Thinking about starting show

[LucaB]

I’ve been thinking about starting a live show for a while now. My main motivation has been watching The Free For All, The Bald Truth, and The Tim Diilan Show, and some shows on Twit. I have the concept, but I’m not sure how it get started.

Should I just get a Ustream.tv account and get started or do I need to first put up my website or blog? And how would I take calls? I guess I can do it through skype right?

[andrewzarian]

I would suggest you start slow. Get a Ustream account and start broadcasting to get the hang of it. It takes time and a lot of work to develop a good show, and to grow your audience. Twitter and Facebook are a must when it comes to promoting.

Also being a member of the IAIB doesn't hurt either

[JakeKettle]

I would suggest you start slow. Get a Ustream account and start broadcasting to get the hang of it. It takes time and a lot of work to develop a good show, and to grow your audience. Twitter and Facebook are a must when it comes to promoting.

Also being a member of the IAIB doesn't hurt either

Agreed. Justin.tv is also a good place to start out imo. When I was broadcasting on multiple sites, I would always get the most viewers from Justin.

[RadarGaming]

Agreed. Justin.tv is also a good place to start out imo. When I was broadcasting on multiple sites, I would always get the most viewers from Justin.

Yeah I can agree with Jake. Justin.tv has the most drive by viewers. If you have the bandwidth, I would suggest going to more than one site like Justin.tv and Ustream.tv. I hope the best to you doing live shows is something very fun to do.

[gfqnetwork]

For some strange Reason JTV stopped displaying us in the directory of broadcasters. No idea why

[LucaB]

Thanks, I'm going to have to start putting my set up together and get started.

[cseeman]

LucaB, there are a number of things to consider.
Services like JustinTV, UstreamTV, Livestream each have their strengths. When you're starting out you may need to consider your show's technical needs when evaluating which free service to use.

Each handles social media and even chat a bit differently.

Livestream also has its free Procaster and additional functions in its Studio.

Ustream has its Producer and has a paid path to more features. It also has some additional online features.

Livesream allows mobile sources through Qik whereas Ustream and Just have mobile streaming apps (New Livestream will have a mobile streaming app but it's a paid only service so far).

All allow to use your own streaming software as well but free Livestream limits upload speed to 500kbps when not using Procaster.

You also want to consider your social media strategy for building your audience. Look at what they provide. Consider what you can develop on your own through Twitter, Facebook and your own website of course. Don't let the website be an obstacle though because you can start with Facebook. Facebook even has plugins for some services so people can view the streams there.

Both your format and tech needs may impact your decision as well. Are you going to have Skype guests or callers? Are you going to have more than one camera in studio? Do you also want to show stuff on your desktop whether webpages or other things? What is your ISP bandwidth capacity and have test to see if there are packet loss or other service issues that need to be addressed. If you use multiple services how are you going to handle centralizing chat?

Just a few things to consider as part of picking which channel you head to to start.