How we get our entertainment

I've mentioned before on this little blog about how I wonder what my grandparents would have felt about the way folks get their news, entertainment, and companionship today. They were simple folks, dirt farmers in rural Alabama. Companionship consisted of family and friends coming to visit on Sundays and going to church. That was about it.
Entertainment was the radio. None of them read much so there was no daily paper or regular magazine subscritions. They had Bibles and that was the library. No TV. No cable. No Internet. They did not even have a telephone until the mid-60s.

Two things got me to thinking about how far we have come since they were passing what little free time they had by sitting on the front porch on lazy Sunday afternoons, talking, telling stories, visiting. First my nine-year-old grandaughter, Alexa, was showing me all her favorite videos on YouTube. She's past TV. "Boring," she says of most of the shows. And it bothers her that she has to go to all the trouble to set the DVR for a show she wants to see later. YouTube lets her watch "Charlie the Unicorn" anytime she wants and as many times as she wants. Makes me think of how my own kids--including Alexa's dad--griped and complained when we lost the remote control once and they actually had to get up and walk to the TV to change the channel!
Good or bad trends for our kids and grandkids? Like most innovation, some of both. They are exposed to so much more than my generation was. The opportunity for learning and broadening perspective is a wonderful thing. The opportunity for their being exposed to wrong-headedness, prejudice, and perversion is something that keeps me awake at night.
Here's the second thing. Most of us take for granted the vast offerings available to us just beyond the modem. Today I got a note from my friend Wayne Long (amateur radio call sign K9YNF). Wayne runs an interesting website called LongShortStories.com. Wayne is a prolific (and very, very good) storyteller and offers his works on a subscription basis. Like most who want to write to be read (as opposed to those who want to write to get rich and are, thus, almost all doomed to failure), Wayne has found a way to reach an audience while giving value to what he is creating. I highly recommend the site.
He is also running a short story contest that might be of interest to others who are driven to tell stories via a medium where they just might get read.
This fits this particular post topic because it got me to thinking about where writers of fifty years ago were able to reach their audience. Yes, there were books. But there were also a number of widely-circulated magazines that published fiction--Playboy, Esquire, and a ton more, including many in genre such as detective, romance, science fiction--and they all gave a means for writers to hone their craft and reach readers. A place to work on their craft, so to speak, and get paid for doing it. A place to build a following, too, that would eventually help them sell enough books to write for a living.
Those magazines are long gone. Sites such as Wayne's will, I hope, give writers a way to tell their stories so they can be accessed by readers.
Otherwise, where are the Dashiel Hammets, Truman Capotes, and other great writers going to flex their muscles? Where can we have that "farm team" that good writers can access while they get ready for the "majors?"

Don Keith N4KC
http://www.donkeith.com/

The Joystick in the Cockpit

You think gaming technology does not have great influence other areas of life? Or that technology that is familiar to some is not downright frightening to others?

This is the photo of the "cockpit" of a new concept car from Mercedes-Benz. Yes, you are seeing it correctly! The steering wheel has been replaced with a joystick.

I'll bet if you are over 50 years old (and not an airplane pilot), the thought of steering your car with a joystick is a tad scary.

I'll also bet that if you are 30 years old or less, you wonder what took so long.

Don Keith N4KC

http://www.donkeith.com/

http://www.n4kc.com/

(Thanks to my friend Wayne Thompson WB4RHA for the photo)

Number one with who counts -- LISTENERS!

Back on November 12, I posted a note about how radio listening is down for commercial stations but National Public Radio affiliates are actually growing nicely. Now comes word that the new Portable People Meter developed by my old company, Arbitron, shows something very interesting in Washington, DC, a major radio market.
The number one radio station between 7 PM and midnight in this big media center is not the local hit music station, not the news/talk or the urban/rap station. No, it is a listener-supported, non-commercial contemporary Christian music station, WGTS-FM.
How can that be? How can such a narrowly-targeted station beat all those other consulted, researched, promoted, fire-breathing monsters?
I'm not that familiar with WGTS, and it is definitely NOT the kind of station I would typically listen to, but after visiting their web site and listening just a few minutes to their stream, I think I have a good idea. Anyone listening or visiting the web site who falls into the group for whom the station is intended instantly feels like he or she belongs. They probably feel that this station "belongs" to them. Everything is inclusive, not excluding. The pieces fit together. Listeners are invited to be a part of what they are doing.
There is an open invitation for listeners and visitors to design a billboard for the station, using the theme "Why I believe in God." People are invited to send video of their kids' Christmas pageants to share with others. There's a chance to choose a gift from a catalog to send to a child in Asia for Christmas. Of course, there are blogs, a chance to follow station personalities on Twitter and other social sites, and a high-quality station stream that does not require some kind of exotic player--just Windows MediaPlayer--or demands that you register to listen (there's an optional opportunity to give your email address if you want to be on the station's distribution list).
Again, it's not my kind of station, but I can readily see why the PPM shows it to be doing so well. They are not trying to reach "listeners." They are trying to attract participants...members of a club that a large number of people would like to join. And they are not doing anything any other radio station couldn't do.

Don Keith
http://www.donkeith.com/
http://www.n4kc.com/

And the biggest advertiser on broadcast radio is...

Are you ready for this? The biggest-spending advertiser on broadcast radio nowadays is not Coca Cola. It's not beer or fast food or on-line dating services. And it's certainly not auto makers.

