Matt Cornwell
Blog post #6
Interview
Ken Freedman, Station Manager and Program Director, WFMU
I emailed Ken Freedman as I did with Jason Sigal and was able to have a phone interview with him as well. I used the information Ken gave me in my station profile paper mainly for the dayparting part. It was interesting as to what he had to say about it because WFMU is a freeform station but have certain dayparts. Mon-Fri 6-9am is a Jewish show, except that they replaced the Jewish show with freeform programming on their online stream. Then they have a Mon-Fri 6-7pm slot for spoken programming and a 7-8pm slot for musical specialty shows. Since Ken is the PD he gets to choose who goes where.
Ken is the station manger and program director. He is in charge of who goes on air and when. He also co-hosts the conceptual comedy program Seven Second Delay as well as hosts his own freeform radio program on Wednesday mornings (9:00-noon Eastern Time).Ken got started at WFMU as a DJ in December 1983 and became General Manager in August 1985. Freedman began his radio career as DJ and later station manager of WCBN, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor’s freeform radio station.
Ken (like Jason) loves his job. He said that freeform radio has always (and will always) be his favorite kind of radio. The only thing he said that he does not like about his job was the fact that there aren’t enough hours in the day to allow him to be at the station more. Ken likes the fact that WFMU is a freeform station and he enjoys what he does because he knows that the listeners have the same love for non-mainstream music like he does.
Ken couldn’t emphasize enough the importance of the internet which is a main reason why WFMU can be successful. Because the internet allows anyone in the world to be able to listen to WFMU whenever they want they are able to bring in more fans and listeners then they would normally be able to reach. Since the “boom” of the internet donations to the station (which is funded exclusively by listener support) grew from $50,000 to over $1,000,000 in a 20 year spand.
Ken recommends students to not go into a career narrow minded. He says if you want to be in the radio industry you should be able to adapt with the times and to be flexible as to where you can work. He says you may not get the job you want right away but getting the experience in the field is important and eventually you will get the job you want.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Blog post #5
Matt Cornwell
Blog post #5
Interview
Jason Sigal Free Music Archive Managing Director, WFMU
I contacted Jason by emailing him at the station. He then wrote back to me which lead to a phone conversation where I was able to interview him about the questions below. I used a lot of what Jason had to say in my station profile paper because he was very knowledgeable about the station and had a lot of insight regarding the station.
Jason is in charge of managing WFMU’s music archive. He is responsible for sorting the music the station receives by genre as well as organizing the music so any band can be pulled up at any time. He also, is in charge of allowing some CDs to be available on WFMU’s website for free downloading.
Jason got started by being a listener of the station. He liked the station so much that he started to do volunteer work for the station until he landed his position at the station as Free Music Archive Managing Director.
Jason said that being a music lover lead him to this position. He said that WFMU was so unique that he became a fan instantly. After awhile he started doing volunteer work for the station which then gave him the job that he has now.
What Jason likes most about his job is the fact that he is part of a unique radio station. He likes how loyal his listeners are and how most of the listeners are true music lovers. He likes the fact that he knows that whoever is listening is listening because they are looking from something different than what the mainstream radio as to offer. He knows the listeners respect that and feels a personally connection to those that feel the same about music that Jason does. Jason likes everything about his job and that is the reason why he is still there. He believes and loves the station so much that when he wakes up and goes to work in the morning it is like he is not going to work at all but instead going to a place where he loves to be.
Jason feels that WFMU will survive because they have such a strong international listening fan base. WFMU makes it possible to have their station be broadcasted in a live stream over the internet. Since, WFMU is geared to people who want to listen to music other than mainstream radio; they are able to get their unique station out there to anyone in the world at any time. This really helps out the station because the more people that find out about the station and who start to tune in will then continue to be a loyal listener and possible donate to help keep the station alive.
Jason recommends for any student interested into getting into radio to intern somewhere. He says it doesn’t matter where but to just take whatever you can get to gain experience. He says that if any student wanted to have their own show that WFMU they could do it as a DJ for free. Even though WFMU would not pay them, Jason says that it is good experience and is important to learn before you go out there and do it for your career. He says to be on air you need to have a good conversational voice and have good people skills for those who call in. He also said that knowing your audience is key when being on air so you know how to relate to them effectively.
Blog post #5
Interview
Jason Sigal Free Music Archive Managing Director, WFMU
I contacted Jason by emailing him at the station. He then wrote back to me which lead to a phone conversation where I was able to interview him about the questions below. I used a lot of what Jason had to say in my station profile paper because he was very knowledgeable about the station and had a lot of insight regarding the station.
Jason is in charge of managing WFMU’s music archive. He is responsible for sorting the music the station receives by genre as well as organizing the music so any band can be pulled up at any time. He also, is in charge of allowing some CDs to be available on WFMU’s website for free downloading.
