It always scares me a bit when podcasts get sponsors. Sure, it "could" be fine. Many podcasters (ie. Leo Laporte) are very firm that sponsors don't have any editorial precedence on their shows. But some netcasts are either already halfway in someone's pocket, or are so mum on the issue that you don't know where they stand; something that really stains a show's credibility.
That's why I was very concerned when Kevin Rose (of Rev3 Studios and Diggnation fame) announced that his online TV and audio podcast: Diggnation, would be sponsored by Microsoft's Zune and HD-DVD! Now normally, a sponsorship announcement would be fine with me. You have to pay the bills somehow. But this situation is very different for three key reasons.
First, Diggnation is in many ways a tech show. A large portion of their weekly stories are technology related. Now it's not that I don't trust Kevin or his co-host Alex, but they've played things so casually on their show that I've never heard them mention their stance on sponsors in an editorial context. In-fact, a number of companies (like Apple and Falcon Northwest) have been largely featured on the show because they have either given in advance, or just plain given products to the dynamic hosting duo. For example, Alex needed a new laptop a number of months ago. A rep with Falcon Northwest contacted him and sent him a PC with "Diggnation" etched on the lid.
With Zune and HD-DVD sponsoring, this mix of tech sponsors with tech show content (much of which features the two products) makes me suspicious of how future shows will treat these sponsors on-air. Will stories involving Zune or HD-DVD always get a pro stance from Kevin and Alex, or will these stories just be avoided completely.
Second, Diggnation is so popular among the tech community that anything featured on the show is provided with a huge amount of grassroots publicity. This sponsorship is a somewhat divisive move by Microsoft and HD-DVD to play off of an audience that waits with open ears to hear what Kevin or Alex think of a product. I'm scared the show hosts have already been bought off.
Third and finally, Kevin Rose not only hosts Diggnation, but he is also the CTA and founder of Digg.com. The Revision3 studios that Diggnation is produced under is run by CEO Jay Adelson, who is also the CEO of Digg.com. Digg is a social news website with a large technologically literate audince and article base. Since the success of both Digg and Rev3 Studios is in the best interest for both Adelson and Rose, than what is to say that highly algorithmic story selection process on Digg won't be "aided" by the interests of Microsoft and HD-DVD?
Now I'm blowing much of this out of proportion. Kevin is a good guy and I doubt he'd let any of what I've proposed above actually happen. Still, it's a scary thought that could be mirrored in many other podcasts to come. As far as Diggnation goes, Kevin either needs to speak up about this issue, or face endless retribution from the devoted fan-base that put him where he is now. It just scares me a bit, that's all.
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