The 1990s saw the rise of a new phenomenon on the radio: call-in talk shows. As most of you know, the idea behind this is a host who leads the show and often offers his/her opinions on something, and then answers calls from listeners who can then contribute their comments. Then, the 2000s saw the rise of another new radio phenomenon: podcasting. Radio shows can now be recorded and distributed online so that listeners can listen at their convenience, and podcasting also opens the door for smaller podcast-only productions (as in shows that don’t go on the actual radio). It would only be a matter of time until talk shows and podcasting came together, and the result of that mix is a fairly new website called TalkShoe.

TalkShoe is a free service that allows ANYONE to create and host their own live call-in podcast (they refer to them on their website as “talkcasts”). By recording their show on TalkShoe, anyone can listen to the show live while it’s being recorded, and can also participate in a live chatroom and even call in on the show, just like a regular talk show. After the show has been recorded, TalkShoe will generate an MP3 download of the show and even generate the podcast feed for you. TalkShoe also maintains a directory of all of the talkcasts hosted on its website so that visitors to TalkShoe can select from a variety of talkcasts that are live to participate in.

When a show is live anyone can listen to it through a Java applet that plays the live stream in a web browser, however the Java applet tends to stall a bit and is not really reliable. Users who register for a free account on TalkShoe can download TalkShoe Live!, their local client software. This lets you listen to the show live with fewer stalls than the online version (occasionally there are still a few stutters in the audio). However, TalkShoe Live! also provides a chatroom for the show which allows you to chat with other listeners while the show is going on. Furthermore, the host can also see the chat and can respond to it (on air, sometimes), if they choose to.

However, the best part of TalkShoe is being able to call in to the live shows. However, it’s not exactly easy. TalkShoe recommends that you call in on the phone; the number to call is (724) 444-7444. However, unless you happen to be in the area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this may incur long distance charges. If you have an SIP-compatible VoIP client (Gizmo Project, X-Lite, etc.), you can connect for free to 66.212.134.192 or 123@66.212.134.192 which is essentially the same as calling in. However, TalkShoe has said that in the future, they may charge a small fee for non-hosts to use the SIP service. TalkShoe also has a feature called ShoePhone in beta, which allows users to call in to a show directly from within the TalkShoe Live! client. However, in my testing, ShoePhone has been horribly unreliable, and very often disconnects you without telling TalkShoe that you’ve been disconnected, and therefore locks you out from the show. When ShoePhone is out of beta, TalkShoe also plans to charge a small fee for non-hosts to use the service. (Calling on the phone will always be free, because TalkShoe actually receives a bit of cash from users who call in on the phone as part of their business model.) Once you are called in, you are asked for the Talkcast ID (which specifies which show you are calling in to), and your PIN (which you setup when you register on TalkShoe) to identify who you are. At that point, you are called in, which can not only guarantee you the best audio quality, but you can now participate in the show. In TalkShoe Live! a red icon will be displayed next to your name if you are muted, and a blue phone icon will be displayed if you are live on the call. If you are muted, you can click on the Request to Talk button in TalkShoe Live! to place yourself in the queue of people who want to talk. If you are unmuted and want to mute yourself, dial *6 to mute/unmute yourself.

Finally, one of the more interesting things that TalkShoe does is it offers a program called TalkShoe Cash, where hosts of talkcasts can receive payment for having people participate in and download episodes. The payment per download is only a couple of cents, but when you get more people to participate live, you get a higher rate per download. TalkShoe is able to do these payouts courtesy of advertisements and inbound telephone traffic revenue. Obviously, money shouldn’t be the reason that you do a show, you should do it for a love of the content. However, it does help sweeten the deal a bit (because we can all use a little extra change).

All in all, TalkShoe is a really cool new system for bringing talk shows to the world of podcasting that really fosters a new kind of participation in the medium from both the hosts and the listeners. However, the service is still young, and there are a number of things that need to be worked out in the user experience before the service will be truly ready to go head-to-head with traditional radio and traditional podcasting.

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Tags: live, podcasting, recording, review, TalkShoe, talkshow, VoIP