Coming to you live from Bayside are the guys from Queens.
Andrew Zarian, a lifelong Bayside resident, created and produces the Guys From Queens Network, a live podcast network that hosts 15 different shows.
“I still get emails from people in places like Minnesota telling me that they listen to my show because they’re from Queens,” Zarian said. “And that makes sense because if you or your parents came from another country, chances are you came through Queens and then went to other parts of the country.”
The most watched and downloaded show that Zarian produces is “What The Tech,” hosted by Paul Thurott. The show brings in about 30,000 live views and downloads a week.
“What The Tech,” like many of the other shows hosted by the GFQ Network, considers various issues in one-hour segments. The cameras live-recording are trained on the hosts throughout the show, switching intermittently to either a guest or a co-host.
Other shows tackle male-centric issues like baldness, comic books and pro wrestling, giving viewers the warm feeling that they’re watching a blend of “The Howard Stern Show” and “The Man Show.”
While Zarian still prefers live recordings, the podcast has transformed into an online network that brings in enough ad revenue to allow him to pay a dozen hosts, two producers, a full-time editor and a digital marketer, Zarian said.
Most of the shows are recorded and produced in Zarian’s home and on Thursdays he has a full house of radio hosts live recording their shows throughout the day.
“My house turns into a frat house on Thursday,” he said.
Zarian started the podcast with his friend Kunall Arora five years ago when Zarian lost his job. The two began live recording themselves online for a podcast that consisted of “observational humor and just yelling at each other,” Zarian said.
“I grew up listening to Howard Stern,” Zarian said. “This all started as a hobby but we’ve gotten much bigger since then and we have viewers all over the country. But we’re still the guys from Queens.”
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