Digital News Users Not Buying

Reuters has bad news about subscriptions for on-line news. Michael Rosenwald, reporting for Columbia Journalism Review that only 11% of on-line digital news consumers actually pay for the services. Most digital consumers resent digital advertising and 47% block the ads with apps.

Other findings

• Ad blocking app and low subscription rates are bad news for legacy news sources and disruptive aggregators like Buzzfeed and Huffington Post.
• This is an international trend.
• Mobile devices are replacing tablets for news.
• Smaller screens limit advertising.
• Facebook is the go to Social Media source over Twitter.
• Publishers are migrating toward sponsored content.
• Sponsored content is meeting resistance. (40% ) 

Uncomfortable Questions

If people are unwilling to pay for news content on-line and if they're blocking ads, who's going to pay for the service? And, if the current funding model cannot sustain the providers, are these news sources going the same way as newspapers?

Hot Topic

Firewall issues abound for sponsored content. Journalistic standards call for a clear separation between sponsors and the content. Can sponsored content be trusted as news even with full disclosure of who is paying for the content? There's backlash already. According to 40% of the respondents to the Reuter's survey say they felt disappointment when they discovered the content they thought was news was actually sponsored content. To these users the articles certainly do not meet journalistic standards. Should it be considered advertising?

Sponsored content may not be as overt as commercials from the 40's and 50's, but there should be a certain amount of skepticism. Check out his ad for RJ Reynolds from the early days of Television...

It's All Local

I heard a public radio fundraiser talk about their investment in local programming and how most stations don't usually invest that much in resources. My thought...It only matters if the content matters.

A Personal Medium

More than once I've heard that radio is a personal medium. It's true. I choose to listen because the content matches my lifestyle and values.  The closer the content comes to this match, the more engaged I become. By extension, everything that comes out of speakers and headphones is local. And, this includes content on new platforms including social media.

Local or National?

It does not matter. As a listener the content and how the content is presented matters. So, when the person fundraising tells me that his or her NPR station invests a lot of time and resources on local content, I really don't care. He or she might care because he or she works there and has a lot invested in the success of the content. It's an inside argument that does not relate to my experience as a listener.

My Choice

As a listener, I decide what is important. It is my core values that are being served. And, if the content provided matches those values on a consistent basis, I am more likely to support the provider. It could be Morning Edition, On-Point, Colin McEnroe or Wait, Wait, it's all local to me.

CPR Tears Down the Walls

Capital Public Radio is tearing down the wall between music and news. There will still be an all news stream on KXJZ and an all music stream on KXPR.

According to an article in the Sacramento Business Journal there will be greater sharing of content with the creation of a content department headed by Joe Barr. Barr says that in the end there will be greater coverage of music and the arts on their news shows.  There's more. Click on the link below.

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What business reorganization means for Capital Public Radio

Dashboards Driving Distraction

Dashboards and Distractions

People are beginning to complain about the clutter presented by the newly connected cars. All sorts of distractions are built into the dashboards of the newer model cars. We may be able to access the web with WiFi...but the clutter is causing a distraction. Some consumers are complaining.

• Could the future mean more accidents? 
• Isn't it a lot simpler to just have a few presets with your favorites?
• Do we really need to be connected all the time?

Honda is trying to simplify as complaints mount.   

Designing Dashboards With Fewer Distractions

According to the article in the NY Time, the Honda system will operate with a series of hand gestures, but won't that still involve taking you eyes off the road for just a moment? Hands -free systems are just as dangerous according to a study by the AAA and the University of Utah.

Earlier testing in 2013 by the same university found that even when drivers were watching the road, they could still be sufficiently distracted by hands-free systems to miss a pedestrian walking out in front of their vehicle.

Try Something Old

Radio may still have life in our cars, and they offer a lot of information and entertainment at a really low cost. At any rate, a lot less than the cost of running WiFi in your car, and a lot safer.

Marijuana Radio in Denver

Pot-Branded Station Lights Up Denver

Talk about core loyalty!

Smokin' 94.1 is all about the pot smoker's lifestyle

Will this work? Will they be able to build a large enough audience to entice advertisers?

Significant Programming for a Significant Audience

Many successful public radio stations thrive on core loyalty. If you're not sure what that is...There's a publication that was the product of Audience 98 called "Public Service - Public Support." The report is long, but it is worth reading. All of the findings can be distilled into two key concepts.

Public service begets public support. 

Public support focuses public service. 

Successful stations actively pursued significant programming for a significant audience. The public radio audience was further defined as being highly educated and engaged Baby Boomers.  Because the programming appealed to a the values and lifestyle of the targeted audience, those listeners spent more time with the station and became loyal. The growth in listenership was astounding.

Targeted Lifestyle

The new pro pot station in Denver, Smokin' 94.1 promised to be a musical lifestyle format. The music will be classic rock. A similar format idea was part of radio in the late Sixties and early Seventies. These stations featured Album Oriented Rock before the music was codified into a format and corporatized. Many of the stations self identified as being underground and programmed to those who were part of the counter-culture. The stations failed to generate enough advertising to support themselves. There were only so many head-shops, record stores, concert venues and sub sandwich shops in the market.

A quick look at their website revealed nothing about advertisers. A good match might be donut shops, salty snacks and places that can satisfy the munchies.

They're playing hits, but other musical choices might include Quicksilver Messenger Service's, Fresh Air and Bob Marley's Kaya.