Podcasting: How It Affects Radio Listening

Maybe you've wondered, when it comes to making programming available on both broadcast outlets and also as podcasts,"Will folks listen to our podcast AND the broadcast as heard on our affiliate stations or will they listen to the podcast INSTEAD OF the station?"

Mark Ramsey has some answers. And I think he is "spot on." From his blog, here 2.0:

Good question. And the answer is...

It depends.

If the podcast is FREE and your show is LONG (e.g., a few hours long) and DAILY (or so)...

If you podcast highlights or bits or interviews of your show as online bonuses or delay the podcast for a reasonable time, I believe this will ADD to your on-air audience, i.e., "I can listen to the podcast, but to hear the REST of the content I need to listen to the station."

If you podcast your entire show online on the same day it runs live, I believe you will SUBTRACT from your audience, i.e., "I can listen to the podcast, I don't need to listen to the station." And for those who don't already listen to the station, they may be reluctant to sample such a large slice of your show's pie. Tidbits, that's what they need.

Read the whole article and learn how to do podcasting right. Ramsey is an insightful fellow.

Email Overload

From Alan Mason's blog, a consultant, some thoughts about email overload. And a modest suggestion about coping with the stuff.

First off, there’s the habit of using email instead of going to meet with the other person. Even within the same office it’s not unusual to find people emailing to someone five doors down. There’s a growing concern that we’re reducing human contact. All of us has either sent an email, or received an email, that was written in a much more harsh tone than what that person would do in person. There’s no intonation or facial expression in an email, so it’s much easier to misinterpret the email. Or, the sender became another person for a minute, saying something in email the way they never would face to face.

The second major challenge businesses are having is wasting time. How many times have you replied to an email requesting you at a meeting, to which you replied “I’ll be there,” and the other person responds with “Great.” Or someone who thinks they’re Robin Williams tries to regale you with their sense of humor? Then there’s my favorite, where what I have to say is so important that I CC half of Northern America.

But the third problem may be the most important one: Studies have shown that email is keeping us back from making a decision as quickly as we would face to face. It’s too easy to respond with more questions, and then forward it to someone else to see what they think. All while the question goes unanswered, and the clock keeps ticking. In a face to face meeting questions are asked and answered right away, and the decision comes more quickly.

Some more innovative businesses have created “Email Free Friday,” where you must conduct all business in the same office face to face, and within the country via the telephone. You have to interact directly with a human unless they’re out of the country. Those who have tried this see quick results and decisions being reached more quickly. They’re seeing a business that’s more productive overall, and more sensitive to the human element.

What do you think? Would your workweek be more productive if you banned email every now and then?

MySpace Killed The Video Star?

First, thanks to Jerry for sharing the devo yesterday.

Second, a few of us are in Dallas at an NRB function, at which we're in small groups and discussing matters of concern and opportunities to go for.

And now, with a twist on that old Buggles song, here is a look at the death of MTV. In The Guardian (a U.K. paper) Owen Gibson offers some perspective about kids and new technologies. Selected paragraphs:

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MTV sparked a revolution that changed the recording industry for ever. Now, as it hits 25, the global giant is facing fierce challenges from sites like MySpace, YouTube and Flickr. Has it had its day?

Today's teen flicking between MTV's Pimp My Ride, Channel U's diet of urban music and incessant ringtone ads, and Kerrang! TV's heavy rock brand extension might find it hard to believe, but music television was once thought of as a dangerous revolution that could destroy the recording industry. It wasn't until stars like Madonna, Michael Jackson and George Michael broke through as a result of the medium's marketing clout that its full potential was realised. MTV's launch, in 1979, was one of the defining factors in shaping today's celebrity culture. Pop stars began spending more time at the gym and more money on plastic surgeons, and the successful artists were those who could combine music and image in a perfectly produced, expensively coiffured package. It's a formula that's been working nicely ever since - for both bands and broadcasters.

MTV might still be a presence in the bedrooms of today's teenagers, but they'll also have a tinny track coming out of their mobile that was bluetoothed to them by a friend, and are grazing for hours on social networking sites like MySpace or Bebo, and self-selecting the videos they want to see on Yahoo's Launchcast, Google Video or 3 Mobile's video download service. Could MTV go the way of Top of the Pops or Smash Hits, other once unimpeachable music brands that withered once they ceased to be relevant?

In a world where 16-34 year olds are the advertising holy grail, music remains one of the best ways to reach them - that's why websites and mobile phone companies are competing to establish themselves as the distribution platform of choice, and why corporate sponsors such as beer brands continue to pour millions into associating themselves with specific artists, festivals and holding their own one-off events. But as the number of distribution platforms multiplies, so does the competition for content.

