Agreed John a definite no Bill Bergadano KA2EMZ
John Figliozzi wrote: > I have a short answer to this question regardless of what follows > below. No. > > John Figliozzi > Halfmoon, NY > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > February 14, 2007 > > Is Radio Still Radio if There’s Video? > > By RICHARD SIKLOS > Ted Stryker, a D.J. at KROQ in Los Angeles, considers it a perk of the > job to wear shorts and T-shirts to work. But last Sunday as he dressed > for the Grammy Awards, he pulled out his best blazer and a flashy belt > buckle, knowing three video cameras would stream live coverage of his > show to the Web sites of 147 CBS radio stations. > > “What’s great about radio is no one knows what you’re wearing,” Mr. > Stryker said by telephone as he made his way through the throng at the > Grammys. “I wanted to make myself a little bit more presentable.” > > Mr. Stryker, who has done some TV work in the past, said that to > create his best radio voice, he often must contort his face in > embarrassing ways. > > “It’s so different doing radio compared to TV,” he said. “Who knows > what faces I make when I’m talking on the radio? I hope I’m not making > the same faces today.” > > The nation’s commercial radio stations have seen the future, and it is > in, of all things, video. As a result, the stereotype of a > silken-voiced jockey like Mr. Stryker, slumped and disheveled in the > studio chair, may never be the same. > > Across the country, radio stations are putting up video fare on their > Web sites, ranging from a simple camera in the broadcast booth to > exclusive coverage of events like the Super Bowl to music videos, news > clips and Web-only musical performances. > > “This is no longer the age of ‘having a face for radio,’ ” said Dianna > Jason, the senior director of marketing and promotions at Power 106, a > Los Angeles hip-hop radio station. “This is a visual medium now.” > > Audiences in Los Angeles, for example, will be able to tune in today > to Power 106 for an annual Valentine’s Day event called “Trash Your > Ex,” in which jilted listeners are invited to put mementos from past > loves in a giant wood chipper — and to let it whir while the disc > jockey, Big Boy, urges them on. And for the first time, audiences > everywhere will be able to watch streamed video of the event, to be > held in a parking lot in Pasadena, on the Web site power106.com. > > Whereas video was once said to have killed the radio star — according > to the pop song by the Buggles that was the first video shown on MTV > in 1981 — it is now emerging as an unlikely savior for an industry > facing an array of challenges. > > In the age of YouTube and the radio talk show hosts Howard Stern and > Don Imus as television stalwarts, this might not seem all that > remarkable, except that the radio industry has been singularly tardy > in embracing the interactive age. > > But now many of the largest radio companies are scrambling to stay > relevant as their listeners’ attention is drawn in many directions — > iPods, cellphones, satellite radio and various streaming and > downloading musical offerings from companies like Yahoo and AOL. “A > lot of our stations are starting to embrace video and generate new > revenue streams,” said Joel Hollander, the chief executive of CBS > Radio, the nation’s second-largest radio company, after Clear Channel > Communications. “I hope video helps the radio star. Maybe radio will > save the video star?” > > More than 90 percent of Americans still listen to traditional radio. > But the amount of time they tune in over the course of a week has > fallen by 14 percent over the last decade, according to Arbitron ratings. > > Industry revenues are flat, and the Bloomberg index of radio stocks is > down some 40 percent over the last three years. > > Reflecting the investor malaise, a group of private equity companies > has proposed buying Clear Channel Communications and taking it private. > > Video now makes up only a tiny fraction of the $20 billion a year that > radio generates in advertising sales. But it could represent a > much-needed new source of growth in a rapidly expanding online video > market that everyone from Google to newspapers to broadcast television > wants to be in. > > Radio executives and personalities say their video efforts will be > different because they capitalize on radio’s traditional strength in > using on-air personalities and local events to draw in listeners. > > Taking a cue from YouTube and the rise of user-generated video, a > polished, TV-quality product is often not the objective. Another Power > 106 video effort featured a staff member, dressed like a shrub, > jumping out of a planter to surprise visitors to the station’s office > on Halloween. > > An alternative rock station, 94.7 FM in Portland, Ore., last fall > began a “Bootleg Video” series in which a listener is lent a video > camera to record a clip of a local performance by a hot band like the > Killers for the Web site. “Sometimes it’s a little shaky, but we want > that,” said Mark Hamilton, manager at the station, which is owned by > Entercom Communications. “We don’t want it to be perfect.” > > The Web site for the radio station WFLZ in Tampa, Fla., features a > video series called “Naked,” on the lives of its hosts away from the > microphone. “I’m not very pretty today,” one of the station’s disc > jockeys, Ashlee Reid, says sheepishly on the latest