Patrick's ratings on podcasts dip
Listeners tune governor out, for now anyway
It was announced with fanfare as an innovative way for a governor to speak directly to the people.
But after strong promotion for Governor Deval Patrick's first podcast last month, the number of listeners has fallen significantly.
Patrick, who undertook the podcasts to give residents a glimpse of the workings of government and the efforts of his administration, drew 3,312 listeners for his first effort Jan. 26. A month later, his budget-related podcast attracted only 532.
The mood and content of the recordings seem to be shifting too.
During his first podcast, Patrick offered a folksy greeting and self-effacing anecdotes about his adjustment to State House life. It was before his high-profile stumbles of the past month, including his lease of a Cadillac and his phone call to
"I sent my first bill to the Legislature," he said. And he described an amusing episode.
"I filled the executive suite with smoke when I first tried to light the fireplace in the governor's office," he revealed.
By contrast, the budget podcast Feb. 28 was simply a recording of a speech he gave the previous night in Melrose outlining his fiscal 2008 blueprint.
Patrick's spokesman, Kyle Sullivan, disputed any suggestion that the podcasts are declining in popularity. "We are very encouraged by the initial response," Sulivan said. "Obviously, we are just getting this off the ground, so we hope to grow listenership, but this has been a good start."
CHRISTINE MCCONVILLE 
