Due to some changes outside of our control, we’ve had to re-jig Spark’s podcast plumbing, and some Spark Plus subscribers may be affected. It’s frustrating, we know. But again, these changes are outside of our control.
Most Spark podcast subscribers won’t have to change anything. If you’re subscribed to the regular weekly Spark podcast, you will keep getting regular weekly shows as normal.
But if you’re subscribed to the Spark Plus podcast, or subscribed to the Spark blog via RSS, there are a few important changes:
Spark Plus no longer includes weekly episodes
Up until now, the Spark Plus podcast has included both regular weekly episodes of Spark, and bonus audio, like full interviews.
But starting today, the Spark Plus feed will contain only bonus audio. If you want to receive regular weekly episodes of Spark, you’ll need to subscribe to Spark separately. You can subscribe to the regular Spark podcast directly in iTunes, or use this feed:
Spark Plus has a new feed URL
The new URL for Spark Plus is below. The old Spark Plus feed will be redirected to this new feed, so existing Spark Plus subscribers should be automatically pointed in the right direction.
The Spark blog feed no longer contains podcasts
Since 2008, the Spark blog feed has done double-duty, serving as both a way to subscribe to the Spark blog, and as a podcast feed. As mentioned above, to preserve existing Spark Plus subscriptions, the old Spark blog feed will be redirected to the Spark Plus podcast feed.
If you want to subscribe to the Spark blog, you should use this feed:
Recap
- If you’re a Spark Plus subscriber, and want to keep getting weekly episodes of Spark, you’ll need to subscribe to the regular Spark podcast as well.
- If you’re subscribed to the Spark blog via RSS, you’ll need to update your feed reader with the new address
You can always find an up-to-date list of Spark podcasts and feed URLs at Spark’s podcast page.
We know this is a headache. We don’t like changing podcast feeds any more than you do. If you have questions or concerns, please direct them to me, Dan Misener, by email. Thanks so much for subscribing, and thanks in advance for your patience with this move.
This isn't exactly a huge headache, but I wonder what the reasoning behind it is?
For several years now, Spark Plus has been based on a feed generated by our WordPress install.
These changes are a side-effect of a larger migration. The big plan is to move Spark off WordPress, so that we\’re using the same blog and podcast publishing tools as the rest of our colleagues at CBC.
Not a terribly interesting answer, but that\’s the rationale.