Jason got started by being a listener of the station. He liked the station so much that he started to do volunteer work for the station until he landed his position at the station as Free Music Archive Managing Director.
Jason said that being a music lover lead him to this position. He said that WFMU was so unique that he became a fan instantly. After awhile he started doing volunteer work for the station which then gave him the job that he has now.
What Jason likes most about his job is the fact that he is part of a unique radio station. He likes how loyal his listeners are and how most of the listeners are true music lovers. He likes the fact that he knows that whoever is listening is listening because they are looking from something different than what the mainstream radio as to offer. He knows the listeners respect that and feels a personally connection to those that feel the same about music that Jason does. Jason likes everything about his job and that is the reason why he is still there. He believes and loves the station so much that when he wakes up and goes to work in the morning it is like he is not going to work at all but instead going to a place where he loves to be.
Jason feels that WFMU will survive because they have such a strong international listening fan base. WFMU makes it possible to have their station be broadcasted in a live stream over the internet. Since, WFMU is geared to people who want to listen to music other than mainstream radio; they are able to get their unique station out there to anyone in the world at any time. This really helps out the station because the more people that find out about the station and who start to tune in will then continue to be a loyal listener and possible donate to help keep the station alive.
Jason recommends for any student interested into getting into radio to intern somewhere. He says it doesn’t matter where but to just take whatever you can get to gain experience. He says that if any student wanted to have their own show that WFMU they could do it as a DJ for free. Even though WFMU would not pay them, Jason says that it is good experience and is important to learn before you go out there and do it for your career. He says to be on air you need to have a good conversational voice and have good people skills for those who call in. He also said that knowing your audience is key when being on air so you know how to relate to them effectively.
Friday, March 26, 2010
blog post #4
Matt Cornwell
News Article #4
http://www.denverpost.com/firstinthepost/ci_12604583
“…the future of radio is local," according to Jeff Wilks , whose company acquired three Denver FM stations from CBS Radio this year. It is obvious that radio is not nearly the powerhouse that it once was before the new technology brought about myspace.com, iPods, Itunes, and satellite radio. All of these new advancements have become damaging to radio but has not totally eliminated it. Not only has new technological advancements hurt the radio industry but also the wounded economy has had some effect. Radio’s advertisers have not had the big dollar like they had once had to be able to spend for commercial spots on the radio. The plus to radio and its advertising dollars is that it is still cheaper to have a commercial on the radio then it is to have it on TV. Because of this radio has still survived and has had decent numbers for listeners. The future seems to have radio more localized than on a national level because the ratings will be higher for a more target based group.
I chose this article because if AM radio jumps on localizing some of its stations to certain targeted areas then those AM stations will have guaranteed listeners if what they are playing (and commercials aired) reflect and target their target audience. This would also benefit AM stations being local because they would not have to worry about spending a lot of money to reach people outside their demographic and can focus putting that money into more programs and stuff that will benefit that local target audience. Listeners still need to hear the weather and news for their town so if you cover that and have other stations dedicated to a certain town or group then the stations may bring in better and steady numbers.
This article does make a good point about how other technology has had an impact on radio. I would have thought that radio’s numbers have gone down more drastically then the article said. I was surprised to find that the radio still has a future. The future for radio can still be strong but they are just going to have to change it a little bit to fit in with the times.
The book says on page 382, “sometimes information stations that have a comparatively small share of the listening audience can still be successful because of the connections they make with their niche audiences and the loyalty that follows.” I feel that this is what AM radio should do. They should focus more on localizing themselves so that they can make a more personal connection with the listeners who in return will continue to listen to that station.
I feel that if AM radio does not do something soon that they may be lost in the radio world. If they can not come up with new ideas and better quality then why would anyone bother to listen to it? I can not name a single person that I know who listens to AM radio. I can name a few that have turned it one for a second to hear the score of a game but turn it right off after they find out because the sound quality is so bad. AM radio needs to change in order to survive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9tzmKjQQ9o
What I like about this video is that this guy gives that average persons opinion on AM radio
News Article #4
http://www.denverpost.com/firstinthepost/ci_12604583
“…the future of radio is local," according to Jeff Wilks , whose company acquired three Denver FM stations from CBS Radio this year. It is obvious that radio is not nearly the powerhouse that it once was before the new technology brought about myspace.com, iPods, Itunes, and satellite radio. All of these new advancements have become damaging to radio but has not totally eliminated it. Not only has new technological advancements hurt the radio industry but also the wounded economy has had some effect. Radio’s advertisers have not had the big dollar like they had once had to be able to spend for commercial spots on the radio. The plus to radio and its advertising dollars is that it is still cheaper to have a commercial on the radio then it is to have it on TV. Because of this radio has still survived and has had decent numbers for listeners. The future seems to have radio more localized than on a national level because the ratings will be higher for a more target based group.
