Music For Earth Day

One of the last projects I worked on in Boston was music for Earth Day. Frankly, it went over like a lead balloon. The staff wasn't into it. Most didn't want to take the time to connect the music with environment. The staff was not eager to connect with Earth Day events. They were understaffed over worked. Day to day obstacles in the working environment didn't allow the staff to focus on this kind of stuff. Or, maybe I had it all wrong. Maybe it was a really lame idea. We never found out if the audience was into it either. By the time Earth Day came around, I was out of there.

Since then, I've heard from others that this kind of stunting does not make a huge difference with the audience. The three strengths I saw were the promotional possibilities, community connections with environmentally concerned groups, and making it seem like the station and its talent were topical and connected.

I wanted to take a broad approach to the music. The music just needed a loose connection. It did not need to be a slam dunk like "My Oklahoma Home" by Bill Cunningham, "Black Sky" by Sam Phillips or "Good Planets are Hard to Find" by Steve Forbert. Anything closely related...even by title...could have been used. I thought we could even stretch the format a little to for the sake of the theme.

My partial playlist:

Good Planets Are Hard to Find - Steve Forbert

Crossing Muddy Waters - John Hiatt

Show Me the River - Eastmountainsouth

Let It Rain - Eric Clapton

Same Rain - Sam Phillips

Blackberry Rain - The Kennedys

No Rain - Blind Melon

Mother Nature's Son - Sheryl Crow

Good Day Sunshine - The Beatles

The Mountains Win Again, Blues Traveler

The Sea - Morchcheeba

Into the Mystic - Van Morrison

Last of the Great Whales - Solas

Black Sky - Sam Phillips

This Hard Land - Bruce Springsteen

My Oklahoma Home - Bruce Springsteen

By The Rivers of Babylon - Jimmy Cliff

Wooden Ships - Crosby Still and Nash

River Jordan - Vusi Mahlasela

Morning Has Broken - Cat Stevens

The Wind - Cat Stevens

Thing of Beauty - Hot House Flowers

Fishin' Blues - Taj Mahal

Sunshine - Jonathan Edwards

      

KCPT TV picks up a radio frequency

Public Television in Kansas City is entering the public radio realm with the planned acquisition of KTBG. KTBG is currently owned by the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg.
According to an article in the Kansas City Star, KCPT plans to move the station's tower closer to Kansas City, improve the signal, drop news and sports programming, but retain the AAA music format.

Think before you speak.

One of the aspects of my faith is to Do No Harm. And, a part of Do No Harm is to think before  speaking.

This is something the media should visit and revisit. In the rush to be first we can often get it wrong. In the rush to fill up air time with anything pundits do so much more.

There's a thoughtful piece in the Columbia Journalism Review by Jennifer Vanasco, In marathon explosion coverage, avoid premature accusations.

There are examples in the article of irresponsible speculation from Glenn Beck and others.

 “No American citizen blows up random people,” conveniently forgetting Timothy McVeigh, and regular Fox News guest Erik Rush tweeted, “Let’s kill them,” meaning Muslims."

These comments are hateful and racists. They are deliberately provocative to what end? Americans have perpetrated other mass killings. Think about Sandy Hook, Aurora, Tuscon and Columbine. The perpetrators were all white people. Should we paint white Americans as unstable mass killers?
Obviously not.

I was taught Who, What, Where, When and How. Here's something else to consider.

Layoffs at Maine Public Broadcasting

MPBN to lay off up to 10 people

Cuts in government funding at the state level and the sequestration are resulting in layoffs at MPBN. MPBN President and CEO Mark Vogelzang told the Boston Globe that the layoffs are the result of a projected $400,000 shortfall created by the cuts and less than expected revenues in member donations. The result is the laying off of up to ten employees and the suspension of the production of MPBN's weekly public affairs program, Maine Watch. Maine Watch airs on Maine Public Television. Most of the layoffs are among the video production unit.

Local productions for public television are expensive. This would seem to be the case for Maine Watch. I'm drawing the conclusion that production costs could not be offset by donations at least not in the short term. Sequestration cuts started too far into the fiscal year to be offset. Vogelzang called them the tipping point.