It is...TA DAH...radio!

Yes, the biggest advertiser on radio is radio. That's spending to promote so-called "HD radio."

So you tell me: how much do you know about HD radio? Did you plan to give them as gifts this Christmas?

Could you tell me three things that make a new HD radio a good purchase?

I didn't think so. Obviously money well spent.

Don N4KC

http://www.donkeith.com/

Creating a relationship with customers

I often cite a blog I follow that is written by media researcher Mark Ramsey. He quotes quite a few marketing "gurus" and their takes on the business of radio and other media. Some are better than others. Some are unrelated to rapid technological change or are only peripherally relatable to media.

But in one of Mark's most recent posts, he quotes from an interview he did with marketing consultant and author Tom Asacker, who, in a few sentences, may have given the most profound formula yet for a radio station intent on attracting a large audience:

"You can't create larger audiences by trying to create larger audiences. You can only create larger audiences by trying to get deeper with smaller audiences.

Think about how to get deeper and make more relevant, valuable connections with individuals in a culture or a subculture.

Don't think about audience size. Think about the depth of the relationship and how important it is and how valuable it is. The more you do that, the bigger the audience gets."

Amen!

I am convinced that the more choices people have for their entertainment, information and virtual companionship, the more they will gravitate toward those sources with which they can identify, feel a part of, while becoming a member of a community with similar likes and dislikes. It goes back, too, to my continual braying about how radio listeners, TV viewers, Internet surfers, book readers--all users of all media--are looking primarily for companionship. For a shared experience. A shared experience with someone with whom they feel comfortable.

It's as simple as a morning dee jay saying, "Gosh, I know how you feel after the (home team) lost the big game last night. Here's a song I pulled out of the stack, just for days like this. It made me feel better. I hope it does you, too."

Don Keith N4KC

http://www.donkeith.com/

http://www.n4kc.com/

God help radio and God help radio's customers

So I was traveling this week and got a free copy of USA TODAY on my hotel room doorknob (does anybody actually buy this paper?) Inside was a nice, colorful insert, urging me to give “the gift that fits.” (Here’s a link to the insert: http://ftp.media.radcity.net/ZMST/HD08.pdf)

The piece says I should give an HD Radio to someone special this Christmas, not a gift card, a necktie, or a “re-gift.” It claims there are 100 different HD Radios and gives me a long list of manufacturers and retail stores. There is even a bullet-point list of various types of HD Radios that exist: alarm clock, table top, and portables, to name a few.

If I look hard enough, I finally see a few reasons listed for WHY I should give someone an HD Radio for a gift: more local stations, higher quality sound, and no subscription fee. That's it. Still, it seems the main reason is because 29 manufacturers make HD Radios and eleven retailers sell them.

I can’t help but ask several questions”

· What am I missing here? Why is the fact that people make and sell a product a reason why I should give it as a gift?
· Are the three value propositions offered on this piece enough to make that lucky giftee squeal with delight on Christmas morning? I’m trying to think who on my gift list is looking for “more local stations” or, for that matter, “higher quality sound” than they are getting already. Gosh, yes. My wife, my boss, my brother have all been telling me how much they would like more local radio stations! Thank you, broadcasters, for providing me the perfect gift!
· OK, so they want me to find “just the right HD Radio for your special someone” (honest, that’s what the copy says!). What is the point of this expensive print insert piece? Are they trying to drive me to a store or to a web site? It can't be that they want to give me any reasons why the HD Radio is such a spectacular gift. If they want to push me to the web site, they only list the URL once that I can find, and it is in a font and color I can hardly make out. And I don't see a compelling reason for me to "visit." How many people will actually go there to “print out a customized shopping list?”
· And finally, who are these guys trying to reach with this piece? Why USA TODAY? Of all possible placement or media, why USA TODAY?

Radio tells its customers that they are “marketing experts” who will help them sell their product or service. God help the radio industry and God help its customers!

Ubiquitous free broadband -- it's coming, and soon!

USA TODAY says it, so it has to be true:
Free broadband for America has inched closer to reality: The plan, after two years of debate, is finally on the calendar for a full vote by the Federal Communications Commission.
Assuming the plan is approved at the FCC's Dec. 18 meeting, one of the agency's last before President-elect Barack Obama takes office, free broadband could become reality within a year.

That means not only your laptop but your car, your utility meter, your refrigerator (!) will be able to connect to the Internet from just about anywhere. Think about it. You can start your car, have your house warming up, check the roast in the crock pot, set your DVR to record that show you forgot about, and...ready...work 20 meter CW on your home rig and big antenna...all from your desk or while having an after-work drink with your buds.

The possibilities boggle the mind of a guy like me who has been alive in seven decades. I remember when we had three (THREE!) TV channels. When the only broadcast radio we could hear at night was Chicago or St. Louis. When mail had no "e" in front of it. When ordering Christmas presents out of a catalog meant a paper catalog, a money order, and a trip to the post office sometime in October.

What other possibilities does ubiquitous, instantaneous connectivity promise? What is the potential impact on how people communicate, how they get their entertainment, how they use media, how they live their lives? When your thermostat on the wall at home, your locker at the gym, your car, and your dog all have IP addresses and are accessible from any computer or handheld communcation device (no longer just a "cell phone" or "PDA")?

Take a deep breath and hang on!

Don Keith N4KC

http://www.n4kc.com/

http://www.donkeith.com/