ATTN: AIO Adventure Club episodes discussion with Brock

[Leonard Meltsner]

Brock posted earlier about the Adventure Club episodes on Facebook, and Brendon posted the AIOUpdate editorial for it. Timorthy, Audrey and myself have also commented on it, and Brock has asked us to try and bring people in on the discussion. Here (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... hoto_reply) is the link to the picture, so please go and comment your thoughts and air your grievances! If you aren't acquainted with the situation, please read the editorial Bren posted on the picture there. Brock said that this is a chance for us to air our thoughts and is a real chance for us to make a change in this policy, so PLEASE go right now and get into the discussion!

[The Old Judge]

What happens if we don't have Facebook?

[Jonathan]

Then post right here what you want to say, and one of us with facebook will make sure it gets to Brock.

[Laurie]

I don't like having to pay for AIO episodes. Seems to me that anyone who wants to listen/download should be able to without having to pay. AIO has been free for 25 years, I see no reason why some episodes are free while we have to pay for others. If people choose not to pay then the episodes should be made available to everyone on CD.

[Bren]

I am the station manager of a Christian radio station in Illinois that airs Adventures in Odyssey. We broadcast Odyssey 7 days a week to almost a million people throughout Central Illinois. My take on the exclusive episodes is a unique one... Limit a season on the radio to 12 episodes a year? This is a bad idea. Odyssey started on radio 25 years ago and remains Odyssey's primary distribution method. Millions of people would be forced to hear 12 episodes a year on the air or pay the additional $15 per month to get an exclusive 12 episodes only available through the Odyssey Adventure Club. This is not fair to Odyssey's loyal radio audience. Many Christian homes can't afford another monthly expense with the way our economy is. We have seen a gradual decline in listener giving over the past several years. Families don't have the expendable income they use to have. They are more selective when purchasing things. If the Odyssey team is going to continue producing 24 episodes per year, the episodes should be available on the radio... All fans should have access to every regular show. Radio stations have to respond to complaints from listeners when they are disappointed about a program.

I can hear the conversation now...

"Why has Odyssey stopped making as many shows for us to listen to?"
"Odyssey is still making 24 shows a year but you have to join the Odyssey Adventure Club to hear 12 of them."
"Are they free episodes?"
"No, there is a monthly fee."
"I can't afford the cost. Why can't they be aired on the radio?"
"I don't know. this is just the way Focus wants to do things."

I don't want to criticize Focus. I love Adventures in Odyssey, but I can begin to hear the phone calls if radio episodes are blimited to 12 instead of the usual 24. Please return to the regular distribution of episodes, especially for radio. Remain to your original fan base who has supported you all these 25 years. Thanks on behalf of the several thousand radio stations that air Adventures In Odyssey.

That says a lot right there.

[Jonathan]

I was excited when I saw that comment.

[The Scribbler]

So. Jonathan. We meet again.

[The Old Judge]

Has there been any official decision from Focus yet? Here's my grievance:

On account of the OAC, if for no other reason, the Adventures in Odyssey team will be releasing half of their episodes on a bias. If you don't have the cash, you can't hear them. The prices are extravagant. $15 a month, when one album is the same price if you buy them in bulk. This will estrange the fan base, and will account for a good portion of Odyssey's eventual demise, if you put it into practice. And of course you remember that this is supposed to be a ministry, not a cash crop. In the episode Not One of Us, you (the team at Focus) dealt with bigotry and how it was wrong. In a subliminal way, you are (unintentionally), discriminating with the Adventure Club. The thousands upon thousands that listen to Odyssey now will lack half ofd the listening material and plot lines, eventually pulling them away from the show altogether. Please don't make that mistake.

[Leonard Meltsner]

Has there been any official decision from Focus yet? Here's my grievance:

On account of the OAC, if for no other reason, the Adventures in Odyssey team will be releasing half of their episodes on a bias. If you don't have the cash, you can't hear them. The prices are extravagant. $15 a month, when one album is the same price if you buy them in bulk. This will estrange the fan base, and will account for a good portion of Odyssey's eventual demise, if you put it into practice. And of course you remember that this is supposed to be a ministry, not a cash crop. In the episode Not One of Us, you (the team at Focus) dealt with bigotry and how it was wrong. In a subliminal way, you are (unintentionally), discriminating with the Adventure Club. The thousands upon thousands that listen to Odyssey now will lack half ofd the listening material and plot lines, eventually pulling them away from the show altogether. Please don't make that mistake.

