At the RAIN Summit
just prior to the NAB Radio Show last week in Nashville, Audible Sr. VP Eric
Nuzum gave those attending session some blunt advice: Don’t call podcasts
“podcasts.”
Nuzum said he
thinks the term “podcasts” is pejorative and continues to place a heavy
branding burden on the audio-on-demand industry. He told RAIN attendees:
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| Eric Nuzum |
“It’s not that we are
embarrassed of podcasting but there are only 50%-55% of people who know what
the word is, and only 20% listens to them.
There’s a pejorative effect of that
word.
Everyone who [uses the term “podcast”] is tying themselves to one
platform. [They] will be very sorry when that platform follows the growth trajectory
of every other platform.”
Nuzum did not
suggest a better term than “podcast.” He appeared at the RAIN Summit to promote
Audible Channels new subscription service recently added by Amazon Prime. Folks
who are not Amazon Prime members can pay for Audible Channels. Fees are $60 per
year or $4.95 per month. You can see more about Audible Channels via Amazon
Prime at [link].
Nuzum also
discussed how the future of podcasting is being hampered by the lack of basic user
data including demographic information. He said Audible will have more complete
user data via its subscriber base.
_________________
WESLEY HORNER
DONATES “GLIPR” FILES TO PUBLIC BROADCASTING ARCHIVES
 |
| Wesley Horner |
Legendary noncom
audio producer and arts advocate Wesley Horner announced on Wednesday that he
has donated the original files documenting the history of the organization Gays
& Lesbians in Public Radio (GLIPR) to the National Public Broadcasting Archives [link} at the University of
Maryland. The collection will become part
of Maryland’s Special Collections in Mass
Media & Culture.
Horner was one of
the founders of GLIPR in the 1980s. The informal group lasted until the late
1990s and typically met for social events at major public broadcasting
conferences. The group had several dozen members.
When he announced
that the National Public Broadcasting
Archives had accepted the GLIPR archives, Horner said of GLIPR:
“To you kids out there, GLIPR
was organized by some of us LGBT folks in public radio, to improve our lot as
GLBT professionals. We sponsored amazingly well-attended events at public radio
conferences that were popular with LGBT conferees and our straight-but-not-narrow
colleagues.
We advocated for better GLBT
coverage in public radio news, fairer workplace treatment (including, for
example, health care benefits for spouses), and safe visibility in the
workplace, especially in newsrooms. It helped.”
I got to know Wes
Horner when he Executive Director of Smithsonian Productions. While I was at
PRI I had the pleasure of working with Wes on projects such as Black Radio, Mississippi: River of Song and Memphis:
Rock ‘n’ Soul.
Smithsonian
“privatized” their media division in 2001. KCRW’s Sarah Spitz told the Los Angeles Times:
"This is a sad moment in
public radio history. They produced exemplary documentaries that fulfilled a
key function of public radio: to entertain while teaching you something new
that you might not have known before. They created very rich tapestries of
sound and very important documentaries."
Horner went on to
play major roles in several public radio and PBS programs including From the Top and the PBS television
special Piano Grand, starring Billy
Joel, Dave Brubeck, Diana Krall, Robert Levin, Katia & Marielle LaBeque,
Jerry Lee Lewis, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
He also is the
author of the book Producer’s Guide to
the Hereafter and the creator of the documentary film First Impressions: A Story About Growing Up, Falling in Love, and
Meeting the In-Laws.
Wesley Horner is
still active in public media today as a
management consultant and content developer
in Eastham, Massachusetts.
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