Five by Future

The future of 5by5.tv is really exciting, especially when you consider how monumental 2012 has been for them. Listen to Dan Benjamin give the “State of the Union” for this past year before you read more: http://5by5.tv/specials/10

Lots of changes are coming down the tubes; what does that mean for the network as a whole?

We need to reflect on the significant impact that “losing” three shows will have on the network in 2013. This year saw the end of The Talk Show, along with the recently announced ends of Build & Analyze and Hypercritical. These are big players in the 5by5 lineup, shows that had large cult followings and very attentive listeners. Dan said it best: The end of several eras.

There’s also a lot of work going into the site redesign, plus some new shiny toys Dan and others are always working on. Have you noticed downtime or lagging downloads? Me either, as least not in a long time. That alone is a huge testament to the brains behind the buttons; the fact that you and I rarely notice how smoothly the content reaches our ears is astounding.

So what does 2013 hold for the other hosts and shows on 5by5?

  • They will experience a breath of fresh air in content creation and curated insights from their industry peers.
  • They will benefit from the new tools and toys in the works, making content creation simpler, faster, better.
  • They will be more unified and relevant through shows like The Crossover and real-life meetups with folks like us.

Speaking of us: What do all of these changes that mean for us listeners?

I believe the future of 5by5 is really bright. It’s an exciting time! There’s promise of expansion into new areas, new features are being put into place, and we all know that new shows will be added (just so they have Merlin as a guest at some point).

Remember: The important stuff, the people behind the microphones, will need to pull together and become more unified than they are even now. 5by5 is constantly growing, spreading out into smaller niche audiences and covering larger groups of people all at the same time. Dynamic personalities come together for insightful discussion, providing a unique mixture of content that you can’t get anywhere else on the internet.

Dan once said that his ultimate vision for this broadcast network was to create a platform for great people producing great content. I see 2013 as a time for advancement toward that goal; a time for collaboration with other networks and individual broadcasters. I’m excited to watch and listen as 5by5 continues its measured pace as the leading online broadcast network for geeks/designers/developers/entrepreneurs like me.