NPR -- who needs public radio?

The public radio world is currently in a firestorm of controversy. NPR wants to do a fund drive.

Now if your first reaction was "So what? They do a fund drive twice a year," then you are part of the problem -- the stations' problem that is. In a post around this time last year, "Non-NPR Public Radio," I explained the difference between NPR and public radio in depth. Here's the short version.

National Public Radio (NPR) is a producer of nationally syndicated radio programs. These programs are carried on public radio stations that have an affiliate agreement with NPR. It is possible for a public radio station to carry no NPR programming whatsoever. They could carry programs from Public Radio International (PRI), like "BBC World Service," or they could carry programs from American Public Media (APM) like "Prairie Home Companion" (you thought that was NPR, didn't you). Or they could just produce their own programming in house. Or any mix of the three.

As a way to establish prominence over their competing syndicators, NPR was very aggressive -- and very effective -- in promoting their brand. And they succeeded in making NPR synonymous with public radio. The stations helped in this endeavor. NPR programs such as "Morning Edition" (ME) and "All Things Considered" (ATC) became virtually required airing, and the stations benefited from the association.

But there's a dark side. NPR affiliate fees have continued to rise. And stations have found themselves in a bind. Each year ME, ATC and the other NPR programs have become increasingly expensive. So much so that the major part of a station's fundraising efforts goes towards covering those fees. At some smaller stations, the NPR affiliate fee may actually be the biggest line item in the budget. And yet there isn't a station that would dare drop ME or ATC. They bring in the audiences, and the perception is that a station that dropped the shows would be dropped by listeners.

That's why if there's two or more public radio stations in a market, they will all most likely air ME and ATC. They don't dare not to.

But the needs of NPR as a content provider have never been exactly the same as those of the member stations -- and as audiences move more to other sources of media, those needs are increasingly out of sync. Most listeners identify their public radio stations as "the NPR station." Many would be hard-pressed to name the actual call letters.

So as NPR moves more content online, and develops its own distribution hubs, listeners are starting to follow. After all, why listen to "Fresh Air" on that NPR radio station with the boring fund drives, when you can download it directly from NPR for free?

And now some at NPR want to do a direct appeal to listeners for funds. Not help the stations with their fund drives, but to ask the stations' listeners to send money directly to NPR.

For NPR, it's the next logical step. But for the member stations, it's another nail in the coffin. Not only do they have to scramble to raise funds to keep getting NPR content, but now the network wants to poach their donors as well!

It's causing quite a fuss, but I wonder if its too late for the stations. They cast their lot with NPR, letting their own individual identities atrophy in the process. And NPR is transitioning to a place where the member stations -- many of which are little more than middlemen -- are no longer necessary. Will affiliate stations begin to bail? Will they recognise that it might be time to part ways?

I remember something a program director observed years ago at a public radio conference we attended. "I'm not surprised when pubradio shoots itself in the foot," he said, talking about a recent contratemps, "but I'm always amazed at how fast it can reload."

- Ralph

WJMA Podcasts -- It's a start

Just starting a podcast? Read on.

Friday I outlined a few things that WJMA could do to improve their nascent news podcasts. And it looks like they took some of that advice, so I want to give credit for the changes they made. The basics were pretty simple:

Here is the information this podcast should have to make it useful to anyone downloading it. All of these fields should be filled in.

• Name: WJMA Central Virginia News for 3/24/09
• Artist: Phil Goodwin
• Year: 2009
• Composer: Piedmont Communications, Inc.
• Genre: Podcast
• Artwork - an image of the station's logo with some additional element that says "news."

Looks like someone was busy over the weekend. When I opened up the podcast feed this morning, there was information in place! Specifically:

• Name: WJMA News 3-30-09 (different name than I suggested, but no quibbles - it works)
• Year: 2009
• Album: WJMA News (Yes, we know -- it's in the name field. But what's the dial position?)
• Genre: Podcast

It's a good start, but I'm puzzled as to why they stopped there. We still have no context. Where's the station? Who's talking? Who's putting out this podcast, anyway?

