Spark News is taking Friday 8/31
off to enjoy a four-day Labor Day weekend.
New posts will return on Tuesday,
September 4th.
COMMENT ONE: CAN YOU MAKE
A LIVING MAKING PODCASTS?
Yesterday
we discussed the economic reality of working in the podcast industry and how
the lack of paying gigs may inhibit the growth of podcasting. Frequent contributor Aaron Read, Director of
Information Technology & Engineering at Rhode Island Public Radio agrees:
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| AARON READ |
READ: A potentially useful analogy might be the webcomics industry.
It has zillions of artists writing and drawing comic strips of all shapes,
sizes and styles. But only a very small number of them make any money at all,
and of that small number, most are one or two person operations making a very
modest living at best off their art. High four figures to low five figures per
year are the norm.”
“Usually [they make
money] through a combination of Patreon and merchandise sales. Many used to
make a little money through web ads, but that revenue has crated in the last
two years to almost nothing. I know one guy who was making $2000 a month off
web ads alone in 2015 and he has seen that dwindle to $100 month in 2018. Eek!”
KEN SAYS: The other day someone
called me a “podcast denier” because they feel I am too negative about
podcasting. That is not true. I like several podcasts myself and salute the
folks who have made it such a vibrant way of storytelling. But, keep it in
perspective – podcasting is and will remain a vanity activity and a hobby for most people.
COMMEMT TWO: DO THE
PEOPLE WHO RUN WESTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY HAVE A POLITICAL AGENDA?
Regarding
our ongoing coverage of Western Illinois University’s decision to stop funding
Tri-States Public Radio, an anonymous reader asks about WIU’s motive:
ANONYMOUS: “I’ve been amazed that no one at WIU has said that they are a public
radio listener and will miss programs that are being cancelled on TSPR. Are
they all “defund CPB” fans?”
KEN SAYS: I have seen no trace of
a political motive behind the cuts. The folks that run WIU are “accidental
broadcasters.” The haven’t worked in public media or broadcasting and they
don’t know how it operates. They
probably thought that cutting money for TSPR would not be such a big deal.
At
WIUM, Tri-States Public Radio, the staff has organized public outreach
community meetings in several communities they serve to inform people about the
situation. Also GM Jonathan Ahl said on
the TSPR website that a letter is going out to all TSPR members and donors
explaining programming cuts that will begin next week.
COMMENT THREE: YES, THERE
ARE TWO “ROBERT CONRADS”
In
early August [link] we posted a feature about Robert Conrad, the co-founder and
still GM of WCLV, Cleveland, focusing on WCLV’s transition from a commercial
Classical music station to a noncom station that is now part of ideastream.
The
Robert Conrad that we know (“The Dean of Classical Music on the Radio”) is a
wonderful storyteller. He sent us the following anecdote about the time he
crossed paths with Robert Conrad, the TV and movie star:
 |
|
Robert
Conrad
“The Dean of
Classical Music on the Radio”
|
CONRAD: “I don’t believe I have told you the story of the other
Robert Conrad of film and tv fame. We were in school together at Northwestern,
although we didn’t know each other. Conrad Robert Flauk (his real name) and I
were a couple of years apart.
Anyway, I was flying into
Kansas City to do a fund raising broadcast for the KC Opera. The cab dispatcher
over the radio gave me a big welcome to Kansas City, saying how happy they were
I had chosen to come to Kansas City. Plus the dispatcher said I really like you
on TV show Baa Baa Black Sheep. I thanked him.”
 |
|
Robert
Conrad
James T. West on The Wild, Wild West
|
“A while after, I received a letter from a
medical fraternity at Northwestern that was planning a benefit around the
Chicago premiere of the movie ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.’ They asked if I would be the honored guest of
the event. They said I would sit at the head table, would not have to give a
speech or sign autographs.”
“My wife said, ‘Accept it!’”
“Then one evening, my
wife and I and our five children I were having a birthday celebration at a
downtown Cleveland restaurant. The waitress came over and said, ‘Guess what?
Robert Conrad and HIS children are coming in.” I said, “We’re already here!”
“The other Robert Conrad,
the more famous one, and his two sons came in and sat down at the table next to
us. I said, ‘Robert Conrad, my name is Robert Conrad, we were at Northwestern
together, and now I get you mail.’ He
said, ‘Do you pay my bills?’”
COMMENT FOUR: PRAISE FOR
JOHN STARK
Last
Monday (8/27) we posted a feature story about the life and career of John
Stark, who is retiring tomorrow as GM on KLCC in Eugene, Oregon. We received this message from Jennifer Steele,
Associate VP at Lane Community College in Eugene, the licensee of KLCC:
STEELE: “Thank you
for writing this piece. John has been a transformative leader for KLCC and has
positioned the station for continued success. We appreciate your acknowledging his
fine work.”
KEN SAYS: You are welcome. We love to do stories about members of public
radio’s “greatest generation.” We hope our readers will let us know of others
we should profile.
I'm not sure I'd be quite that harsh on WIU's administration as to characterize them as "accidental broadcasters". That may be true to some extent, but it could be the greater issue is that all state agencies in Illinois are in utter budgetary chaos thanks to a legislature that can't do its job for the last two years. I think they like the idea of having an NPR station associated with their campus but they're facing an uncomfortable reality of: "do we keep the radio station, or do we keep the English department?"
ReplyDeleteThat said, I suspect the administration is wildly overestimating how much revenue the stations can raise on their own. Remember: it's incredibly unusual in a collegiate environment to have a department that raises its own budget completely independently of the usual funding sources: tuition, alumni, state funding, etc. Oh sure, various academic departments can and do get grants all the time, but not usually for operating expenses.
In fact, the only other avenue that tends to raise "its own money" is, well, athletics. And athletics tends to have even more vociferous supporters. Supporters who tend to give money that is more closely aligned with the core educational mission of the college.
That's the other aspect here: with the exception of some journalism and communications colleges, the campus radio station almost never has a strong tie to core educational mission. Internships and commitment to free speech do not count. Is there an academic major that has several required classes that directly involve station personnel and resources...like WERS at Emerson or WRHU at Hofstra? No? Then it's not part of the core educational mission.
Neither is athletics, really, but it's treated as such because it usually brings in a LOT of alumni donation money, so it becomes one of a few Big Lies of Modern Collegiate Existence.
So from a collegiate administrator's perspective, I'm not surprised they targeted the radio station for de-funding. I don't think it was expressly "political" in regards to the content being broadcast. It was just campus politics.
"...it could be the greater issue is that all state agencies in Illinois are in utter budgetary chaos thanks to a legislature that can't do its job for the last two years."
ReplyDeleteThe majority of Illinoisans would more accurately lay the blame at the feet of the very destructive current governor of the state than the legislature.
It should also be pointed out that red tape within any public university's financial protocol can also make it very difficult for public stations based at those universities to easily ramp up and raise money for themselves in an efficient and effective manner. The station is being required to act quickly, but getting things done in the academic world can be a painfully slow process.