The Head On Radio Network

One of the sessions I attended at Netroots Nation this weekend was concerned with radio and the internet. Here’s what the program called it:

From the Written to the Spoken Word: Taking the Leap from Blogging toward Online Radio and Beyond

Sat, 07/19/2008 - 1:30pm, Room 11

To date, blogging has been a medium limited almost entirely to the written word and embedded video. However, new technologies and platforms are quickly enabling the development of an expansion to online radio hosting, podcasting and v-logging. Join thereisnospoon, clammyc, and famed hosts Cenk Uygur and Sam Seder as we teach you how to get started in this brave new medium, discuss the challenges and opportunities for those who make the leap, explore the exciting world of v-logging and discuss the world of traditional radio and how it relates to the new online radio medium.

PANELISTS: Sam Seder, Cenk Uygur, Adam Lambert, David Atkins, Keri Rodrigues

I decided to live blog the session over at IAMTREX, but it turned out to be far more monologue than conversation. So, in fact, did the session itself and so did the presenters’ view of radio. Everyone was focused on TALK radio, with the emphasis on the talker, and never on the conversation. What we do here at the HORN seems so different.

These are my notes.

It’s all in order, but may be best followed at the link:

• We as progressives are way ahead on blogging but way behind on radio. Why?
• Keri: a talk show host who happens to be progressive. show host first. character driven, entertainment driven. not content driven.
• Rush crazy, but a lot of liberals listen to him. (really?) But he has endeared himself to his audience even though he is uneducated and wrong.
• Sam Seder: conservatives will always own this medium (terrestrial radio) until every car has an internet stream. conserv ideology is well suited to TALK radio. Hence they dominate. find something strange and tell people to be scared of it. The left thinks differently.
• Seder: conservatives were first to market, and progressive talk has a different audience. different adv base. we won’t beat conservative talk. can we maintain a structure and commercialize the product.
• Adam Lambert: Conserv talk radio very well funded. Distribution issues. Technology is on our favor. Youtube // George Allen // Macaca moment.
• How to get it going and keep it sustained.
• Cenk: conservatives think they are more entertaining. huh? we own the entertainment industry. except bruce willis.
• AM radio was their cave. Started with Rush.
• Cenk: way back …. The listeners hated liberal talk when it first started. (Young Turks) Not used to rational.
• Cenk: AAR did a lot wrong, but also a lot right. Not syndication — take over the stations. The other stations would not take progressive programming.
• Fox news lost $90 million/yr for 5 yrs.
• Explaining how clear channel, if they take an AAR, they put it on the worst station with the weakest signal they have in a market.
• Don’t believe the hype.
• Cenk: we should be able to crush them everywhere, especially in satellite. A lot has to do with marketing.
• Now talking about the business end.
• Sam: AAR creating a different platform. Cenk also. Distribution mechanism doesn’t matter.
• Keri: If you can’t sell it, it won’t stay on the air. Hard to get advertisers. Talk up your progressive talkers. Play it up.
• Sam agrees. Have to know how to sell it. Go to the dem party or the local labor union where your listeners are a premium to them. But the affiliates are not savvy.
• Union ads on progressive stations can help a lot.
• Cenk: local churches telling advertisers to NOT buy time on AAR stations.
• Youtube is the great equalizer if you have a way publicizing it. Video better than audio alone. You can do revenue sharing with youtube.
• Blogtalkradio — video is not as important. Blogtalkradio lets you interface with itunes and embed the player on your blog. You can promote live events. recorded conf call.
• Keri — Politicians want to talk to you. Great guests to invite. Local radio important to local issues. Talk about your passions when you start up.
• Also, invite other local people.
• Now they’re talking about listener interaction and hate mail.
• Cenk, use your blog to alert people to other content. Example is TPM.
• I just asked about FCC & media ownership. Sam Seder says Fairness Doctrine is the answer. That is the future of terrestrial radio. Keri talking about Clear Channel. “They’ll pay a lot for your soul.” She quit them when they put a memo on the studio door reminding people that “Rush is a member of the Clear Channel family.”

I think we have a better model. Perhaps the HORN needs to follow their advice about attracting advertisers, but I’d also like to see them learn to have conversations and not just talk.