I chose this article because if AM radio jumps on localizing some of its stations to certain targeted areas then those AM stations will have guaranteed listeners if what they are playing (and commercials aired) reflect and target their target audience. This would also benefit AM stations being local because they would not have to worry about spending a lot of money to reach people outside their demographic and can focus putting that money into more programs and stuff that will benefit that local target audience. Listeners still need to hear the weather and news for their town so if you cover that and have other stations dedicated to a certain town or group then the stations may bring in better and steady numbers.
This article does make a good point about how other technology has had an impact on radio. I would have thought that radio’s numbers have gone down more drastically then the article said. I was surprised to find that the radio still has a future. The future for radio can still be strong but they are just going to have to change it a little bit to fit in with the times.
The book says on page 382, “sometimes information stations that have a comparatively small share of the listening audience can still be successful because of the connections they make with their niche audiences and the loyalty that follows.” I feel that this is what AM radio should do. They should focus more on localizing themselves so that they can make a more personal connection with the listeners who in return will continue to listen to that station.
I feel that if AM radio does not do something soon that they may be lost in the radio world. If they can not come up with new ideas and better quality then why would anyone bother to listen to it? I can not name a single person that I know who listens to AM radio. I can name a few that have turned it one for a second to hear the score of a game but turn it right off after they find out because the sound quality is so bad. AM radio needs to change in order to survive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9tzmKjQQ9o
What I like about this video is that this guy gives that average persons opinion on AM radio
blog post # 3
Matt Cornwell
News Article
Post #3
http://focus.ti.com/lit/ml/sprl093/sprl093.pdf
HD radio (although still emerging) can give the listener a quality and sound of that of a CD. Listeners can turn up the radio as loud as they want without having to worry about static and other noises interfering with their station. Stations in HD will also be able to stream in text news, weather, traffic, sports, etc in real-time across HD receivers. The development of HD also allows for stations to have secondary stations which will provide the listeners with the news and other information that the listener only wanting music will not get. HD Radio technology has already begun with more than 150 stations across the country broadcasting in digital and HD Radio. This is the future of radio.
I chose this article because it says that HD radio is the future of radio. But if HD is the future of radio then where does that leave the future of am radio? If FM radio also becomes HD, and with satellite radio providing the listener with everything AM and FM can provide, is there even a need for AM radio let alone HD AM raido? Although, HD radio is the future, analog will still stick around because the HD stations use the analog as a back up incase something happens to the HD. When the listener turns on a HD station they will hear analog for the first 5 seconds until the HD kicks in. If for some reason something happens to the HD then the listener will just hear the analog broadcast.
I personally have not listen to HD radio and have not experienced how great the sound is but if what they say is true about it then I see HD being the future of radio. People now-a-days need things to be advanced and at its best. If radio wants to survive at all with all the technology that has been coming about then they too need to keep up with the times and enhance the radio (hence the birth of HD).
The future of AM radio is an uncertain one. Because they do not have nighttime digital service they are missing out on not only listeners but the exposure they need to still be able to make it in the radio field without getting totally lost and forgotten. The book mentions (pg.377) that AM radio could focus on time-brokered programming which would target specific ethnic or religious groups whom are not served by other stations in the market. I think this would be a good idea for AM radio to do because it would enhance the viewership of the station and would give the AM stations a loyal and regular listening audiences.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AYdSok9AWI
News Article
Post #3
http://focus.ti.com/lit/ml/sprl093/sprl093.pdf
HD radio (although still emerging) can give the listener a quality and sound of that of a CD. Listeners can turn up the radio as loud as they want without having to worry about static and other noises interfering with their station. Stations in HD will also be able to stream in text news, weather, traffic, sports, etc in real-time across HD receivers. The development of HD also allows for stations to have secondary stations which will provide the listeners with the news and other information that the listener only wanting music will not get. HD Radio technology has already begun with more than 150 stations across the country broadcasting in digital and HD Radio. This is the future of radio.
I chose this article because it says that HD radio is the future of radio. But if HD is the future of radio then where does that leave the future of am radio? If FM radio also becomes HD, and with satellite radio providing the listener with everything AM and FM can provide, is there even a need for AM radio let alone HD AM raido? Although, HD radio is the future, analog will still stick around because the HD stations use the analog as a back up incase something happens to the HD. When the listener turns on a HD station they will hear analog for the first 5 seconds until the HD kicks in. If for some reason something happens to the HD then the listener will just hear the analog broadcast.
I personally have not listen to HD radio and have not experienced how great the sound is but if what they say is true about it then I see HD being the future of radio. People now-a-days need things to be advanced and at its best. If radio wants to survive at all with all the technology that has been coming about then they too need to keep up with the times and enhance the radio (hence the birth of HD).
