have to say the opposite about the change made at Wallstrip. Lindsay was simply a perfect fit. She had a casual, relaxed, youthful persona to present alongside the stock talk. She was entertaining all on her own. Julie appears more a professional, albeit perhaps with the same degree of market know-how. She was not a bad fit when filling in for Lindsay’s temporary absences from the screen. But you kind of always felt that slight yearning for the original.
Maybe that’s how Rocketboom devotees felt about Joanne’s move into the spotlight. Granted, such viewer impressions are entirely subjective, and so only a willingness to accept change can truly keep the proverbial wheels turning as they are.