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November 8, 2019
Towards An Improved WidgetWhat happens if your media company is run by people who don't really understand or even care about the ultimate product?
Oh, we can tell stories about that, can't we, radio folks? That's what came to mind for me when following the recent implosion of Deadspin, in which the parent company's new private equity investors brought in a new CEO and an Editorial Director who decided that the site, which built its reputation on being a sports site with an attitude and a penchant for covering non-sports topics that somehow fit the ethos, should now just "stick to sports." The entire staff quit in protest, and now the site's frozen in time and the brand damaged, likely beyond repair. The new owners destroyed what they bought, because they thought they knew better. Spoiler: They didn't.
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November 1, 2019
LifelineThe radio industry prides itself on its service to the community in emergencies, and so, with large swaths of California on fire once again and utility company-imposed power outages affecting large numbers of people, I dutifully checked up on key news and talk radio ...
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October 25, 2019
No Place Like HomeLet's stipulate first that voice command is how we're going to summon our audio entertainment and information moving forward. That's not in dispute. At some point, everyone will just say "play X" and X will play. That's going to happen. In fact, you can do that now with ...
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October 18, 2019
How the Grinch Stole RatingsIt's just now starting to feel like Fall in much of the U.S., so, naturally, it's time for radio stations nationwide to plot their annual all-Christmas music format flips. No, this is not going to be a column criticizing that move, or complaining that, dadgummit, these ...
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October 11, 2019
The Good New DaysThey're putting another Target store in the empty shell that used to be an Orchard Supply Hardware store in the shopping center at the top of our hill. The shopping center has been there since the hill got developed back in the 1950s, but it's changed a lot, and the fate ...
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October 4, 2019
The Birthright ThingThere was a little stir caused at the radio convention in Dallas last week (the "Radio Show," named by someone who clearly doesn't quite grasp the value of SEO) when iHeartRadio CEO Bob Pittman proclaimed that "podcasting is our birthright," "our" referring to the radio ...
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September 20, 2019
From The Ground UpSometimes, you have to tear it down and rebuild from scratch. Or at least build from the ground up. I thought about that in observing how radio is approaching expansion into podcasting and streaming, but it applies to the radio medium itself, too. As I've written way too ...
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September 13, 2019
The Bare NecessitiesThere are some things on which a business can't skimp. You might have noticed that when you read about one large broadcaster's woes with ransomware that made it very difficult for it to conduct business this week. It's 2019, and no company of any size should be conducting ...
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September 6, 2019
Especially For YouWhatever happened to talk radio that addressed the things about which listeners really care? I'm asking that after thinking about this week's All Access News-Talk-Sports 10 Questions interview with Dan Weissmann, the creator and host of "An Arm and a Leg," a podcast ...
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August 30, 2019
Welcome WagonIt's sort of a clichÈ in movies when the protagonist has to overcome a lack of encouragement from family and friends to triumph. Practically every biopic follows that pattern: told that they can't do something, they go ahead and ultimately do it to great success. We ...
