5 ms·

Super cool. Only thing, though, is that they should be charging for this. Seeing as how NPR stations rely on listener donations, this seems like a missed opport

by rglover 12y ago

Super cool. Only thing, though, is that they should be charging for this. Seeing as how NPR stations rely on listener donations, this seems like a missed opportunity to earn some extra revenue and bolster the budget for stations.

TwiztidK 12y ago
I have a strong feeling that they will charge for it eventually. Maybe the app will ask them to donate as they use it?
- twoodfin 12y ago
  I don't know if their funding/production model is flexible enough to allow them to do it, but it seems like some great opportunities for IAP here. For example, if Planet Money produced a monthly bonus episode for, say, $5, I know I wouldn't think twice before tapping "Buy".
  - ch4s3 12y ago
    I could get behind some premium long form content from NPR, especially Planet Money.
- gee_totes 12y ago
  I have a strong feeling that when your local station's pledge drive begins, the app will use your location data to generate notifications about donating, which you'll be able to do through the app. At least, that's how I would do it. NPR is missing out on a big donation opportunity by not taking advantage of an app store's built-in in-app purchase/donation infrastructure.
  - jfeser 12y ago
    It already includes a donation link under the station name. Right now it just sends you an email with donation info. Hopefully they can streamline that in the future.
  - sdillingham 12y ago
    Unfortunately Apple's ToS explicitly forbid charitable donations inside of apps, which is exactly what an IAP donation would be. Public radio's hands are tied unless Apple changes it's policies.
tormeh 12y ago
But it's NPR... It's government-owned, right? A public broadcaster? Can they legally charge for anything?
- mesh 12y ago
  fyi, NPR is is publicly and privately funded, but is not owned by the government. There is a good article here on its status: http://www.npr.org/yourturn/ombudsman/2001/011228.html http://www.npr.org/yourturn/ombudsman/2001/011228.html "Legally speaking, NPR is a private, not-for-profit corporation chartered by the District of Columbia and qualified by the Internal Revenue Service as a "501(c)(3)" organization exempt from taxation. "
- MBCook 12y ago
  They're not government owned. They're get a subsidy through the appropriate government agency (don't remember the name at the moment) but it's only about 10% of their budget and they are free to act however they wish. NPR is not state media. That would be Voice of America, which is not allowed to broadcast in the US.
  - tormeh 12y ago
    I just looked it up and it is allowed to broadcast domestically since 2013. Anyway it kind of seems a bit quaint in the face of BBC world service.
- gee_totes 12y ago
  No, it's not government-owned. "According to the 2009 financial statement, about 50% of NPR revenues come from the fees it charges member stations for programming and distribution charges."[0] [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Npr#Funding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Npr#Funding
- theg2 12y ago
  They are not government owned. They take grants but they are prohibited from taking money directly. A large part of their income comes from member stations who pay for access to shows, content, and support.
lukeschlather 12y ago
This isn't really any different from the streaming player on npr.org. It's got a slightly fancier subscription mechanism. At the end of the day, it's not that useful because I can't rely on my phone's 4G to remain connected without buffering while listening to an hour long news program on a trip. What would be worth charging money for is an app that could cache a configurable number of hours of new curated content when connected to wifi. Even so, that's not really any different from podcasts. I feel like the world is still very much in a transitional state with regards to how we think about apps. NPR offers its stuff over the air for free, but you write some code to do the same thing with a computer, and suddenly people are saying it should cost money.
- paulito 12y ago
  New York's public radio station, WNYC, recently revamped its app to incorporate this feature, which I agree is very useful: http://www.wnyc.org/mobile/ http://www.wnyc.org/mobile/ A lot of the available content categories aren't specific to New York, so it might be worth checking out regardless of where you live.
eddieroger 12y ago
I imagine most of the local fees go to very tactical things like keeping the transmitter on, which is non-trivial. Not that streaming should exclude local affiliates from funding, but it should be the local channel's responsibility to handle the cost of things it can't share (transmitters, office space, staff, etc), and share or get money for content and such which it can share back.
bullfight 12y ago
When I started listening, the first thing it did was play a bump for my local station, I am really hoping this fully incorporates local content.
TylerE 12y ago
There actually isn't any such thing as an "NPR Station". NPR is not a broadcaster. They are a content-producer. There are stations that are NPR members that carry lots of NPR content, but they are free to also carry local content they produce, content they license from other syndicates (e.g. PRI, American Public Media, PRX)
johnnymonster 12y ago
but you are able to donate. The app actually tells you how to donate to your localized station by clicking on the "How to Donate" link in the menu area.
garretruh 12y ago
At least during the beta, a "Donate" segment would occasionally be interspersed between programs/segments; the app displayed a button that linked you to the start of their online donation process.

