Friday, November 14, 2014

RETRO FRIDAY: WOLFMAN JACK ON XERB 1964


The video below contains two audio clips of Wolfman Jack.

The first clip is from 1964 during the American Graffiti era. Jack was on two Mexican stations. He was live on XERB AM 1090, which blanketed Los Angeles from Rosarito Beach, Baja California  and on tape from XERF AM 1570 based in Ciudad Acuna, just across the border from Del Rio, Texas.

The second is  a concert commercial from 1974.


 



 

Bob Smith, who later became Wolfman Jack, at KUXL, Minneapolis in 1960
XERF pushed 250,000 watts from this transmitter site in Mexico

Thursday, November 13, 2014

SEARCHING FOR THE TRUTH ABOUT PODCASTS (PART 2)


Below is a comparison of the most recent top 20 podcasts as tabulated by two reliable providers.  Eight on each list are unique [shown in the chart below in RED], and not listed on the other list.  This is a wide variation.  Obviously, public radio does very well.  However, common metrics are hard to find and context is elusive.

         STITCHER                                       iTunes

RANK
PODCAST

RANK
PODCAST
1
This American Life

1
Serial
2
Radio Lab

2
This American Life
3
Freakonomics

3
Radiolab
4
Wait, Wait

4
Wait, Wait
5
Joe Rogan Experience

5
Freakonomics
6
The Moth

6
TED
7
NPR News

7
Stuff You Should Know
8
Marketplace
(via Sticher)

8
The Moth
9
Global News

9
Stuff You Missed In History Class
10
Rachael Maddow

10
Car Talk
11
Adam Carolla

11
Fresh Air
12
Car Talk

12
Planet Money
13
Stuff You Should Know

13
Criminal
14
Fresh Air

14
Slate Serial Spoiler Specials
15
Marketplace
(via APM)

15
StartUp
16
Planet Money

16
The Nerdist
17
Ted

17
Joe Rogan Experience
18
Star Talk

18
Welcome to Night Vale
19
Snap Judgment

19
WTF Marc Maron
20
WTF Marc Maron

20
Pauly Shore

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

SEARCHING FOR THE TRUTH ABOUT POCASTS


I want to recommend a very helpful resource about podcasts.  It is on Ashley Milne-Tyte’s blog: http://www.ashleymilnetyte.com/ashleymilne-tyte/2014/11/november-11-2014-im-going-to-talk-about-podcasting-for-a-minute-i-just-got-back-from-third-coast-the-huge-bi-annua.html

Ashley Milne-Tyte is an experienced podcaster who hosts The Broad Experience [http://www.thebroadexperience.com/] In the story, she talks about real world podcast dynamics – audience size, how to monetize, what appeals to listeners.  She is a smooth writer with a matter-of-fact style.








Ashley Milne-Tyte
Ashley’s Podcast
http://www.thebroadexperience.com/

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

VIEWING TIP: “HOW WE GOT TO NOW” HISTORY OF SOUND



I hope you’ve caught How We Got to Now on PBS stations. This week is the final episode of the 6 part documentary series: the story of sound. Host Steven Johnson travels to the Arcy sur Cure caves in northern France, where he finds the first traces of the desire to record sound – 30,000 years ago.

The program tells about the role of radio in the civil rights movement and the unsung heroes of sound. Thank you to CPB for their wise investment in How We Got to Now.  It airs this Thursday evening on most PBS stations.

Here is the link to the series:
http://www.pbs.org/how-we-got-to-now/home/

Monday, November 10, 2014

WABE ATLANTA “SORT OF” SWITCHES TO NEWS/TALK


WABE has been one of the few remaining multiple format NPR News stations. As stations in almost every major market have dropped blocks of music programming to focus on news, WABE finally announced late last week they will be dropping classical music between Morning Edition and ATC. The changes will occur around the end of 2014.
WABE has considered changing daytime weekday programming for several years.  The entry of Georgia Public Radio into Atlanta via WRAS seems to have ignited the changes at WABE. Earlier this year, GPB crafted a part-time local marketing agreement with college rock station WRAS to carry GPB’s news programming from 5:00am until 7:00pm.  WRAS 88.5 goes back to rock from 7:00pm until 5:00am.
Since GPB’s change, the impact of WRAS on WABE seems more psychological than actual.  The October Nielsen Audio data shows WABE has 7 times the weekly cumulative persons than WRAS. Both stations cover Atlanta with dominant signals. But, both remain part time news stations.
WABE will replace morning classical music with a new two hour arts and culture talk show hosted by Lois Reitzes. Her current classical program, Second Cup Concerts, has long been a pledging dynamo for WABE since 1979.
A key question is whether WABE has helped or hurt itself by not going all the way: embracing news 24/7.  That would have been a substantial challenge to GPB.  WABE’s move might confuse listeners and GPB can take advantage it by expanding its LMA with WRAS to full time news.

Lois Reitzes
WABE Classical Music Host
Tanya Ott
GPB Vice President of Radio