IMHO, you should think of a podcast episode like a business card. It should have all the information about the product to be useful, to strengthen the brand, as well as the relevant metadata to help the listener sort the episode in their library.

If I'm searching through my MP3 library by cover art -- there's none. I don't know what this is. Ditto if I try to sort by artist. These are pretty basic things -- and the absence of them has me convinced that the powers that be still don't "get" podcasting. And most likely don't listen to them at all.

It's a simple fix, fellas. Album art, artist name, something to give a location. You could even get ambitious and add an email address in there. Every blank field represents a missed opportunity. It doesn't cost anything to fill in the other metadata fields. Really.

Let's see where WJMA stands next Monday. That should be more than enough time to create and attach artwork, and fill in the missing fields. Are these podcasts half-baked, or just half-done? I'm still optimistic.

- Ralph

WJMA, Hear 2.0, and the Interwebtubes

The other day in my post "Podcast Review -- WJMA News" I offered some solid suggestions on how our local radio station WJMA could effectively repurpose their news reports as podcasts. It's not that they haven't been. News and sports podcasts are part of the new website.

But as I pointed out, audio clips from a broadcast can't just be thrown onto the web. A podcast is a different medium with a different audience and different conventions. Follow them, and your audience grows. Ignore them, and you'll be classed as an out-of-touch amateur.

Yesterday Mark Ramsey did a relevant post, "More Than Digital Duct Tape," on his blog, Hear 2.0. He cites a recent IBM study that shows an anticipated 63% growth in online advertising (and a corresponding drop in traditional media buys) -- and how media companies simply aren't moving to where the advertisers and customers want to go -- that is, online. He wrote:

... the digital elements in your portfolio are not "non-traditional revenue," they are "new traditional revenue."

Any broadcaster - and there are many out there (although not likely to be reading this) - who thinks our solution is to return "to the basics" and stick our communal heads deep into the sand is a fool.

Every broadcaster should be restructuring from the ground up around digital opportunities, not simply tacking on digital strategies like so many strips of duct tape.

This is a time of amazing opportunity if you have the vision and the will to have at it.

You can't think of a podcast as a recycled radio bit (even if that's the source). It has to be reworked for the new media.

Will WJMA make the necessary changes? I don't know, but I'll keep you posted.

We'll make Monday the official start of the WJMA pod watch. It'll end when the WJMA news podcasts have metadata that include appropriate IDs and graphics and a proper intro. The station had a static placeholder on their site for 344 days before the website relaunched. I'm hoping we don't set a new record here.

- Ralph

Bigfoot Audio, 1927-2009 -- R. I. P.

It was a sad day for me a couple of weeks ago, when I read the news about the closing of Bigfoot Audio, after over 80 years in the electronics business.

It wasn't a surprise really. Bigfoot Audio, or "BA" as we fans liked to call it, had once been one of the real innovators in the consumer electronics industry, particularly in car audio. I recall many conversations with car audio enthusiasts who were always proud to show off their Bigfoot systems.

But some bad business decisions, and a failure to adapt to the times, drove the company down from the heights. I'm often surprised at how few people appreciate, or even realize, the effect Bigfoot Audio had on the CE industry.

I've collected a lot of BA memorabilia and gear over the years, so I'll post occasionally with a few tidbits about the company's history and their notable successes (and failures). I hope it'll be a trip down memory lane for some of you -- and an education for the rest.

Podcast Review -- WJMA News

When the new WJMA website launched, I promised to check out their podcasts and report back.

As I said back in September of 2008, the news content of WJMA would be perfect repurposed as podcasts. Looks like they took my advice (I'll add that my consulting fee) and did just that with their news and sports reports.

Unfortunately, WJMA's podcasts have a long way to go -- the same problems that plagued their website's newsfeed in April of 2008 are still with them.