by rglover 12y ago

TwiztidK 12y ago

I have a strong feeling that they will charge for it eventually. Maybe the app will ask them to donate as they use it?

twoodfin 12y ago
I don't know if their funding/production model is flexible enough to allow them to do it, but it seems like some great opportunities for IAP here. For example, if Planet Money produced a monthly bonus episode for, say, $5, I know I wouldn't think twice before tapping "Buy".
- ch4s3 12y ago
  I could get behind some premium long form content from NPR, especially Planet Money.
gee_totes 12y ago
I have a strong feeling that when your local station's pledge drive begins, the app will use your location data to generate notifications about donating, which you'll be able to do through the app. At least, that's how I would do it. NPR is missing out on a big donation opportunity by not taking advantage of an app store's built-in in-app purchase/donation infrastructure.
- jfeser 12y ago
  It already includes a donation link under the station name. Right now it just sends you an email with donation info. Hopefully they can streamline that in the future.
- sdillingham 12y ago
  Unfortunately Apple's ToS explicitly forbid charitable donations inside of apps, which is exactly what an IAP donation would be. Public radio's hands are tied unless Apple changes it's policies.

tormeh 12y ago

But it's NPR... It's government-owned, right? A public broadcaster? Can they legally charge for anything?

mesh 12y ago
fyi, NPR is is publicly and privately funded, but is not owned by the government. There is a good article here on its status: http://www.npr.org/yourturn/ombudsman/2001/011228.html http://www.npr.org/yourturn/ombudsman/2001/011228.html "Legally speaking, NPR is a private, not-for-profit corporation chartered by the District of Columbia and qualified by the Internal Revenue Service as a "501(c)(3)" organization exempt from taxation. "
MBCook 12y ago
They're not government owned. They're get a subsidy through the appropriate government agency (don't remember the name at the moment) but it's only about 10% of their budget and they are free to act however they wish. NPR is not state media. That would be Voice of America, which is not allowed to broadcast in the US.
- tormeh 12y ago
  I just looked it up and it is allowed to broadcast domestically since 2013. Anyway it kind of seems a bit quaint in the face of BBC world service.
gee_totes 12y ago
No, it's not government-owned. "According to the 2009 financial statement, about 50% of NPR revenues come from the fees it charges member stations for programming and distribution charges."[0] [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Npr#Funding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Npr#Funding
theg2 12y ago
They are not government owned. They take grants but they are prohibited from taking money directly. A large part of their income comes from member stations who pay for access to shows, content, and support.

lukeschlather 12y ago

This isn't really any different from the streaming player on npr.org. It's got a slightly fancier subscription mechanism. At the end of the day, it's not that useful because I can't rely on my phone's 4G to remain connected without buffering while listening to an hour long news program on a trip. What would be worth charging money for is an app that could cache a configurable number of hours of new curated content when connected to wifi. Even so, that's not really any different from podcasts. I feel like the world is still very much in a transitional state with regards to how we think about apps. NPR offers its stuff over the air for free, but you write some code to do the same thing with a computer, and suddenly people are saying it should cost money.

paulito 12y ago
New York's public radio station, WNYC, recently revamped its app to incorporate this feature, which I agree is very useful: http://www.wnyc.org/mobile/ http://www.wnyc.org/mobile/ A lot of the available content categories aren't specific to New York, so it might be worth checking out regardless of where you live.

eddieroger 12y ago

I imagine most of the local fees go to very tactical things like keeping the transmitter on, which is non-trivial. Not that streaming should exclude local affiliates from funding, but it should be the local channel's responsibility to handle the cost of things it can't share (transmitters, office space, staff, etc), and share or get money for content and such which it can share back.

bullfight 12y ago

When I started listening, the first thing it did was play a bump for my local station, I am really hoping this fully incorporates local content.

TylerE 12y ago

There actually isn't any such thing as an "NPR Station". NPR is not a broadcaster. They are a content-producer. There are stations that are NPR members that carry lots of NPR content, but they are free to also carry local content they produce, content they license from other syndicates (e.g. PRI, American Public Media, PRX)

johnnymonster 12y ago

but you are able to donate. The app actually tells you how to donate to your localized station by clicking on the "How to Donate" link in the menu area.

garretruh 12y ago

At least during the beta, a "Donate" segment would occasionally be interspersed between programs/segments; the app displayed a button that linked you to the start of their online donation process.