I love “future of radio” discussions, even though the premise of the phrase is completely wrong. Radio people care about “the future of radio” – listeners don’t. Indifference to what listeners really care about is why Clear Channel didn’t acquire Pandora when it was bargain-priced. It’s why there are many podcasts that sound like radio […]
Think digital and radio are two separate worlds and digital learnings can’t make audio content across platforms better and more popular? Think again. Anya Grundmann is NPR’s Vice President for Programming and Audience Development. She leads NPR’s programming center and its strategy for program acquisition, evaluation, and development. In this remarkable presentation from hivio, Anya […]
Recently Radio Ink asked whether podcasting was “the secret weapon” to attract younger listeners. That was based on reports from NPR (echoed by NPR’s Anya Grundmann at hivio recently) that, thanks in large part to on-demand content and digital distribution, “We’re seeing some very encouraging signs that younger people are coming into NPR that previously […]
So NPR has decided it won’t promote its podcasts or NPR One on air, and many critics are calling them out for what they describe as stupidity. I think these critics are missing the larger point. Sure, NPR derives a huge portion of its revenue from local stations, and local stations have long been uncomfortable (to say the […]
Everybody wants to go viral. It’s as if your little corner of fame or infamy is not complete unless you have some tidbit of content achieving the kind of exponential exposure that used to require things like, say, TV or radio. The same goes for those who create audio content and post it online with all […]
Listening to NPR member stations is slipping among younger listeners. That’s from new NPR data shared at the recent Public Radio Program Director’s Conference (always a great event, by the way). The writeup in Current reports: Average–quarter-hour (AQH) listening during morning drive time has dropped 11 percent in the past five years, and afternoon drive […]
If you’re in the TV business, you’re familiar with the UpFronts. That’s the annual dog and pony show put on by the networks to debut their new shows and to impress and dazzle advertisers and media. On the digital side, we have the more recent NewFronts. Sponsored by the IAB, this event features 20 or […]
There’s been lots of attention in the radio industry trades lately about the lack of audience momentum for many broadcasters in the streaming space, even as so-called pure-plays like Pandora and Spotify grow by leaps and bounds. Tom Taylor writes: iHeart’s not the only terrestrial operator with flat or negative growth over the period from […]
Is NPR’s performance on the digital front a sign that radio’s digital evolution has stalled? Or, worse, that it’s just a big hairy mistake? So says would-be town crier Richard Harker. Harker’s basic point is right on: Broadcasters should direct some of their innovative attention towards content on traditional radio channels and not only experiment […]
One of the great things about non-commercial radio is that it’s supported largely by fans – the very “public” embodied in the term “public service.” And this is as true of NPR-type stations as it is for non-commercial Christian stations. And these stations have something else in common besides their business model: They both tend […]
