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NPR decides it won’t promote its podcasts or NPR One on air
- Aloha 11y agoWhat this article doesn't seem to explain is how NPR is supposed to monetize its content via podcast or NPR One - currently monetization is handled by the local affiliate via pledge drives, then paid for by subscription upstream. It seems to me that promoting NPR One would draw revenue from local affiliates - without replacing it elsewhere.
- ipsum2 11y agoNPR has advertisements on their podcasts, usually at the beginning and/or end of a show.
- cptskippy 11y agoIt's not just on their podcasts, WABE in Atlanta has advertisements on the air.
- jessaustin 11y agoThey all do, but for the most part they're much better-timed and less crass than ads on commercial radio. Usually just a simple, "programming this hour is brought to you with help from our listeners and from the fine folks at Bob's Bicycle Barn."
- narrowrail 11y agoI just want to say as an NPR-junkie of 20+ years, the lady that currently reads the promotional announcements makes me want to smash my phone, so I now mute quite often.
- unethical_ban 11y agoThere's the current one, but the girl who briefly took over for the longtime male announcer was very dull indeed.
- Outdoorsman 11y ago>NPR has advertisements on their podcasts, usually at the beginning and/or end of a show.< I would love to see all advertising done this way--announce who makes the content possible, then get out of the way of the content...remind us again at the end where the funding came from if you wish...tasteful, dignified, makes the point, and grants recognition... When advertising annoys people it's almost always because it gets in the way of the content...it distracts from what one is there to actually "see"... Something so simple you'd think almost anyone could grasp the concept, yet so many advertisers get advertising completely wrong...web pages are chock full of garish flashing click-bait nonsense... Disclosure: I am a long-time NPR listener and local station supporter...
- eslaught 11y agoI think public services in general have a different concept of what advertising means, compared to the private sector. It's almost like the advertiser is a donor rather than a client. With private sector advertising, I almost expect the ads to be garish. If the only goal is to make money, then market forces push for the ads to become more and more invasive until you basically can't view the content thanks to all the ads. I'm sure I'm echoing what many people have said before, but we need to find a way for content to stop being a cost center and start to become the actual source of revenue.
- artine 11y agoI wish whoever downvoted you would explain why, because I agree 100% with your expressed sentiment.
- thejosh 11y agoGeneric internet podcasts do this as well, sometimes with one in the middle. Tell us we're being advertised to, give us a good deal relevant to our interests, you and the advertiser both win.
- Houshalter 11y agoProblem is it's the same few companies every time in every podcast. There are apparently only 3 companies that podcast listeners are interested in, or at least that care to advertise to podcast listeners.
- cookiecaper 11y agoAren't local affiliates an artifact of an outmoded content delivery system (terrestrial radio)? I understand that it's sad to have the local affiliate hurt, but I think the age of affiliate broadcasting is drawing to an end. It's something that will become a larger issue in the mid-term future, IMO.
- parfe 11y agoLocal affiliates are independent stations with their own production departments. Some shows get picked up for national syndication (e.g. Car Talk from WBUR, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me WHYY, On The Media WNYC, Prarie Home Companion by Minnesota Public Radio ) while other shows might target the local market which won't make sense as a national broadcast. Local affiliates can cross license content directly between each other, or from NPR, PRI, BBC, American Public Radio, and Public Radio Exchange, etc. Local affiliates are not simple repeater stations, as you seem to believe.
- eli 11y agoI was under the impression that most local affiliates do not produce any content licensed by anyone else and just license content from other sources.
- Aloha 11y agoNo, local affiliates often produce between 20% and 80% of their programming.
- CapitalistCartr 11y agoOften true in commercial radio land, but not on NPR. Things are much more loosey-goosey there. Probably because of shoe-string budgets.
- palidanx 11y agoIn the Southern California market, we have two big NPR stations (KPCC and KCRW). Both stations actually produce a lot of their own radio shows, and supplement some nationally syndicated content. When I visited Oregon, I noticed most of the shows were nationally syndicated, and I suspect that might have to do with how much money they can get from their local regions.
