Descriptions of individual episodes of my podcast NOT showing up in iTunes Store Listing

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Descriptions of individual episodes of my podcast NOT showing up in iTunes Store Listing

Podcast feed: http://talkradiomeltdown.com/podcast.xml

Feedburner variant feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkradiomeltdown

Store listing: http://talkradiomeltdown.com/itunes

I have coded my podcast feed entirely by myself, using the template provided here: http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html#example

While checking my feed in the iTunes Store recently, I have noticed that after Episode 64, the descriptions for each individual episodes are displayed as "--", and I am not seeing a link to open descriptions of these individual episodes in a new window. This appears to be a recent problem.

I am noticing no difference in XML code between Episode 64 and Episode 65, as the template is unchanged with each update to the feed. However, I have noticed that, when checking my feed through FeedValidator.org, I receive this message:

"Your feed appears to be encoded as "UTF-8", but your server is reporting "US-ASCII"

I have attempted to rectify this issue, but to no avail. I wonder if it is causing this issue to occur. Again, this appears to be recent. Last I checked the Store listing for my podcast (a few weeks ago), I was seeing descriptions for each individual episode.

Posted on Aug 30, 2012 9:25 PM

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Answer 1

jmgill89 Author

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Aug 30, 2012 11:21 PM in response to jmgill89

I should note that Episode 64 of my show was the last time that I used the <itunes:subtitle> tag. From Episode 65 on, I stopped using that tag. The full descriptions (both <description> and <itunes:summary>) of the individual episodes from Episode 65 on, however, would display in place of where the subtitles usually went. Now, they just display as "--." I would like to know if there is a reason behind this, before I go adding <itunes:subtitle> to 100+ episodes.

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Answer 2

Aug 30, 2012 11:44 PM in response to jmgill89

Don't worry about the Feedvalidator error.

The Store is using the feed at http://talkradiomeltdown.com/podcast.xml - the Feedburner feed doesn't come into it.

Not filling in the 'itunes:subtitle' tag is what's caused the problem. When subscribing, the 'Description' column is presumably populated by the 'description' tag in the absence of the proper one, but the Store is not doing this.

Oddly enough your latest episode does have the 'itunes:subtitle' tag but it's not showing in the Store - did you add it subsequent to posting the episode? - if that's the case the Store will pick it up when you post a new episode.

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Answer 3

jmgill89 Author

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Aug 31, 2012 12:34 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Seems to make sense - thank you, Roger! I actually did just add a subtitle to the most recent episode not too long ago; just waiting on iTunes to see it and update accordingly. Thanks again for your help!

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