Update: Jason Calacanis contacted me via Facebook today to tell me that there are plans to have ThisWeekIn.com be the place where all the shows are cataloged. Thanks Jason!
So for those who know me, know I’m a huge fan of Leo Laporte and the TWiT Network. Leo Laporte, a TechTV alumnus, Tech Guy radio show host, and the man behind the vision that is TWiT, is an amazing guy. He’s created such a brand for himself and all those involved.
On his main site he streams his shows live as well as providing audio and sometimes video of the shows. Now if you don’t watch the live stream, you might never know how big this brand actually is. But it’s actually much larger than what is seen by those who just go to the TWiT homepage.
There are 3 main players, or maybe even more, involved with the production these shows. Leo is the main one, of course. Then there is Jason Calacanis, of Weblogs, Inc. and Mahalo.com fame, and Alex Lindsay of the Pixel Corps, a merry band of media guildsmen.
With just these three, there are at least three or more sites with different programming on it. Leo runs TWiT.tv, Jason runs ThisWeekinStartups.com (and he has This Week in Youtube on Youtube), and Alex runs a few shows over at PixelCorps.tv.
So you can see how it gets a bit confusing. I know what most people are going to say, “But you can find them all in iTunes.” That’s not the point. Not all of us like to use iTunes. I still go to the individual sites and download the mp3′s or watch/listen to the shows there. What’s more I’m sure there are plenty of new shows coming out on the TWiT Network, which those who are not die hard “live steam” watchers won’t know about.
There is nothing wrong with having unique shows with their own branded Websites or pages, but they should also be featured on the main TWiT site. I’m aware that the shows are not all produced by Leo or sometimes even his crew, but they should keep the “This Week In…” brand together in a cohesive group for both easy surfing and continuity.
Of course this is just my opinion. What do you think? Post your thoughts in the comments.
