By Bobby Markos
Big news hit the internet recently when Dirty Mo Media announced its flagship podcast, The Dale Jr. Download, would expand to three episodes per week starting Feb. 7. But what exactly should fans expect from a triple-dose of a podcast that is beginning its 11th season?
“We’re always trying to make sure The Download is hitting on all cylinders,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on Dirty Mo Live. “Every offseason we talk about improvements, changes and adjustments. We also challenge ourselves to see what we are capable of doing.”
Mike Davis, co-host of The Download and president of Dirty Mo Media, said the changes were influenced by a number of factors, starting with expediency.
“We want to put out more DJDs each week, and we want to be out the door quicker each day,” said Davis. “Over time our episodes have taken on so much bulk that it was difficult to be nimble and impossible to implement new ideas. We are fixing that.”
Here is a detailed schedule of what fans can expect each week from The Dale Jr. Download:
Tuesday
Expanded “Dirty Air” segment with more time for the Download team to unpack the weekend's events, react to news, and share perspectives uniquely from their Earnhardt-centric universe in a time-urgent manner.
More prominence given to the “Ask Jr. Live” segment, which is the race fan’s direct line to Dale. This segment will continue to be a YouTube channel livestream, and questions for Dale will continue to be gleaned from the live chat and other social media platforms.
Wednesday
Higher priority given to the longform table conversation with The Download’s weekly guest, which has become a staple of the podcast due to the honesty, candor and raw emotions displayed. Said Davis, “This is the most precious time of the week, and it deserves its own space – its own listening experience. It always bothered me that something as emotionally-charged as, say, Michael Waltrip recounting the aftermath of February 18, 2001, can be in the same episode as a conversation about overgrown rats in a basement or someone ripped a hole in their pants."
Thursday
Debut of “Recap Thursday”, which will be Dale's and Mike’s opportunity to convey thoughts from the week, iron out differences of opinions, and candidly offer their respective take-aways from Wednesday’s guest conversation.
Introduction to brand new segments and fan-engagement opportunities previously not feasible in a single-episode experience. Fans can expect a rotation of trivia-based, music-based and fan-on-the-street-interview segments. As well, DJD will preview the weekend, share their plans and finish the week strong.
Season 11 of The Dale Jr. Download begins Tuesday, Feb. 7. Here is a complete schedule of DMM shows the week of Feb. 6-10:
Monday, Feb. 6:
Tuesday, Feb. 7
Wednesday, Feb. 8
Thursday, Feb. 9
Friday, Feb. 10
