free to air satellite

podsat.net is offering podcasters the opportunity to broadcast their content on satellite radio for the low, low, low, low price of $1/minute.

i'm sure the people at podsat are awesome, fun to party with, and generally upstanding human beings, but this is just a bad idea.

they're offering access to what's called 'free to air' satellite radio.

think: public access cable channels. yes, it's true that you have access to a huge audience, but it's also true that none of them are paying attention to you. think of how often you watch public access cable. (and if you actually watch public access cable, think of how often you don't get dates.)

but it's worse than that, because at least with public access cable, people already have tvs.

with fta satellite, people have to buy $200 worth of equipment to get started.

yes, you have access to both tv and radio signals. yes, you have access to lots of stations. but before you get too excited, here are some examples of fta stations:

prison tv network (totally not kidding)
pbs hdtv (seriously, i'm not kidding)
reality radio network (this one sounds fine until you consider that 2 of their 3 [!] hosts also broadcasts on shortwave radio)

short version: don't bother. stick with podcasting, friends.

sa::tm