Infatuated
Podcasting has sunk its teeth into my me and I love it. So I have a list to the left here of podcasts I dig and a few links. Well that doesn't really do this story justice. I have subscribed to about 15 podcasts on iTunes and later tonight I'm guessing I will up that to 30. Back in college when I was delivering pizzas I thought Sirius was the best thing on Earth. Good music, good talk radio, and a couple years later... Howard Stern (give me a paragraph before I can explain this). With Terrestrial radio the commercials were endless and the signal constantly waxes and wanes, and in a market like Des Moines the name of the game is national syndication; however, Sirius digital content, music channels commercial free, celebrity disc jockies, comedy channels, news channels, every sport I cared about (minus baseball, stupid xm). It was a match made in heaven.
Now Podcasts, this is an entirely new beast. Sure there might be a commercial or two sprinkled throughout but it is the definition of content specific. I can download sports shows from Chicago, I can listen to hour long shows devoted to video games, movies, sports, technology, shit NPR offers two, three, sometimes four hour long concerts uninterrupted for FREE on iTunes. This is amazing to me.
Now let me explain Howard Stern. Yes I'm a fan, but not until he was on Sirius. Every Friday they play "Master Tape Theatre" which replays classic shows from his 20+ years on the mic. It has become very apparent why I never liked his show until now. It appears that before the current line up of the Stern Show most conversations, interviews, and bits were very aggresive. What I mean is Howard and his cohorts sound like they are better than the people they talk about and are just mean. Why was it popular? Well besides resorting to the lowest common denominator; its fun to feel like your part of the cool crowd and Howard does that, includes his audience in the fun and conversation. They aren't the ones he demeans, just his guest or the subject of his conversation. Howard is probably the least funny person on his show. Not to mention a glory hog. Someone says shit about him in an article or interview he spends 30 minutes defending his reputation and saying things about how he's made a movie, written a best seller, was number one in radio for a ridiculous amount of time. Okay we get it.
So why am I a fan? The Howard Stern show on sirius is much more of a gaggle of friends telling outlandish stories, poking fun at each other, and talking about pop culture. I attribute most of the humor to his sidekicks Artie Lange, Fred, and Benji. They write the material and keep it fun. Sure the radio porn is still there but there are over a hundred other channels to flip to during that. I'm not saying Howard isn't talented, I mean how can you reach his height and esteem without being talented? I just think the show prior to this conglomeration wasn't for me.
Now that I have quasi explained that, I kind of have a couple of parting comments. With content specific podcasts being readily available, some being updated daily, Sirius and XM weeks away from merging (I don't know how it can be denied now that I have seen first hand how huge this podcasting thing is and knowing the power of radio at the local level), how does terrestrial radio survive? Change the business structure.
Radio is much like baseball. In the Northeast Baseball is king. Why do you think the Yankees are worth over a billion dollars? Because they have brewed a passionate regional following. No part of the country cares more about baseball than Maine to DC. Yankees, Red Sox, Mets. The top three payrolls, why? Because this region is obsessed with Baseball. It has a tradition there, was practically born on the streets of NYC with just a stick and a ball. It's in their blood.
Now radio may not be in anyones blood but what makes it important? Immediacy. Don't tell me the internet is more current. You need a computer or a phone, a connection, and most likely something to sit on. Televisions are bulky and have entertainment programming as its primary source of information conveyance; meaning, breaking news in the world, chances are you aren't gonna hear about it during a rerun of Seinfeld on the CW. Radio (more importantly talk radio) has that. With Podcasting I can see the unending appeal for social, cultural, or political commentary. Radio gives it all day everyday, for free with only a radio required, standard in every car since the 50s.
So how does this compare to baseball? You turn on the radio in San Francisco, most of the talk, sports, and people are gonna be talking about the bay area, in Chicago it's about the Lake Michigan corridor, Manhatten it's either the city or tri-state area. Radio can't die because it is location specific and can instantly inform the public without filter. One of the things you know in broadcast is that radio makes very little money. The audience is dying. I feel this may be in response to the fact that companies like Clear Channel rolling into town, buy all the stations, and syndicate programming around the clock. You can only eat the national news for so long before you get bored and pop in a CD. I guess they play what "sells" but what push was given to the local important programming before bowing to Syndicated shows that sell the same crap from morning drive to the over night?
