April 4, 2008
Company’s coming, and they’ve brought along scads of TV crews, miles of bunting, and a bundle of focus-grouped “talking points”.
Hold on for the May 6th Presidential Primary here in North Carolina.
It was supposed to be all over by now, except for ordering of the liquor for the hospitality suites at the national political conventions. But on the Democratic side, as of this blog entry, Senators Clinton and Obama are viewing our primary has perhaps the end game.
It’s surely been a topic at recent WFAE planning meetings. What stories can we tell that will be distinct from the reports by NPR, other public radio producers, and everybody else?
What topic would you like to hear Senators Clinton and Obama tackle? What would it take to win your vote?
If you go to WFAE.ORG, and look at the left-hand column, you’ll see a collection of on-line resources, many of them courtesy of NPR.
One interactive feature lets you say what it would take to get your vote (within legal constraints, of course). Click on the link below to try it:
http://www.npr.org/getmyvote/\
So, whom are you voting for, and whom are you betting on, when the May 6th contest arrives? Please blog back and let me know.
Roger.
March 13, 2008
Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Blink and The Tipping Point, packed the house at the annual luncheon of the Foundation for the Carolinas, in the Charlotte Convention Center, March 13th.
Gladwell is an animated speaker, and he ties together social phenomena as diverse as fashion trends and community building.
He said the key to a thriving, nurturing community is the involvement of people who are natural “connectors”: those among us who, instead of knowing 20 or 30 people, tend to have a social life packed with a hundred people or more. When “connectors” get involved with a product or a trend—or a social issue or a cultural highlight–the topic is spread near and far.
To Gladwell, Charlotte’s region will grow and prosper if it can find a frame of reference for its aspirations. Then, community activists need to develop a sense of urgency. A social movement needs to identify and activate it “connectors”. Lastly, all of those involved need to fight for growth and change.
Gladwell as commented on every topic from medical care to highway congestion cures. Here’s a recent audio clip from NPR on Gladwell’s Blink:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4280866
February 4, 2008
Since we are a public, non-profit station, should we use audience ratings as part of our decision-making? We tackled that question on a recent “Charlotte Talks” show. The guests were Program Director Paul Stribling, News Director Mark Rumsey and myself.
I think audience research plays an important role in public radio. Third-party research allows us to reach beyond our own personal judgments to see what the public is using (or underutilizing) on our stations. Research shows us when a program works well at a certain time slot. The same show can perform miserably at another time.
I DO think it’s very important that we avoid hyping the audience through research. We focus our programming within our chosen service area, which is news and public affairs, rather than turning to a rock or country music schedule. Also, when we decide to pick up a program for WFAE, we generally allow a year or two for the show to find its audience.
To hear the entire “Charlotte Talks” program, click on the link below:
http://www.wfae.org/wfae/audio/CT20080131.m3u
January 3, 2008
2008 will be a nail-biting year for the content creators (formerly known as broadcasters) in the television business.
On February 17th of 2009, TV stations will be required to shut off their analog signals in the VHF band. Those are the waves of energy that have been used since Sid Ceasar first romped into your grandma’s living room back in the 1950’s. What will be left are the new digital signals—conveying color pictures and surround sound in computer code. You also get the opportunity to watch High Definition pictures if you’re willing to shell out for an HD receiver.
Please remember that the radio side is changing but in a different way. WFAE is now broadcasting in HD digital. The “killer application”, in our view, is the ability to bring new radio services to you through open-air, non-subscription HD.
You still hear your favorite WFAE shows in analog as well as the new digital WFAE service. WFAE 2 is a 24-by-7 singer-songwriter music service that you really need to check out. WFAE 3 is broadcasting experimental programming—mainly news and public affairs programs that don’t fit into the conventional WFAE schedule.
Our WFAE shopping spies tell us that Charlotte area Radio Shack stores sold out of their Accurian HD radios over the holiday season. HD radios are now readily at stores like Best Buy, along with web sites including our own WFAE.ORG.
Remember that your current FM radios will still be of use to you over the next several years. The Feds have not set a date for shut-down of the conventional analog signals. This is because the HD system in the United States is particularly spectrum efficient. All of the WFAE signals—including the 3 digital ones—are contained in the 90.7 spot in the radio spectrum in the Charlotte region.
It’s now inexpensive to switch to HD receivers. You can get a tabletop HD set from $100-200. If you got a holiday gift card, consider stimulating the economy by springing for an HD set. I think you’ll be pleased. Be sure to email us at WFAE.ORG when you DO try out our HD services!
December 3, 2007
Einstein was right. Time gets faster or slower, depending on your observation post. If your observation post is at the shopping mall, then December is passing by at warp speed.
If Christmas seems like a heap of work followed by disappointment and a pile of January credit card bills, you might get a fresh perspective from a book that’s been around since the 1980’s.
It’s called UNPLUG THE CHRISTMAST MACHINE. The authors encourage us to examine our attitudes and traditions around the Christmas-New Year holidays. Find the things that mean the most to you, given your current life situation. Put the other traditions (and guilt-inducing habits) on the back burner.
Here’s how to find the book, which is modestly priced. Start at our web site, WFAE.ORG. Paste in this link:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/103-2638211-8329421?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Unplug+the+Christmas+Machine&x=11&y=20
If you choose to get the book shipped “urgent, overnight”….well, maybe you’d better order two copies.