- cmdrfred 11y ago"And remember folks if you'd like to support public broadcasting visit our donate page, or shop.npr.com when shopping on Amazon to help keep these podcasts on the air."
- Philadelphia 11y agoApparently not true in the way this article suggests, according to the NPR ombudsman: https://t.co/6B3NKLPH6B https://t.co/6B3NKLPH6B.
- dublinben 11y agoReal link, without the unnecessary Twitter tracking: http://www.npr.org/sections/ombudsman/2016/03/18/470876553/why-npr-changed-how-it-talks-about-podcasts http://www.npr.org/sections/ombudsman/2016/03/18/470876553/w...
- jessaustin 11y agoOK so now I've installed NPR One, thanks! Recently I've enjoyed the "NPR News App". TFA didn't mention it, but it is really well done. That sort of app could easily be a neglected afterthought. (Example: pretty much any other app with an "old media" brand.) It's obvious that skilled people care for this app. It looks good, it's not complicated, it has a large variety, and you get to the audio content quickly.
- sien 11y agoI listen to a number of NPR podcasts and don't live in the US. I used to live in the US and donate to my local NPR station. It's strange that on every podcast episode they don't suggest a way for me to contribute. Other successful podcasts like The Guardian's highly entertaining Football Weekly podcast also suffer from this. I'd like to contribute something sometimes. I've bought t-shirts from podcasts that suggest that (Planet Money, 99% Invisible) and am happy to do something. Also, the ads on podcasts are not well targeted. I've heard of Squarespace... It's remarkable that there isn't a good clean way to put ads into and better monetise podcasts.
- wyldfire 11y ago> It's strange that on every podcast episode they don't suggest a way for me to contribute. On NPR one app, they do occasionally have a "donate now" opportunity and their pitch ends with "we're looking forward to connecting with you...". If you're not using that app, then you might be hearing content that NPR syndicates but if they raised money it wouldn't be for your local station. You can tell NPR went to some pains to integrate local broadcasting in their app. If NPR-one hassled you with every item, it would get old fast -- some of the news clips are just over a minute or two long.
- mbym 11y ago@Sien, completely agree with you. This is a solution Awesound (currently in YC Fellowship) is building: a good, clean way to dynamically put targeted ads into podcasts. We also enable publishers to accept payments from listeners. Say hi! (email mark@awesound or twitter @awesoundapp)
- timr 11y agoWow. Those are some seriously self-righteous tweets. There's a delicious irony in people using the canonical example of unprofitable social media to criticize NPR's decision(s) to prioritize its lucrative distribution network over the free-media flavor of the moment. Say what you will about NPR, but the affiliates pay their bills. I don't know if this is the "right" decision, but I'm willing to wager that NPR will be around long after Twitter has filed for bankruptcy. Distribution the top challenge for any product, and NPR's distribution -- and therefore, primary value generator -- happens because of its large affiliate network. It isn't a "tax" to invest in that system. Unless digital distribution is self-sustaining, it's the other way around. (Edit: I just got a downvote before my comment was visible. Not sure how that's possible, unless someone is systematically down-voting my comments...)
- Outdoorsman 11y ago>>I don't know if this is the "right" decision, but I'm willing to wager that NPR will be around long after Twitter has filed for bankruptcy. << Let us hope so...anyone attempting to produce quality thoughtful content on a consistent basis should be encouraged at every opportunity...
- nathancahill 11y agoNow if they'd just stop their pledge drives..
- acdha 11y agoThey need to make the payroll, though, and that's how the system works currently. What I'm hoping will happen is a transition approach where e.g. the radio might still be interrupted but users of apps like NPR One could continue uninterrupted after paying, and they'd work out some revenue sharing deal to pay for local news, etc. I'm not holding my breath on any of that happening quickly since you're talking about renegotiating into a new business model with a bunch of different parties.
- kd5bjo 11y agoKQED[1] does this; when you make a donation during their pledge drive, You get access to a secondary web stream without the pledge breaks. [1] NPR San Francisco
- ascagnel_ 11y agoWNYC chooses to shorten the pledge drive the higher over the goal they run. So a two-week pledge drive has gone as short as ten days from people front-loading donations.
