The Signal (podcast)


The Signal is a Firefly and Serenity-focused podcast developed by fans of the Joss Whedon property.
Hosted by Kari Haley and Les Howard, The Signal is a fan-driven podcast dedicated to Joss Whedon's short-lived TV series Firefly and its film Serenity. Initially created as guerrilla marketing to promote Serenity, the podcast features discussions about the franchise's role-playing game, fan fiction as audio dramas, and interviews. Haley and Howard described the podcast's purpose as " whatever we can to see that more new Firefly is created in any format."
In early 2006, Mur Lafferty described the show as "PG-rated", about an hour long, and publishing an episode every two weeks. That December, The Signal released a compilation album of filk music that had previously featured on the podcast: Songs from the Black; the album featured music by Luke Ski, Lich King, and Greg Edmonson.

Reception

In 2006, The Signal received a People's Choice Podcast Award in the categories of "TV & Film" and "Best Produced"; it received the former again in 2008. The Signal was awarded the 2007 Parsec Award for "Best Fan Podcast", and in the category of "Best Speculative Fiction Fan or News Podcast ", it won the 2010 and 2012 Parsecs.
Writing for Maximum Fun, Ian Brill praised The Signal as surprisingly professional with well-produced segments, though he unflatteringly compared Haley and Howard to Whedon's character Xander Harris: "They say mildly clever and cutesy things to each other and then sound tremendously satisfied with themselves while saying it."