Show Design

It’s easy to start with the question "should we start a podcast?" But that's already the wrong question. The better question is: what show do you actually want to build - and can you sustain it?

In this five-part series, Studio 1878 founder Ed Barker walks through the decisions that separate shows that last from shows that stall after 10 episodes. Each episode focuses on one aspect of show design:

  1. Designing a Podcast as a Show – Why the difference between a podcast and a show is the difference between activity and an asset.

  2. Format as a Strategic Choice – How format determines who does the work, what's repeatable, and whether your team burns out.

  3. Episode Structure as Listener Experience – Why listeners experience time, not topics, and how structure earns their attention.

  4. Production, Budgets, and the Reality Check – What production actually costs in time and money, and why honesty matters more than ambition.

  5. Designing for Audio and Video – Why "we'll just film the podcast" doesn't work, and how to think clearly about multi-format shows.

Whether you're a CMO exploring podcasting for the first time, a marketing leader planning a new show, or a team trying to fix one that isn't working, this series gives you the strategic framework to design something worth sustaining.

👉 Watch the series below and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more.

Designing a Podcast as a Show

Most teams start by asking "should we do interviews?" or "how long should episodes be?" Those are execution questions - and they come too early. This episode makes the case that a podcast without a central idea is just content. A show built around one is an asset that compounds over time.

Format as a Strategic Choice

Interviews, monologues, co-hosted conversations, narrative - every format sounds reasonable until you look at what it actually requires. This episode breaks down the real operational cost of each format, the booking math that catches every interview show off guard, and why constraints make shows better, not smaller.

Episode Structure as Listener Experience

If people don't finish episodes, they don't build a relationship with the show. And without that relationship, there's no trust, no habit, no long-term value. This episode explains why structure is how you earn the listener's time - from openings that create curiosity to endings that make people come back.

Production, Budgets, and the Reality Check

Recording is maybe 20% of the work. This episode walks through what production actually involves, what three budget tiers buy you, and why the real question isn't "how good can we make this?" but "can we still be doing this in a year?"

Designing for Audio and Video

Audio and video aren't the same experience, and bolting cameras onto an audio show doesn't make it a video show. This episode covers the three approaches to multi-format production, why "we'll just pull clips" usually fails, and why coherence matters more than being on every platform.