User:Alicepotter/sandbox

Rob Has a Podcast (RHAP) is an entertainment podcast hosted by former Survivor contestant Rob Cesternino. The podcast primarily provides coverage of strategy-based reality television shows Survivor, Big Brother, and The Amazing Race. In the past, RHAP covered The Celebrity Apprentice, several scripted shows, and other miscellaneous reality shows directly. However, as RHAP has grown, its coverage of scripted shows and miscellaneous reality shows has moved to RHAP's spin-off podcasts, Post Show Recaps and Reality TV RHAP-ups, respectively.

Overview
Cesternino started RHAP in 2010, in order to cover Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains and the final season of Lost. He continually expanded the show over the next several years, adding coverage of Big Brother, The Amazing Race, and The Celebrity Apprentice. In 2011, he began adding more live coverage, particularly during the Big Brother season. The show expanded further with the addition of the weekly Survivor Know-It-Alls segment with co-host Stephen Fishbach, during Survivor: Philippines in 2012. In 2014, Cesternino was able to move to podcasting full-time, earning a living through monthly contributions from voluntary "patrons," advertisements, corporate sponsorships, affiliate products, and side projects like his audiobook series, The Evolution of Strategy.

Format
When Survivor is on the air, Cesternino records several podcasts each week. The first, "Survivor Know-It-Alls," airs live, directly following the Wednesday night broadcast of the Survivor episode. Cesternino co-hosts "Survivor Know-It-Alls" alongside Survivor: Tocantins runner-up Stephen Fishbach. Together, the two break down the night's episode and make predictions for the rest of the season.

The second Survivor podcast of the week begins with Cesternino interviewing the contestant most recently voted out of Survivor. He then records a segment called "This Week in Survivor History," in which he delves into important events from previous Survivor seasons.

Cesternino's third major Survivor podcast of the week is also his longest, with two main sections. Each week, the first half of the show features a different guest, always a prominent former Survivor contestant. Cesternino and the guest of the week analyze the episode in depth. During the second half of the show, Cesternino and a second guest, either a former Survivor contestant or a notable member of the RHAP community, answer voicemail messages from listeners and talk about what other Survivor contestants are saying about the season on Twitter.

In addition to the three regular Survivor podcasts each week, there are often bonus podcasts about special topics related to Survivor. These podcasts can range from interviews with former contestants, to conversations about fan theories, to drafting of fantasy seasons.

During Amazing Race seasons, which air during the same time frame as Survivor seasons, Cesternino records a weekly podcast where he analyzes the episodes alongside co-host Jessica Liese. Additionally, Cesternino interviews each team as they are eliminated and releases the interviews as podcasts.

When Big Brother is on the air, Cesternino switches his primary focus away from Survivor and The Amazing Race and devotes the majority of his podcasting resources to Big Brother coverage. Each week, he records several podcasts with special guests and designated "live feed correspondents." Following Thursday night live eviction episodes, he discusses the episode with former Big Brother winner Ian Terry and one of the "live feed correspondents." Following Sunday and Wednesday night episodes, he speaks with other former Big Brother contestants, and he takes listener voicemail questions on a separate segment with weekly guests from the RHAP community. Additionally, Cesternino conducts an interview with each contestant who is voted off of the show.

Cesternino also provides coverage of Big Brother Canada during its seasons, which air in the spring. Like in his coverage of Big Brother (U.S.), Cesternino interviews Big Brother contestants from both the United States and Canada, prominent RHAP community members, and "live feed correspondents''."

Notable guests
Cesternino has interviewed and worked with numerous Survivor and Big Brother contestants on RHAP. Some of the most famous guests include Survivor winners Richard Hatch, Boston Rob, Parvati Shallow, and Sandra Diaz-Twine. Frequent guests include Survivor contestants Stephen Fishbach, Tyson Apostol, Aras Baskauskas, Sophie Clarke, Kim Spradlin, and Andrea Boehlke. Numerous Big Brother contestants have appeared regularly on the show as well, including Ian Terry, Rachel Reilly, Brendon Villegas, and Andy Herren.

Post Show Recaps
In mid-2013, Cesternino announced the launch of a new podcast network and website, Post Show Recaps. Post Show Recaps provides coverage of current scripted television shows such as House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Game of Thrones, and The Walking Dead, among others. Post Show Recaps has also covered past shows, including Breaking Bad, Lost, Seinfeld, Sons of Anarchy, Boardwalk Empire, and 24. Occasionally, Post Show Recaps covers movies or entire television series in "one-off" episodes. Cesternino appears as a host on some, but not all of the shows. Each television series covered features at least two regular co-hosts, some of whom cover multiple shows for the network.

Reality TV RHAP-ups
In 2014, Cesternino started a new branch of the podcast, titled Reality TV RHAP-ups. The RHAP-ups cover miscellaneous reality TV programming, including The Bachelor and its spinoff shows, international seasons of Big Brother and The Amazing Race, and MTV's The Challenge. Cesternino occasionally appears on the podcasts, but most of the shows are hosted by other RHAP community members.

The Evolution of Strategy
In 2015, Cesternino began selling his audiobook series, The Evolution of Strategy. With co-host Josh Wigler, Cesternino explores past seasons of Survivor following a detailed re-watch. The series is being released in three parts, each of which consists of ten chapters, one for each of the thirty seasons of Survivor.

The Spyson Hour
In 2015, Cesternino began a new podcast, called The Spyson Hour, with Survivor: Blood vs. Water winner and frequent guest on RHAP Tyson Apostol and notorious reality TV villain Spencer Pratt. The Spyson Hour began as a way for Apostol and Pratt to analyze season four of Marriage Boot Camp, where they had met and become friends as fellow contestants. After the season finished airing, Apostol and Pratt continued the podcast, focusing on zany current events stories, with Cesternino as a moderator.

Reception
Rob Has a Podcast has grown over the years, from a small start-up podcast into an expansive network with an enthusiastic and devoted fanbase. By 2013, RHAP had over two million downloads on iTunes, and had been watched for twenty-four million minutes on YouTube. RHAP has won five Podcast Awards: best entertainment podcast (2012, 2014), best video podcast (2013), best produced podcast (2013), and people's choice podcast (2014). Most notably, RHAP successfully beat hit podcast Serial for the category of people's choice podcast in 2014.

RHAP recorded its 1000th episode on November 14, 2014 and celebrated its fifth anniversary in February 2015. The podcast is currently nominated for an Academy of Podcasters award in the entertainment category. The award winners will be announced on July 31, 2015.