Category Archives: Learfield

Learning “New Media” tools

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I’ll be in our Dallas office for a few days next week. The agenda is kind of loose and open-ended. Our sports division (HQ in Dallas) is exploring ways to use more “new media” tools and I’ll try to help them find ways to do this. I think. My point is, what a great job.

And here’s what I’ve learned. Just about every online tool you need is out there. Cheap or free and easy to use. The hard part is finding people who… I wish I could come up with a better word… people who “get” this whole Internet thing. Sure, everybody uses email and Google and all that, but for most the net is where you go to find something rather than create something.

Posting photos to flickr, writing a blog, even something as simple as Twitter involves sharing something of your self. Expressing who you are. It’s walking out on that high school stage and singing Killing Me Softly. A lot of people just can’t do it.

But when I meet (discover?) such a kindred spirit, someone who has something to say and a passion for saying it, it’s great fun showing them things I’ve discovered on my endless surfing safaris.

New look for Mizzou website

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MuoasBranden Miller tweets the new look for MUTigers.com, the website of the Missouri Tigers. Mizzou is one of the universities with which Learfield Sports works, but I have nothing to do with the websites.

But I’ve always thought most of them were cramped, too busy and impossible to navigate. This new design is a huge improvement. I haven’t poked around on the new site yet but plan to later today.

I hope similar make-overs are planned for our other properties.

Sprint in the NFL radio business

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“Sprint Nextel subscribers will be able to listen to live radio broadcasts of National Football League games this season as part of new partnership between the wireless provider and sports league.

IphonefootballThe live, cell-phone-accessible radio broadcasts—the centerpiece of the new NFL Mobile Live platform–will be available to all Sprint wireless subscribers who purchase a basic data plan as part of their services. In addition, as part of the agreement a select group of premium subscribers will be able to view live broadcasts of the NFL Network’s eight Thursday Night Football games on their phones starting on Nov. 6.” — MEDIA WEEK

Hmmm. Here’s one of several “take away’s” from this story by Mark Ramsey:

“For some reason, many broadcasters confuse the term “content” with “the stuff that’s on our air.” When I use the term “content” I mean the material that’s of serious interest to listeners. Stuff they will seek out. Not filler. Not commodities. McDonalds and NOBU may both offer “food,” but that’s where the similarity ends, and don’t think for a moment the patrons don’t know the difference.

In this case, the content is owned in its entirety by a third party – not a radio company. When it comes to professional sports play-by-play, radio is a distribution channel, not a content owner. Thus we will lose out to the owners of content in deals like this.”

Our company does broadcasts for a whole bunch of big (and small) colleges. We’ve been streaming (via Yahoo!) for years and on satellite radio for the last few years. It seems inevitable that these broadcasts will go directly to phones, sooner or later. Stay tuned? Dialed in?

How big is the company I work for?

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A rather colorful description in this story –about one of our sports properties– in the Fresno Bee:

“Fresno State doesn’t just do its own deals any more. It has a company called Learfield Sports for that. Learfield is slightly bigger than Greenland and the ozone layer combined. Learfield pays Fresno State a flat rate to sell its “multimedia rights.” Fresno is one of nearly 50 schools that lets Learfield handle its radio rights, TV rights, even the signs hanging in Bulldog Stadium.”

Is that what they call a mixed metaphor?

Live webcast from D.C.

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ZimmcastMy friend Chuck is in Washington D.C. at the National Association of Farm Broadcasters’ Washington Watch. A few days ago he was sitting with me in the Jefferson City Coffee Zone where I showed him how we had been playing with live video streaming with UStream.

As I write this, Chuck is streaming a news conference with the U. S. Secretary of Agriculture. No satellite truck. No cameraman. No sound man. Just Chuck and his MacBook Pro. I assume he’s recording and will post at AgWired.com.

Ag Secy is now praising “ag radio.” How many of the reporters in the room are recording his remarks to chop up and put in a report they’ll feed back to their stations for later broadcast? While Chuck is streaming live video.

Secy just said something about “you radio guys need 30 second sound bites and I can’t do that.” Uh, no Mr. Secretary, we’re live here at AgWired.com so you can go as long as you need. It’s not about sound bites anymore.

“The future is already here. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.” — William Gibson

O. Kay Henderson: The Voice of Iowa

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“She’s the voice of Iowa. If you want to deliver a message and you’re not talking to Kay, you’re not doing it effectively.” — Tommy Vietor, Iowa Spokesman for Senator Barack Obama.

Kaytribpic

The quote is from a nice piece that ran in the Chicago Tribune on January 1st. I’m posting it here so I –and Kay’s many friends– can find it.

Jim Lipsey

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Jim Lipsey was one of Learfield’s first employees. He was part of the KLIK gang (Derry Brownfield and Bob Priddy) that helped Clyde Lear get the company up and running.

On Friday we got Clyde, Jim and Bob in a studio to talk about those early days and Jim’s contributions (there were many). Jim will be 87 his next birthday. I want to be him when I grow up. When I joined the company in 1984, Jim showed me the ropes of affiliate relations. It was a privilege to work with him. Here’s 10 minutes from a half-hour chat.

Covering the Iowa Caucuses

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The Iowa Caucuses (Jan 3) is a big deal in the national political scheme of things. One of Learfield’s news networks –Radio Iowa– will cover it, just as we’ve done since the network began in 1987.

We’ll provide two 4-minute reports each hour throughout the evening. These audio reports will be fed by satellite to affiliated radio stations throughout the state (and streamed live on our website). The radio stations will air some or all of these reports along with whatever other programming they are doing that night. This is the way networks like ours have operated since… well, since forever.

The editorial edge of state networks is our ability to focus on the "state" angle of the stories we cover. The Iowa Caucuses will be the big national story of the day (evening). Every news organization in the country will be covering the story, wall-to-wall.

So where’s our niche? What do we provide that a listener can’t get more of, faster somewhere else? Is our "target audience" people who can’t be in front of their TV or computer that evening? We have to proceed on the assumption there will be people listening to their local radio stations that night and hearing our reports a couple of times an hour.

I’m not sure where I’m headed with this ramble. I’m just trying to understand how –and to what degree– things are changing for news organizations like ours.

And whither the bloggers? Will they be live blogging the caucuses? Is that allowed? Not sure what that would add, since the news organizations (or the Associated Press) will have –I assume– someone covering each of the caucus locations.

My friend (and Radio Iowa News Director) Kay Henderson has been living and breathing Iowa politics for the last year or so. She probably has the answers to most of these questions. Or at least some interesting insight. I suspect she’s too busy to enlighten us, but watch the comments, just in case. She checks in here.

I think I’ve lost the thread of this ramble… I just know that I’m glad I’m no longer responsible for coming up with long and short term strategy for our networks.

We’ll know how many radio stations are "clearing" our reports on Caucus night. We will NOT know how many people are listening to those reports. That’s a question for the Magic Eight Ball. If I could ask one more, it would be how will all of this change four years from now?