- jzwinck 11y agoI like NPR so I donated once. From that day forward they sent me dozens of letters in the mail asking for more money. I suspect they spent my entire donation amount spamming me. I didn't want to agree with you. But you're not wrong.
- kasey_junk 11y agoYou almost certainly did not donate to NPR, but rather to your local public radio station. Those local stations run the gamut of sophistication. My local public radio station for instance (WBEZ in Chicago) is very, very good about not sending mail you don't want. They have an easy to use internet enabled monthly giving program and a pledge drive free internet stream for donors during the pledge drive. But they are one of the biggest stations in the country and have the production dept. to back that up. Other stations are little more than adjuncts to the local college's telecomms program. The difference between NPR and your local public radio channel is not understood by most people, but it gets to the heart of the point of this article.
- levemi 11y agoWe're still stuck in that in-between zone where legacy businesses from the last century are in the fight for their lives while everyone with half a sense can see the future is digital distribution. This struggle is a generational one. Older people are used to their TVs, radios and newspapers and seem as a group unwilling to transition. Institutions on the wrong side of this fight like cable companies and cable TV stations, radio stations, movie theaters, local news TV networks and local newspapers haven't made it easy for them. Younger people on the other hand don't even bother. And that's how you can see the writing on the wall for these obviously legacy businesses. By being unwilling to fully commit to the future, because they'll make less money, they'll upset existing relationships, they'll die. Blockbuster died a quick death. The transition from video rentals to online video was sudden and quick, because Blockbuster didn't control the content and couldn't lock in viewers. This kind of end will come for all these other places too though as younger generations have different expectations. They want their content on demand, and they want it on any of their devices and they want it without having to subscribe to expensive bundles of junk they'll never consume. The problem for how to provide the same high quality local content that these legacy businesses can sometimes provide is a real problem that hasn't been addressed yet. AOL's patch was a very innovative and high quality way but it lacked adoption and was unsuccessful. I think we may have to see the old guards die and endure a short period without high quality local content before it can rise again.
- erikpukinskis 11y agoI don't disagree with your overall point, but I don't see how cross-marketing is a requirement for a media organization to be "with it" in your book. Honestly, radio is a shitty channel through which to market your podcast. A) you already have a captive listener, and b) they're probably driving, or are at work, in which case they're not really well positioned to subscribe to a podcast. Their hands are probably full. I don't see what's wrong with tailoring your marketing strategies. Market a podcast in the venue where people are looking for podcasts: on their phones, in social media.
- disc 11y ago> radio is a shitty channel through which to market your podcast Maybe I'm just not the average NPR listener, but any time I have terrestrial radio playing, I'm highly subject to interruptions (eg., the end of my drive, a meeting during my workday, etc.) I always almost find an opportunity to resume the broadcast (via podcast) helpful.
- sheepleherd 11y agoIf the public pays for NPR, why doesn't the public own the output? ie, why no Creative Commons licensing? Plenty of stuff on the internet is free; NPR is not free, we ALREADY paid for it. I would appreciate comments about the Creative Commons aspect of this, not quibbles about line items in the budget.
- intopieces 11y agoHow about you take a look at their current licensing terms [0], which seem reasonable to me, and tell us what you think Creative Commons would accomplish for NPR and the public? It might go a long way in answering your question. [0]http://www.npr.org/about-npr/179881519/rights-and-permissions-information http://www.npr.org/about-npr/179881519/rights-and-permission...
- ceejayoz 11y agoFor the most part, "the public" (i.e. taxpayers) doesn't fund NPR. NPR receives no direct federal funding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPR#Funding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPR#Funding
- meric 11y agoIf NPR is owned by the government, and it's self-funded, then it's funded by taxpayers too. You own the company, you control the intellectual property it generates, even if the company is "self-funded".
- burkaman 11y agoIt isn't owned by the government, and it isn't self-funded.
