@staff Radio shows (old radio, so NOT podcasts) not allowed but not deleted either?? What IS the policy here?

@Michelle  Thank you!

@Michelle I think it would be a good idea to add this information to this page in the guide, given the fact that podcasts and radio shows are in some senses very similar media forms: https://help.imdb.com/article/contribution/titles/title-formatting/G56U5ERK7YY47CQB# 

@Michelle

You deleted the program "The Mercury Theatre on the Air". The program IS a podcast that is available of foruble. Yes... it was originally published as a radio program, but many old radio programs are now available as podcasts.

https://fourble.co.uk/podcast/orsonwellesm 

Honestly, I find the distinction between radio/podcast here to be bizarre. Many famous and award winning podcasts (This American Life) started on radio. Indeed there are many shows archives (originally presented on radio) that are now available as podcasts. How should those programs be listed? Ignore their archives even though they are available as podcasts. List them by their original airdate date or by the random date they were uploaded online? 

There doesn't seem to be any reason to not list radio programs. Or have I missed something?

@shatterdaymorn Given the choice between saying it gently or saying it clearly, I chose the latter, but please don't see this as an attack or anything.

The rules say radio shows are out. It's after all not the IRDB.

And it's actually not that bad to stick to the policy.

Inconsistency is a huge source of frustration, because people won't know what to add (or not) any longer. 

There's always going to be grey areas and borderline cases. Especially now that there are many ways to stream audio/video. Stuff can get added that wasn't theatrical or on traditional television. That's how vlogs and video podcasts got in. OK, so then audio podcasts were allowed. Now you want to extend that to pre-war radio? Doubtful.

Bottom line, I'm not even sure that this is one of those cases where it's unclear. In fact it seems fairly straighforward to me. I don't find it bizarre that this program is not considered a podcast. It's over three quarters of a century old! People were making fun of it elsewhere that radio shows were being snuck in this way.

So, bottom line, NO, uploading a 1938 radio show on the internet does NOT suddenly make it a podcast. You can't just change a category like that. A PD movie doesn't become a youtube video just because it's uploaded there. None of the original 1938 cast are involved in any kind of podcast continuation, surely...

You should lobby for all radio shows to be included, and only then would it make sense.

But then you might get records / album versions, the audio equivalent of straight-to-video releases, and then we're heading into discogs territory. All of this is just my opinion, I'm not staff. But I suppose it only becomes totally clear if you've ever worked in a database-centred job.

A line will aways have to be drawn and there will always be some things on the other side that someone wants to see included.

Bump for: " @Michelle I think it would be a good idea to add this information to this page in the guide, given the fact that podcasts and radio shows are in some senses very similar media forms: https://help.imdb.com/article/contribution/titles/title-formatting/G56U5ERK7YY47CQB# "

Hi @Marco​ & All -

My apologies for the delayed reply.  I understand that there is still some confusion on eligibility as some radio shows have been re-released as Podcasts (which we do accept), but we do not accept other radio shows.

To help clarify the distinction further, where a radio show has been re-released or released in parallel as a podcast, it is widely available for fans to enjoy via podcast listening services. Even after its air date, it will be permanently available for fans to listen to. Whereas radio shows, that are not available in podcast format, are purely historical and can only be listened to by individuals who recorded them off the radio when they originally aired.  Due to the difficulty in validating credits for historical radio shows and given it is not possible for the majority of people to listen to them, we do not allow them, since we cannot ensure the high standard of data validation that our customers expect.

I hope this helps clarify!  I have also made the request to update our title guidelines to include a note regarding the eligibility of radio show podcasts.