Nationally syndicated radio show host Adam Carolla was recently, unceremoniously, fired when the station he broadcast from, Los Angeles’ KLSX 97.1 FM, changed its format to a pop music station.

Declaring that terrestrial radio is “heading for the sh*tter,” Carolla has launched a free daily (Monday – Friday) podcast.

“For now, it’ll be very stripped down and barebones, but with the help of fans like yourselves, there’s no reason we can’t grow this into a full fledged production,” Carolla says on his podcast site.  “There’s no subscription fee, and I am not asking for compensation for this podcast. The only payment I ask is, if you like what you hear, you pass it on to others, and together we can launch our own pirate ship.”

The first episode was published Monday. It is bare-bones, with no music, no other people, and a lot of profanity (which would not have been possible on terrestrial syndicated radio). By Tuesday, (according to Carolla) “in less than 24 hours, the first podcast was downloaded over a quarter of a million times, which is awesome.”

While one can wonder whether Carolla would have ever gotten into podcasting had it not been for the rude push provided by 97.1’s format change, Carolla — and his listeners — seemed to have embraced the medium whole-heartedly.

On his first episode, Carolla appeals to his listeners: “We’ll do it in a grassroots way, with an eye on high tech… I don’t want your money, I just want your ears….

“I want your feedback. I want you to tell me what you want to hear, what you don’t want to hear…. I’m like a shark that needs to swim forward, and I don’t have any water in the tank…. Tell me what you want me to talk about…. You put it up there, I’ll do it, we’ll find it together, we’ll do it together.

“I really think we’re on the brink of something…. I’m in it for the big picture, for the long term. I don’t need to make any money. Not for awhile. I wanna build. I wanna build the community, here.”

The podcast website is here, and the RSS feed is here.

Photo: ABC Images