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What do you think? Is MTV dead? Will MySpace overcome it? How can we reach that next generation with our message? Will they hear us over the din of the world's noise?

Food for thought.

Overcoming Autism: Temple Grandin

Many of you have been kind in asking about Zane, and in asking questions about autism.

Here is a fascinating bit of radio, insightful because of the person and because of her condition. There's a radio connection, too!

Autistic individuals think differently than other folks. This is a key concept for those of us with autistic kids, or those who work with such persons, to grasp. Dr. Temple Grandin helped me better understand the dynamics of this in a wonderful way.

Dr. Grandin recently was featured on National Public Radio. Opening sentences:
Because I have autism, I live by concrete rules instead of abstract beliefs. And because I have autism, I think in pictures and sounds. I don't have the ability to process abstract thought the way that you do. Here's how my brain works: It's like the search engine Google for images. If you say the word "love" to me, I'll surf the Internet inside my brain. Then, a series of images pops into my head. What I'll see, for example, is a picture of a mother horse with a foal, or I think of "Herbie the Lovebug," scenes from the movie Love Story or the Beatles song, "Love, love, love..."

Here's the entire NPR piece, audio and text.

Gandin helps those of us who have autistic kids...to have hope.

10 reasons why I’ll swap my iPod for a Zune?

Okay, so it may not even be a "real" post...it may be Microsoft propoganda. Or not.

The background: Author (unnamed, hmmmm) has an iPod. Likes it. Or, he did. Now that Microsoft has announced their new player, "Zune," due out sometime in the next year, he wants one of those.

Why, or why leave the simplicty and elegance of the iPod? Here are just a few of his "10 reasons." There is a lot of explanation that accompanies each point, go to the original for that text.

1. iTunes = TOO EXPENSIVE. (Editor: Adjusted for inflation, a buck per song isn't much more than what I recall paying for 45 PRM singles back in the 70s. I don't understand why this is considered an issue.)

2. iTunes = TOO SINGLE-MINDED. (Editor: We're overlooking the point: singleminded software works. Bloated software doesn't work as well. Ever.)

3. iTunes = UNFORGIVING. (Editor: The blue screen of death is a very forgiving bit of software. Even if you miss a little colon or letter when typing in filenames.)

4. iTunes = HORRIBLE USER EXPERIENCE. (Editor: Unlike MS Windows.)

Oh, and here's another reason to go with "Zune:"

8. iTunes = PROPRIETARY FILE FORMAT. A ghastly, lock-in strategy from Apple, which doesn’t realise that people don’t like this sort of thing. (Editor: Like Microsoft shares everything with everyone. Uh-huh. Can you say "Windows Media?")


Okay, okay. I am biased here. I find it difficult to believe people would actually be excited about a piece of hardware from Microsoft. Or their software, either, for that matter. Still, I am intrigued about this.

Take a look, and don't forget the interesting comments at the bottom.

Hate your iPod? Love it? Agree with this author? Disagree?

Devo Debrief: August 9

Our devo guest speaker today was Paul Pennington, and I find his passion for orphans to be very influential and inspiring. Hope you did too. Here's where you can find out more about his ministry, which is part of FamilyLife.

By the way, as Paul suggested, FOF and FamilyLife are partnering to bring a week of radio programming to our listeners, concentrating on the needs of the orphan worldwide and the call of God for us to do something. These precious kids are waiting...waiting...waiting. I am glad we are partnering. Should be very powerful!

In other news: So long to Amber, and thanks for all you've done. Congrats to Ivan for receiving his 15th Anniversary award, well done though good and faithful servant!

Last Week in Review

Last week we saw a lot of activity, from Duplication to Programming, Briargate to Satellite, from Sterling and Patrick's territory to the halls of the editing and engineering areas. I am amazed at the level of project management, the dedication, the professionalism, the excellence with which so many go after their work. I saw that in a fresh way as I was hosting Focus Fridays with Dr. Juli Slattery.

Here was a team on new and temporary assignments, doing things differently than ever before at FOF, and it was just so natural and easy. So things seemed...as I later learned that outside of the tranquility of Studio A, the clocks and phone line and levels and more were all sources of irritation and some stress. In the Studio, though, calm was all I saw. What a great team!

The Focus Friday crew symbolizes what we have in Broadcasting at FOF: Some great people, talented and flexible, and with superb skills. Able to leap tall buildings...oh wait, that was someone else.

Oh, sure, there were trials and troubles all over the place last week. We tackled those, fixed what we could, and pressed on.

Thanks for all you do, whether it is seen or not, regardless of the impressions you may have, you are contributing to lives being touched around the world. And at the least, our Lord notices, and He is surely impressed!

Go get 'em this week!