installment as she > arrives at work and realizes the cameras are rolling before bantering > with a colleague about chest hair. > > Ms. Reid, who is 26, said being videotaped was odd, but in the year > that the radio station has been producing monthly installments of the > show for downloading, it has not yet caused her and her colleagues to > alter their hair or wardrobe. “Maybe we should, but we don’t,” she said. > > Similarly, producers for Adam Carolla, the Los Angeles morning host > whose program is carried on many CBS Radio stations, regularly record > vérité clips featuring Mr. Carolla and a co-host, Danny Bonaduce, for > posting on the Web. > > The nation’s biggest radio companies are also doing slicker > productions, like Mr. Stryker’s Grammy show, that try to capitalize on > their size and reach. > > Clear Channel, whose Internet efforts are led by Evan Harrison, an > executive vice president, has elaborate video programming available on > the Web sites of its 1,200 stations, including Tampa’s 933FLZ.com, > where “Naked” is featured. Clear Channel has made some 6,000 music > videos available for downloading online, but has also been producing > original video content that individual stations can feature on their > Web sites and disc jockeys can promote on the air. > > These programs include “Stripped,” a series of taped performances by > artists like Young Jeezy and Nelly Furtado that are often acoustic or > done in small clubs. The company has also been producing “Video 6 > Pack” in which bands like Fall Out Boy appear as hosts of their own > program and play videos they like. > > According to comScore Media Metrix, Clear Channel sites ranked sixth > in December among music Web sites, behind MTV, AOL, Yahoo, MySpace and > Artistdirect. > > Radio industry executives stressed that, so far, their video efforts > could be considered experimental and only one facet — along with blogs > and audio podcasts and a nascent service called HD Radio — of how the > industry is adapting for the Internet age. > > “People are either going to have to get with the program or get lost,” > Fatman Scoop, a disc jockey on Hot 97, an FM station in New York, said > in an interview. “People don’t sit in front of a radio for three hours > like they used to. If they don’t hear a song they like, they go to the > Internet.” > > In his case, what listeners will find on hot97.com is a weekly video > show about relationships that Fatman produces with his wife, Shanda > Freeman, called “Man and Wife.” Introduced in November, the shows are > usually taped in the couple’s bedroom in New Jersey and run several > minutes each. > > Fatman, who prefers to be known by his radio name, said that the show > was entirely owned by him but that his bosses at Hot 97 — owned by > Emmis Communications, like Power 106 — recognize that raising the > visibility of its personalities on the Internet could only be good for > attracting listeners and advertisers. > > “What we’re trying to do is reach the listener in any way possible,” > he said. “If somebody sees that you’re on ‘Man and Wife’ on hot97.com, > they will listen to your show.” > > Radio and video may be a more natural fit than expected. In his book > “Understanding Media,” the cultural theorist Marshall McLuhan wrote > that “the effect of radio is visual.” > > Certainly, Howard Stern and Don Imus have had video extensions of > their radio shows for years. Even Mr. Stern’s new employer, Sirius > Satellite Radio, is planning a move in that direction. The company has > said it plans to start beaming a video service of children’s > programming to play on screens in the cars of Sirius subscribers > sometime this year. > > For now, most of the new video ventures originating from radio are > just starting to generate revenue. Mr. Hollander of CBS Radio and Mr. > Harrison of Clear Channel declined to say how much new revenue they > were attracting. > > Mr. Hollander said plans were in the works at the CBS Corporation, > which is better known for its television network, to begin integrating > some of its video programming into the radio division’s Web sites. The > Web site for WSCR, the company’s sports radio station in Chicago, > featured live video from its pregame coverage of the Super Bowl in > Miami. Earlier, the station streamed coverage of its 15th-anniversary > celebration. > > Mitch Rosen, the station manager for WSCR, said the video efforts > attracted advertisements from 8 to 10 businesses that normally thought > of the station as only an audio outlet. To add some visual flair to > the anniversary broadcast, Mr. Rosen put two of the station’s popular > hosts in tuxedos. “They did get some ribbing from listeners,” Mr. > Rosen said. > > For crossover advocates like Fatman, however, audio and video will > soon be interchangeable in the D.J.’s repertory. “That’s where it’s > going,” he said. “It’s getting to the point where you’re going to have > to be good at both.” > > > Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Swprograms mailing list > [email protected] > http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swprograms > > To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], or visit the URL shown > above. > > _______________________________________________ Swprograms mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swprograms To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], or visit the URL shown above.