Here's the 3/24/09 episode of the WJMA News podcast. See if the same things strike you that do me.

Personally, this tells me a few things about whoever's in charge of WJMA's podcasts.

1) They have very little idea of what podcasting's about -- and how they differ from radio content. If they did, they would understand that we need some context for this news. There should be an intro at the very least. The FIRST thing we should here is an identification of the station, the locality, the date and the announcer. This MP3 can be downloaded anywhere in the world, at any time. What state are we in? What day is this news for? Who is this guy talking?

Imagine this: a simple music bed of urgent music and the sound of a teletype (retro I know, but effective). Over top of it we hear "This is the WJMA Daily News Podcast for March 24, 2009, I'm Phil Goodwin. Here are the top stories from around Central Virginia." Then move on to the prerecorded stuff. And have the music bed return briefly at the end. Now I can hear when this podcast starts and stops -- so when I'm listening to several podcasts in a row, I know where I am.

Remember -- once I subscribe, it's unlikely I'll return to this podcasting page. So I won't get context from any of the graphics or the popup player.

2) They probably don't subscribe to any podcasts themselves. If they did, they would know that metadata is absolutely crucial. This downloaded podcast has "1653340" as the title. Now when I see that on my iTunes menu, that tells me nothing. There's no date anywhere, nor clue as to origin of this podcast. That makes it a prime candidate for deletion.

OK, fellas, I'll make it country-simple. Here is the information this podcast should have to make it useful to anyone downloading it. All of these fields should be filled in.

• Name: WJMA Central Virginia News for 3/24/09
• Artist: Phil Goodwin
• Year: 2009
• Composer: Piedmont Communications, Inc.
• Genre: Podcast
• Artwork - an image of the station's logo with some additional element that says "news."

Do all of that, and you'll have something useful and more valuable to the listener (sort of the point, dont'cha know).

3) They have yet to see the value -- both in branding and advertising revenue -- of this repurposed content. Look, what's the point of a radio station podcast, anyway? Doing something just because all the cool kids are is no way to run a business. There are solid reasons why a radio station should be podcasting -- three, in fact.

First, a podcast should should reinforce the station's brand. Second, it should engage a new audience on their own terms. Third. it should be a revenue stream for the station.

Adding metadata (which I discussed above) will reinforce the brand.

Meeting the audience on its own terms? Well, how about placing this podcast in a few directories already? Getting a podcast listed on iTunes is not hard -- even I've done it. Twice. 50% of web browsing on mobile devices is on done on iPhones, and 70% of the MP3 players in the world are iPods. They both use iTunes exclusively. Put the podcast where your audience is -- don't make them come to you (because they won't).

Finally, how about some additional monitization? Is the Culpeper Star Exponent paying extra for mention on the podcast? I don't know, but they should -- if account managers are throwing it in for free then it will be very difficult to charge for them or others clients for placement later.

Remember that opening I talked about? How about a brief spot right after the intro and before the news? I'll sit through one ten-to-fifteen second commercial to hear the news. When the news is over, though, I'm outta there. Placing spots at the end (like for said Culpeper Star Exponent) is a bad idea. This isn't radio. I don't have to sit through the ad to hear what's coming up next. I can just skip to the next podcast.

What kind of sponsor would work for a podcast? One that has a web-based business or a strong web-based component, of course. Even if the business is local, this is the perfect media for driving traffic to a website. Why? Because the people listening are already online. Podcast listeners are comfortable with technology, and have no problem navigating the Internet. So give them an easily remembered link, and go.

Oh - and you can also use the comments field in the metadata to provide URLs for the sponsors. An added service -- for a price. (We won't talk about enhanced podcasts that you can embed links into. I think that might be too confusing at this point.)

Fixing these podcasts is a fairly simple task. But it's one that needs to be done -- and not 344 days later.

- Ralph

(Don't know what to do now that the WJMA web watch is over. Maybe keep a running total of consultant fees I should be charging?)