Welcome to Night Vale

2012

Date: 15 June 2012 · Place: Commonplace Books podcast, recorded in New York City · Figures: Joseph Fink, co-creator · Jeffrey Cranor, co-creator · Cecil Baldwin, narrator · Tags: Podcast, Tumblr Fandom, Surrealist Fiction 01. A Town In The Desert Southwest On 15 June 2012 Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor release the first episode of Welcome to Night Vale, a twice-monthly podcast formatted as community radio dispatches from a fictional desert town where every conspiracy theory is true. Cecil Baldwin narrates as the host Cecil Palmer. By July 2013 the show is the most-downloaded podcast on iTunes, displacing This American Life. A live touring production launches in 2013 and continues through the decade. 02. The Tumblr Fandom Engine Night Vale's audience consolidates on Tumblr, where fan art, fic, headcanons, and ship discourse around the Cecil and Carlos relationship create a self-sustaining promotional engine. The case becomes the canonical example of Tumblr fandom turning an independent property into a phenomenon without traditional press. It is also the first major podcast whose financial model, listener subscriptions and live performance, is built around a fan community rather than advertising sponsorship. Sources • Welcome to Night Vale podcast archive (2012-present) • The New York Times, 'A Podcast Mystery, Solved By Its Fans' (5 August 2013) • The Guardian, 'How Night Vale Conquered Tumblr' (11 October 2013)