Do you want me to post that on your behalf?

[Bren]

With the release of Bob Smithouser, I only fear that things will get worse financially.

[The Old Judge]

Yes, Leonard, I would. If you don't mind.

@Bren: What do you mean "released" him?

[Jonathan]

So. Jonathan. We meet again.

Ah, yes, my old.....fiend? friend? I'm not sure. Hey, can I borrow your camera?

With the release of Bob Smithouser, I only fear that things will get worse financially.

What? Was he involved with Odyssey? And if so in what capacity? I was always under the impression his involvement at Focus was primarily with Plugged In.

Yes, Leonard, I would. If you don't mind.

I already did.

[Bren]

Bob did the podcast.

[The Scribbler]

Bob did the podcast.

And how do you know this?

[Bren]

Maybe because I've listened since day one...

[The Scribbler]

Hey, calm down pal! I'm just asking, how do you know so much about this?

[Bren]

I heard about it on FB.

[whittaker96]

@Bren: What do you mean "released" him?

Hey Bren, could you clarify this?

But here's my response, which I already posted:
http://odysseyoutofcontrol.blogspot.com ... -open.html

[Jonathan]

But here's my response, which I already posted:
http://odysseyoutofcontrol.blogspot.com ... -open.html

If you don't buy online and actually go to a bookstore, an album costs something like $25. If they tier it, and the basic package with the exclusive episodes cost more than $25 a year--because these exclusive episodes total one album--then this is still a horrible idea.

edit--And I'm not trying to be rude here, but to present this as a real question as a response to your article. I've been listening for just over 13 years. In that time, I've spent well over $1500 on hard copies alone (I had to buy some twice thanks to having to replace cassettes and all that). I'll be honest, this whole paying $180 for what amounts to one album, and being unable to get them any other way, feels like a really big insult.

I have no problem finding the cons here. For someone like me, what are the pros?

[whittaker96]

But here's my response, which I already posted:
http://odysseyoutofcontrol.blogspot.com ... -open.html

If you don't buy online and actually go to a bookstore, an album costs something like $25. If they tier it, and the basic package with the exclusive episodes cost more than $25 a year--because these exclusive episodes total one album--then this is still a horrible idea.

edit--And I'm not trying to be rude here, but to present this as a real question as a response to your article. I've been listening for just over 13 years. In that time, I've spent well over $1500 on hard copies alone (I had to buy some twice thanks to having to replace cassettes and all that). I'll be honest, this whole paying $180 for what amounts to one album, and being unable to get them any other way, feels like a really big insult.

I have no problem finding the cons here. For someone like me, what are the pros?

I totally get that. I haven't listened as long as you (ten years) and haven't spent as much as you (about 85% of all the albums), but I'm intrigued by the "AIO goes Spotify" concept. However, the fact that the cost to listen to 12 "exclusive" episodes that fits in the canon yet isn't accessible to every listener and stream every episode is more than, say, Netflix, with a much larger library of content, feels wrong.

The point I was trying to make is that there are lots of factors at play here and it seems like Focus and the fans have largely focused on only certain factors. Focus seems to be making a play at a new source of revenue for their ministries and the fans are upset that our loyalty is being tested in such a way. I think Focus is forgetting about certain core groups that are very interested in the episodes but are upset over the possible new avenue to get there. I've been checking up things about Focus, and if what I've been reading about financial dilemmas over there are true, I think the fans need to realize that Odyssey may be in need of some new form of income, and Focus believed that the OAC was the way to get there. Things would be a lot smoother if Focus tried not to alienate core groups like diehards and radio listeners and the fans started looking for, perhaps, other ways to support Focus that would allow a sizable amount of stories to be released each year.

Less a pro/con thing and more a "understanding all the variables" thing.