The cost of local television production were a constant source of concern when I worked for a joint licensee. Funding for local productions were dependent on upfront funding from corporations and foundations. Viewers were more interested in supporting specials like "Celtic Woman." The exception in Connecticut was viewer support for UConn Women's Basketball. This was unique and compelling programming that garnered enough support from the community to be self-sustaining. UConn Women's Basketball is now on a cable sports network. The network offers greater reach into the New York market.

CPBN's Content Gets New Direction

WNPR and CPTV will  have somebody in charge of their content. WestportNow.com is reporting that Jim Cutie is the new content director for Connecticut Public Broadcasting. Cutie moves over from the Connecticut Mirror where he was chief executive.

Dean Orton had been in charge of content until he left about a year ago. Orton came back to CPBN a few months ago to become the Chief Operating Officer. In the interim the content on WNPR was run by the producers of the three talk local talk shows and News Director John Dankosky.

Jacobs Media: The sky is not falling!

I wanted to share this blog from Jacobs Media because within public radio the tendency often seems to be that the sky is falling. The latest fear is that radio will lose its in-car listeners. In-car listening is believed to be the last great hope. The recent news that car companies will be offering alternatives to radio in their cars, including WiFi, stirred up fears that radio will no longer be available and become irrelevant.

I've been in the public radio since the late 70's. Back then consensus was there was no way we could compete with commercial radio. Public radio's share of the market were measly. The best we could hope for was a niche service. We were.

We came out of the 70's and 80's growing audience because of our content. Loyalty to that content was built because it matched the core values of our audience. I remember hearing at the PRC in 2002 that public radio was done. In five to ten years, public radio would be irrelevant.

John Sutton pointed out in a recent blog, Public Radio 2018: Radio Still Rules.

• In Spring 2012 more than 37 million people tuned in to public radio.^

• The average number of weekly tune-ins per listener is around 7.5. +

• That means public radio listeners chose to listen to public radio stations more than 13.5 billion times in 2012.

On-line numbers don't come anywhere near the numbers created by on-air listening.

We've feared challenges from cable, cable news, talk radio moving to FM, satellite radio,  the Internet, Pandora, social media, and now mobile devices. The mentality is sky is falling. The sky is not falling.  Because of our content and connection to our audience, we are working from a position of strength.

The Jacob's Media Tech Survey 9 and research from Mark Ramsey suggests that listeners are not ready to give up their car radios. In the Tech Survey 83% of those looking for a new car said the most important feature they wanted in their car was a radio. In the Ramsey posting 76% disagree with the statement:

 ”It’s okay if automakers remove FM/AM radios from my next new car because I could always listen to my favorite stations on my mobile device via the Internet”

These are our listeners. They are clearly stating a preference. They are still loyal to their radio stations. They still believe in the connection and intimacy of radio has to offer. As long as you give the public radio audience what it wants on the platform(s) it prefers, a model of sustainability can be found.

Don't lose focus. Do what we were trying to do in the 80's and 90's. Do what these guys were and are doing. Start with your audience because they value our content.

Think Audience!

Parenting College Kids Revised

The most recent installment of The Real Life Survival Guide was about parenting college age children (young adults). 

I’m not there...not yet. 

I know from personal experience that not everybody is ready for college right out of high school. Putting too much pressure on an 18 year old can be harmful. This can the be the first real lesson for a parent to let your child find his or her way. That does not mean cutting them loose.

I know I caused a lot of consternation for my parents when I went off to college. But, that was because I wasn't ready. I went in with the preconceived notion that I was going to fail. So, I did. I was immature. I was an emotional basket case. I careened from unbridled freedom to experimentation and, I set myself up to fail.

Me after going back to school.

When I dropped out, I was prepared for the worst. Hadn't I wasted my parent’s money? Hadn't I disappointed them? The answer was yes. But, my parents showed me much more depth and understanding. They were there to support me. They did not come down like a ton of bricks. They encourage me and waited for me to find my way.  

They were there for me when I took my first steps back to advance my education. 

I took a few courses at community college first. I wanted to see if I could cut it. I applied myself and the grades reflected my efforts. I convinced myself I could handle work at the University. I took the plunge. I was ready. I knew where I wanted to focus my studies.

I graduated with honors.  The key...I was ready. My mother took one last crack. She said, "It's about time." Then she laughed.

You can hear the Real Live Survival Guide on-line or on WNPR, Sunday at 4:30pm.