Okay, that's a rant. Basically, I want you to check out the podcast universe, iTunes offers an amazing array of free shows and finding something you will like takes all of 30 seconds. check you later.
Now Podcasts, this is an entirely new beast. Sure there might be a commercial or two sprinkled throughout but it is the definition of content specific. I can download sports shows from Chicago, I can listen to hour long shows devoted to video games, movies, sports, technology, shit NPR offers two, three, sometimes four hour long concerts uninterrupted for FREE on iTunes. This is amazing to me.
Now let me explain Howard Stern. Yes I'm a fan, but not until he was on Sirius. Every Friday they play "Master Tape Theatre" which replays classic shows from his 20+ years on the mic. It has become very apparent why I never liked his show until now. It appears that before the current line up of the Stern Show most conversations, interviews, and bits were very aggresive. What I mean is Howard and his cohorts sound like they are better than the people they talk about and are just mean. Why was it popular? Well besides resorting to the lowest common denominator; its fun to feel like your part of the cool crowd and Howard does that, includes his audience in the fun and conversation. They aren't the ones he demeans, just his guest or the subject of his conversation. Howard is probably the least funny person on his show. Not to mention a glory hog. Someone says shit about him in an article or interview he spends 30 minutes defending his reputation and saying things about how he's made a movie, written a best seller, was number one in radio for a ridiculous amount of time. Okay we get it.
So why am I a fan? The Howard Stern show on sirius is much more of a gaggle of friends telling outlandish stories, poking fun at each other, and talking about pop culture. I attribute most of the humor to his sidekicks Artie Lange, Fred, and Benji. They write the material and keep it fun. Sure the radio porn is still there but there are over a hundred other channels to flip to during that. I'm not saying Howard isn't talented, I mean how can you reach his height and esteem without being talented? I just think the show prior to this conglomeration wasn't for me.
Now that I have quasi explained that, I kind of have a couple of parting comments. With content specific podcasts being readily available, some being updated daily, Sirius and XM weeks away from merging (I don't know how it can be denied now that I have seen first hand how huge this podcasting thing is and knowing the power of radio at the local level), how does terrestrial radio survive? Change the business structure.
Radio is much like baseball. In the Northeast Baseball is king. Why do you think the Yankees are worth over a billion dollars? Because they have brewed a passionate regional following. No part of the country cares more about baseball than Maine to DC. Yankees, Red Sox, Mets. The top three payrolls, why? Because this region is obsessed with Baseball. It has a tradition there, was practically born on the streets of NYC with just a stick and a ball. It's in their blood.
Now radio may not be in anyones blood but what makes it important? Immediacy. Don't tell me the internet is more current. You need a computer or a phone, a connection, and most likely something to sit on. Televisions are bulky and have entertainment programming as its primary source of information conveyance; meaning, breaking news in the world, chances are you aren't gonna hear about it during a rerun of Seinfeld on the CW. Radio (more importantly talk radio) has that. With Podcasting I can see the unending appeal for social, cultural, or political commentary. Radio gives it all day everyday, for free with only a radio required, standard in every car since the 50s.
So how does this compare to baseball? You turn on the radio in San Francisco, most of the talk, sports, and people are gonna be talking about the bay area, in Chicago it's about the Lake Michigan corridor, Manhatten it's either the city or tri-state area. Radio can't die because it is location specific and can instantly inform the public without filter. One of the things you know in broadcast is that radio makes very little money. The audience is dying. I feel this may be in response to the fact that companies like Clear Channel rolling into town, buy all the stations, and syndicate programming around the clock. You can only eat the national news for so long before you get bored and pop in a CD. I guess they play what "sells" but what push was given to the local important programming before bowing to Syndicated shows that sell the same crap from morning drive to the over night?
Okay, that's a rant. Basically, I want you to check out the podcast universe, iTunes offers an amazing array of free shows and finding something you will like takes all of 30 seconds. check you later.
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