The host of one of the biggest gaming podcasts around, Listen UP‘s Garnet Lee, is leaving 1UP to become Editorial Director of GameFly Media which includes Shacknews, FileShack, Ponged and Gameanswers.com. This is a step up for Garnett, but may prove to be a rather large loss for 1UP. He will certainly take a fair amount of listeners with him through his transition. Although he is quoted as planning to develop a future podcast, there are no details regarding the format or outlet for which it will be produced. This is not surprising as it is safe to assume that podcasting is one of his assets that would be unreasonable to squander.
According to David Ellis’s Twitter, there will be one final episode of Listen UP next week before Garnett heads off. We will be following his move and will be sure to cover any further podcast-related news as it unfolds.
I think I’m not alone when I say that Garnett will certainly be missed on the ListenUP podcast, but I also think that this change is going to be positive, as far as podcasts are concerned. When 1UP Yours transitioned to ListenUP, the transition was really only in name alone. Regardless of the reduction from three segments to two, the show format was largely the same and featured a pretty familiar cast.
Hopefully, this change will mean that Garnett will be able to make a fresh start on a new podcast, adopting some of the ideas of more recently born podcasts. As for ListenUP? My hope is that without Garnett, the show will be a place where some of the new guard can have a chance to gain more public personalities and form a truly new character to match the (relatively) new name.
After his recent appearances, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Jeremy Parish take over Garnett’s seat. He was a great addition to the cast, but I’m curious as to see who the official host will be now.
Hey, we’d all love Jeremy to take over, but the chance of that happening is close to zero. He hates podcasts, and has struggled to even get one episode of Retronauts per month out as of late (apart from the two PAX specials). He himself says he’s too sleepy to host podcasts, although I disagree.
This is going to be a big, big problem without any hosting prospects for Listen UP. I expect Sam Kennedy to cover for a while but they’ll need to find someone soon. Tina? Probably not. Will Listen UP even survive? There’s no one really to cover for Garnett if you think about it, unless they hire someone new. Sharkey, Ray Barnholt, Parish, Tina Sanchez, David Ellis — all unlikely. (John Davison hosts his own podcast at What They Play.) This is concerning.
I love the 1UP guys, and have been listening to them for years, but expect the first few episodes after Garnett’s departure to be messy, if they continue the podcast at all. The 1UP Yours curse strikes again! Maybe Retronauts will now be 1UP’s flagship podcast after all…
I’m honestly not that concerned – I don’t think you’re giving enough credit to at1UP. They do get a little silly sometimes, but they’re consistent and keep it simple. A regular cast generally with a revolving last chair, weekly segments, and Mike Cruz hosting almost every episode. I think any of the guys who are on that show would be great on an episode of the ListenUP podcast.
I don’t think that the show needs a “host” – plenty of shows go on without a declared host. Sure, there’s almost always someone who tends to lead the conversation, but that’s the nature of conversation. Some examples? Drunken Gamers Radio, The Totally Rad Show, and Idle Thumbs are all great examples of podcasts with out a defined “host” that are excellent to listen to/watch, as far as I’m concerned.
Sure; just don’t expect Listen UP or 1UP Yours anymore. Any 1UP podcast in that vein is dead. As for Mike Cruz, well, I’m afraid I utterly lost interest in at1UP. I like Jade, but the podcast is, for all intents and purposes, vacant air. They’re barely regimented in any one area, they talk about anything and everything, and they say nothing that hasn’t been said before. (Although I do like Filipino Christopher Walken.)
A host needs to be strong and dynamic, and not everyone can be a host. There are hosts out there that have developed over time (see Ryan Davis) but few are as naturally skilled as Garnett Lee. If you need any example of this, just listen to The HotSpot episodes after Rich Gallup left where Jeff Gerstmann and Vinny Caravella tried to fill in. They were rough at best, although Vinny did eventually become a surrogate host of sorts before both of them left. Tor Thorson tried to fill in and, frankly, we all know how that turned out.
Does every podcast need a host? I don’t listen to any that don’t have a host, frankly, so perhaps I’m not in a good position to answer that question. When I refer to the position of ‘host’, I don’t mean like a game show host or anything – I mean somebody that introduces the podcast, makes insightful comments, introduces segments, leads news portions (a la Chris Roper) and fosters discussion: they don’t need to say anything different to the other people featuring, they just need to be an anchor of sorts.
It’s not easy to be a host. I love Jeff Gerstmann, but if you listen to any shows he’s been on where he’s been hosting, he just isn’t natural. He needs to be untethered, in a position where he can just talk – he’s an example of a great guy on a podcast that should never host. Unfortunately, currently in the 1UP offices there are only two people that could host a news-based show from my estimation: Jeremy Parish, who would never want to be in such a position, and Sam Kennedy, who would need to evolve into such a position over time. Good luck to the guys there during this period of transition.
On a side note, in my fantasy world Garnett’s next podcast would be the following: a McLaughlin Group panel-like discussion (Google or search Wikipedia for ‘The McLaughlin Group’ if you don’t know what that is) where Garnett features different people each show from all over the games journalism industry. It would be similar to IGN’s former “GameSages” podcast, where they had different people on from each network – GameSpot, 1UP, IGN, GameSpy et cetera. The podcast would be news based, and the three panelists + host would debate about the issues.
Listenup w david ellis and john davidson is a very hard sale for me ,sam is kul but 2 boring people and sam would be tough to listen weekly
Given that ‘What They Play’ has joined IGN and now Garnett’s exit, I’m suspect we’re also seeing the last the last of John Davidson on 1up podcasts. I wonder if John was already going to have to leave ListenUp and now this will just overshadow that news.
They’re probably going to try and keep the show going, but do another name change and swap the chairs around; but at this point, someone is going to have to convince me to listen. I was already getting bored with the usual format on ListenUp, and with so many other great, established shows available right now, a new one is going to have to convince me there’s a reason to listen. Off the top of my head, though, there’s no one at 1up with enough personality and insight to lead a good show.
I know Anthony Gallegos has said that 1up can’t track how many people listen to their shows. That may have changed since he left, but if not, then they’ll definitely try to keep the show; but it’ll be hard for them to tell how well it’s doing. And Garnett has already said he’ll have a new show, so he’ll probably take a fair amount of fans with him. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.
I completely agree. 1UP will have to have some kind of podcast still going, but it’s going to be a very hard sell. Just when I was starting to get into Listen UP, as well, dammit. Oh well.
John Davison said via his twitter a few days ago that he is no longer with What They Play/IGN, so we may still get to hear him on ListenUP
Derek – I hadn’t heard that John left WTP. Hopefully, he got a good buy out and left on good terms.
Personally, I wouldn’t expect him to stay with ListenUp, since he doesn’t have much reason to stay without Garnett or any official role at 1up; but I guess we’ll get some hints when the show comes out today.
[...] the final episode of Listen Up with Garnett leaving to head-up GameFly media. He has been a staple at 1UP since the beginning. In a lot of ways, the 1UP podcasts are what [...]