- sheepleherd 11y agoYou are making a strawman argument, I didn't say "the public" meant taxpayers, I was talking about the "the public" in National "public" Radio and the "public" Broadcasting System, and the federally funded Corporation for "public" Broadcasting. And in any case, your clarification is baloney, you are either being fooled by NPR's accounting sleights of hand, or you are helping to propagandize it. Federal money does in fact flow through public broadcasting's network of "shell" companies such as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to local stations to and then to NPR. Here is an article on PBS.org about Congress potentially cutting funding to NPR. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/us-house-votes-to-cut-npr-funding/ http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/us-house-votes-to-cut-np... Yes, that was 2011, but the same baloney about NPR not receiving direct federal funding was the story back then too. In any case, my argument that the works of public broadcasting belong under a creative commons license is referring to the same public that the stations bray about endlessly, "you the listener".
- Kapura 11y agoBut can it stop promoting podcasts on NPR one?
- jahmed 11y agoHa yeah. I know NPR One you don't need to remind me that I'm listening to NPR One constantly.
- fernly 11y agoI listen to local NPR station often and I had never ever heard of NPR One. So I went to one.npr.org and I'm no wiser. It's a white page with a logo and a completely undocumented audio-play widget. I'd say the "don't talk about NPR One" rule extends to NPR One.
- bronxbomber92 11y agoThe product page: http://www.npr.org/about/products/npr-one/ http://www.npr.org/about/products/npr-one/
- fernly 11y agoThank you. That is the _second_ item in the DuckDuckGo search results. Guess I should have looked a millisecond longer. But why the one.npr.org does not at least have an "about" link to it...
- omginternets 11y agoTry downloading the app. I was very pleasantly surprised with it. Actually, that's an understatement: I really like it, although it may come down to a matter of taste.
- fernly 11y agoThanks for the suggestion. However, it is not my habit to listen to stuff with my phone. I have an iPod Nano that I use to listen to music and podcasts while running (much lighter as well as less breakable and stealable than a phone); and when not running, I'm at my computer with iTunes running. But clearly anyone's MMV.
- rat87 11y agoI highly recommend the Planet Money podcast http://www.npr.org/sections/money/ http://www.npr.org/sections/money/
- Houshalter 11y agoMy local NPR station plays nothing but classical music. I think because it's the cheapest stuff to broadcast, just filler content. They do the news at certain hours, but most the time it's music.
- yyyyyak 11y agosome are better than others no doubt. Everywhere I have lived has had an awesome local station.
- dublinben 11y agoIt's funny you say that, because my local NPR station actually stopped playing classical music entirely. They spun it out into a standalone classical music station in order to focus on providing more news programming.
- yyyyyak 11y ago"Legacy business" or not, I believe that listening to local public radio makes me a better citizen of my city. NPR needs to do everything it can to keep the local stations alive because it's not just the nationally popular programming that matters. Honestly, my local NPR station, WNYC, is the only remotely intelligent source of local news. Where else am I going to hear Andrew Cuomo, Bill de Blasio, and other influential people having a frank discussion on important local issues? The only alternatives are random internet blogs, NY Daily News, and Fox 5, and some crazy right wing talk shows in Jersey. I don't see any problem with doing what it takes to keep these stations alive, even if it means that Ira Glass can't tell me to download this American Life using iTunes (which I already do).
- fezz 11y agoWhy don't they tie the local stations into the apps so revenue can be tracked by either sposorship or geolocation? As well as locally relevant content?
- cuckcuckspruce 11y agoI would imagine that would open a whole can of works for clearing licensing for clips used on shows produced at the local NPR stations. Right now, you can be pretty well assured that there's a limited audience for these based on signal propagation. The moment that you take a local station and put it online the agencies through which you clear these clips are going to squeeze you for more money because the potential audience size is larger.
- dantiberian 11y agoI don't know a ton about public radio in America, but I'd bet that WNYC is one of the most well funded (they produce Radiolab, among others). As discussed in the article, most local stations are just republishing NPR content, not creating the kind of great content you're talking about.
- baldfat 11y agoI've listened to WNYC for years but I have also lived all over the States except the Northwest and nothing can touch the quality of WNYC. I now live in PA but I stream the station all the time with my phone.