You’ve heard it a thousand times: rate, review, subscribe, tell your friends, etc. I want to explain why in the case of Tempest, this is so crucial. (If you’re a business owner, let this also convince you to sponsor the show.)
Every episode of Tempest takes an average of 40 – 60 hours to produce. In addition to traveling for some stories, and interviewing, and editing, and writing, and revising, and re-editing, I also write and record an original score for every single episode. In short, Tempest is a time-consuming and intensive process. For the second season, I am doing all of this work with absolutely no up-front funding.
For the first season of Tempest, which was with Jalopnik (a part of what was known as the Gizmodo Media Group, which at the time, was owned by Univision), I was provided with a very small budget and even had some travel expenses covered. I’m a freelancer, so time equals money. The first season of Tempest took nearly two months of my time, leaving me with very little time to do any other freelance work. So that very small budget was a major plus, as were the travel expenses.
Another benefit to the show being with Jalopnik was reach. Not only did Tempest have a billboard in New York City for a full month, as well as benefit from behind-the-scenes PR efforts, but every week, Jalopnik published a post dedicated to the new episode, even embedding the episode right there on the page.
Right after the first season wrapped, Univision announced its intention to sell Gizmodo Media Group. Jalopnik and others within GMG wanted very much to renew Jalopnik. However, funding was slashed and special projects (such as Jalopnik) were suspended. Acast offered to partner with Jalopnik so that Tempest could continue. For months, best efforts were made between Acast and Jalopnik. However, for complicated (and boring) reasons, this proved to be too difficult. Univision eventually sold Gizmodo Media Group to a private equity firm called Great Hill Partners. With that sale, Tempest was fully released back to me, and I was free to do with it whatever I pleased. I immediately made the decision to bring the show to Acast.
Acast is a supportive partner. They make Tempest available widely. They have a very user-friendly platform. And they have a sales team who works hard to try to land sponsors. They do not, however, provide any upfront funding. And while they do work hard to promote the show, Tempest no longer benefits from weekly articles on the world’s largest automotive culture publication.
The second season of Tempest is bigger and more ambitious. It takes more time and expense than the first season. This is all done without any up-front funding whatsoever.
Any money that I might see from Tempest will be made via sponsorships/advertising, where I’ll be given a percentage of those dollars. If you’re a listener of Tempest and want to see this project receive funding so that I may recoup on my own costs and more seasons can be produced, then it is imperative that Tempest reaches as many people as possible, maintains its stellar 4.5/5-star rating, and has a large and ever-expanding subscriber base. For you, the listener, that’s free and easy to do: simply click subscribe, rate the show, leave a review, and tell your friends. This makes Tempest an even more attractive podcast to sponsor/advertise on.
For sponsors who are seeking to support a compelling, highly-rated program that is produced with love and extremely high standards, and that reaches a thoughtful and passionate audience, consider sponsoring Tempest, and visit here for more information.
Tempest 