The future of AM radio is an uncertain one. Because they do not have nighttime digital service they are missing out on not only listeners but the exposure they need to still be able to make it in the radio field without getting totally lost and forgotten. The book mentions (pg.377) that AM radio could focus on time-brokered programming which would target specific ethnic or religious groups whom are not served by other stations in the market. I think this would be a good idea for AM radio to do because it would enhance the viewership of the station and would give the AM stations a loyal and regular listening audiences.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AYdSok9AWI
Friday, February 12, 2010
Future of TV/Radio post 2 matt cornwell
Matt Cornwell
2/12/10
Future of TV/Radio post 2
Article: http://blackboard.rider.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_56860_1%26url%3D
The big networks are not as secure as they once were and their broadcast revenues as a whole are down. Because cable channels are now making shows that are attracting audiences it has had an impact on the big networks. Since cable channels are now coming out with hit shows it is attracting the eyes of the advertisers to start advertising on their channel instead of advertising on the big major networks. The big networks are now trying to plan out for the future before they get lost in the past. They are working on ways to cut costs and are teaming up with other companies to try and split the costs of production. The networks are also going to have to adapt to the new aged technology and learn the best way to reach out to its viewers.
Finding new ways to keep and gain viewers is extremely important. If the big networks can not find a way to do so they are not going to make it in a now extremely competitive market. Advertisers want to make sure that their ads are getting seen by their target audience and if the big networks can not provide that then they are going to look elsewhere.
Audiences are going to watch what interests them and what they feel they can relate too. There are a lot of channels out there now that are focused to more target audiences such as SpikeTV (men) and Lifetime (women). Advertisers know exactly who is going to most likely be watching these channels so they will know what ads will work on what channel.
If the big networks can not impress advertisers in ratings espcieally during the sweeps and the overnight (pg.136) ratings then the advertisers are going to go to those channels that can provide those ratings and can ensure an audience.
spike tv commercial which shows that men are their target audience. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COolJ0pfwlI
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The Future TV/Raido post 1
Matt Cornwell
Blog post #1
The Future Radio/Television
Article: http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/cable-tv/e3ic55aa124a162e20e52147d9ecb6fd68f?pn=1
This article is about the plans that MTV has for the up coming spring season. Although their number of viewers has been lower than in the past new shows like
I think that this is a great move on MTV’s part to be working on shows that have the possibility of becoming another
Since
In the other article I found that realtes to this is an article that talks about how MTV has changed their logo with a a picture of “Snookie” from the
MTV’s more popular shows such as, Jersey Shore, are shown during the late fringe which reaches their target audience because the younger kids are asleep and the book says that men 18 to 49 or 25 to 54 years old are up and watching at that time (pg.211)
Thursday, May 7, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/business/media/08cbs.html?ref=media
Due to the resession The CBS corp. reported a quarterly loss Thursday as its core business, broadcast television, becuase the advertising dollars have no been what they were. CBS reported a net loss of $55.3 million, in contrast to a profit of $244.3 million in the same quarter last year. This is equal to a loss of about 8 cents a share. CBS's revenue declined to $3.2 billion, compared with $3.7 billion in the same quarter last year. Becuase of this resession highly produced shows such as CSI are lacking the production they once had but CBS is still doing well in spite of this. CBS other shows have picked up the slack for this problem giving CBS the ratings it needs. The worst is said to be over according to Rupert Murdoch.
Its no suprise how much businesses are struggling from this economic decline but it amazing to see actually how much money some businesses (such as CBS) are actually losing. There is a possiblity that becuase of the resession that people are canceling their cable subscribtion also known as audence churn. This would give some reason as to why CBS has lost so much money becuase there are not as many people as there was with cable. Some ways CBS could try and increase revenue is by zoning. They could give the small businesses in a particular area the exposure they need and in return CBS would be having an income from those busniesses. Another way CBS could bring in money is by roadblocking. If they did this the adverisers may be more willing to put money into CBS as well as the other stations because they know that their ad will be aired at the same time all over the stations air time so more people will see their ad.
Its no suprise how much businesses are struggling from this economic decline but it amazing to see actually how much money some businesses (such as CBS) are actually losing. There is a possiblity that becuase of the resession that people are canceling their cable subscribtion also known as audence churn. This would give some reason as to why CBS has lost so much money becuase there are not as many people as there was with cable. Some ways CBS could try and increase revenue is by zoning. They could give the small businesses in a particular area the exposure they need and in return CBS would be having an income from those busniesses. Another way CBS could bring in money is by roadblocking. If they did this the adverisers may be more willing to put money into CBS as well as the other stations because they know that their ad will be aired at the same time all over the stations air time so more people will see their ad.
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