I went to listen to the Randi Rhodes Show Podcast and it announced that after February 7th they will no longer offer free Podcasts, switching instead to a subscription model.

Okay, I am torn between wanting the free podcasts, which seems to be an effective way to spread their message, and understanding that they need revenue to run their operations. I really don’t know why the Podcasts don’t contain ads, so they can be free like the on-the-air radio broadcasts.

This is from AAR’s FAQ about the “premium” subscriptions service:

Why is podcasting not free?

Podcasting is expensive, and we are a business. There will continue to be free podcasting at AAR of comedy bits and audio highlights, but offering downloads of entire shows for free is impractical.

Will streaming continue to be free?

There are currently no plans to require a subscription to listen to our live broadcasts.

Now, I am not a broadcaster or web audio streamer, but it seems to me that once they have created a file for streaming the audio, there’s not some large amount of labor that would go in to making that file a Podcast.

If I decide to listen to their programming more often, perhaps I will subscribe. In the meantime, I can still listen to KQED’s Forum at no charge (and they are a nonprofit).